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Tens to be disappointed as Windows 10 Mobile death date set: Doomed phone OS won't see 2020

Microsoft to hang up support on 10 December

Microsoft has formally set the end date for support of its all-but-forgotten Windows 10 Mobile platform.

The Redmond code factory said today that, come December 10, it's curtains for the ill-fated smartphone venture. The retirement will end a four-year run for a Microsoft phone effort that never really got off the ground and helped destroy Nokia in the process.

"The end of support date applies to all Windows 10 Mobile products, including Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise," Microsoft declared.

"Windows 10 Mobile users will no longer be eligible to receive new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options or online technical content updates from Microsoft for free."

The end-of-life announcement hardly comes as a surprise. Microsoft's last major release for Windows 10 Mobile was version 1709 back in October of 2017. While Microsoft has maintained support for the platform, the quality of those fixes has left something to be desired.

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Not that it will matter much in the grand scheme of things. The last round of smartphones for the platform were released in the early fall of 2017, and according to recent estimates the Windows Phone market share checks in at less than 0.5 per cent.

Those who, for whatever reason, still have their hearts set of using a Windows 10 Mobile handset will still have the option of purchasing a third-party support service (if those even exist) but those efforts will not be supported by Microsoft.

With no successor in the pipeline, this is likely to be Microsoft's final foray into the smartphone space, at least for the foreseeable future. Redmond is, however, continuing to offer its software and services for both the Android and iOS platforms that have essentially monopolized the mobile OS space these days, and linking up PCs with smartphones remains a high priority in Redmond. ®

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