Tom Warren’s got a good piece up in which he interviews a number of people responsible for the development of Windows 10. Lots of interesting bits of information, but this one stood out to me.
He’s also surprisingly blunt when he characterizes Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8, products he was intimately involved in developing. “We’ve had a couple of, sort of, practice runs with phone and PC,” Belfiore says, before pivoting to the presumably brighter future with Windows 10, “We now have all the devices lined up. I don’t expect to see the platform change again, in the same way it has before.”
What he calls “practice runs”, I call the most expensive failure in Microsoft’s – and possibly all of technology’s – history. When you add up all the years of development, marketing, the endless amount of bribes cash injections to keep Nokia from dumping Windows Phone, the actual acquisition of Nokia’s mobile assets, the subsequent wholesale dumping of all those assets – it adds up to billions and billions of dollars down the drain, wasted, for naught. And the poison icing on this horrible cake?
They’re continuing to scale down the phone part of Windows even further.
The practice run quote made me look back upon the past few years of reporting about Windows Phone and Nokia, about how many of us – myself at the forefront here on OSAlert – realised years ago what a colossal failure Windows Phone was, and that small number of people insisting all was well with Windows Phone, how its market share was growing rapidly, how Nokia was doing great financially (*), and so on, and so forth. There were no tanks in Baghdad.
In this case, it sucks to be right, because these “practice runs” cost thousands and thousands of people their jobs.
I hope Nelson (he was the one defending Nokia and Microsoft) is bold enough to come back here at osnews to post something in his/her usual defense of Nokia mobile and Microsoft.
I hope Nokia go instead with Android during Elop’s reign, however they produce Windows phone instead to their own demise.
The sad thing is, Windows Phone (especially 8.1) is a beautiful, functional, fast OS that deserved a better fate than it got. Like the Sega Dreamcast, it was ahead of its time. I’ve moved on, just as I moved on from the Nokia N900 before it, and BlackBerry before that, and Palm Treo before that.
Maybe Microsoft will surprise us by releasing Windows 10 Mobile devices later this year that actually gain popularity instead of staying stagnant in the single digits. But I’m not holding my breath, and I’m not investing in the platform again until I’m sure it will be around for a while.
Despite Thom’s comments about the way that Microsoft has handled it in the market, I’d think it’s safe to say that we here at OSAlert are fans of the Windows phone OS itself. Personally, I’d prefer a mobile landscape with three powerful players. Alas.
Speak for yourself. I don’t like everything MS puts out with a vengeance (with very few exceptions).
I was referring to the OSAlert staff.
Yup, definitely. I’m up for contract renewal later this year, and assuming Microsoft releases its Surface phone…
Yeah I’ll be all over it.
Have you given the Blackberry Passport a try?
That’s the thing isn’t it – they *could* totally come back from the brink on the Windows Phone OS..
OS wise, iOS’ closed nature is simply claustrophobic for me ; Android roughly does me for mobile OS for the time being..
but maybe just maybe Windows could come up with a compelling offering that pulls in just enough crowds to get the momentum ball rolling again – that’s all they need at this point.
I personally think – an open or open-ish system (anything other than allows root access if jump through a hurdle or too & app-sideloading) that will provide access to the desktop when docked has got to be a pretty much super-useful if not Killer feature.
Ubuntu phone etc are trying but they’re nowhere near.
I don’t Windows (phone) 10 isn’t going to allow proper Desktop access when docked (Arm chips, Artificial constraints, etc)
But hey maybe they can make a Windows 10 Pro “Phone” devices that runs on an intel x86 mobile atom chip – that would/could allow proper Desktop access [when docked] if Microsoft where to allow it..
And when I say docked – sure that could be a usb keyboard/mouse or wireless micro dongle and and HDMI monitor
But it could also be a linked bluetooth keyboard and a chromecasted mirrored desktop
.No. ?
Throw in a class leading camera, some industrial design and engineering – et voila
/B
He won’t be back. Just like all those people who told me nothing was wrong with Nokia, Symbian was dominant, no need for them to do anything with it or all those people who told me nothing was wrong with Sun financially and like was…..sunny.
This exactly. Sometimes people just cant see the world for the way it really is, instead of the way it they want to see it.
Its an open unanswerable question on what would have saved Nokia, but it appears that turning to windows phone was not the solution.
If I were CEO, I have no idea what I would have done. Symbian was pretty much dead, Meego was severely delayed, there was no North America relationship with carriers. That’s a tough ship to turnaround.
I have the opposite feeling. I saw the web tablet from Nokia in 2005. It only needed added phone functionality. It already had a real linux distro and a real webbrowser with a big touchscreen. Nokia already had great hardware and a lot of expertise in modems and wireless.
But I think Nokia was destroyed on purpose.
Yeah, they screwed that up. The software on those was largely contracted out. Then they decided to switch to qt. Then they decided to ditch mameo for meego. If they had really invested in those internet tablets they would still be a force. But when Elop made that speech it may have been too late.
Considering how he’s almost gone nowadays I can’t help to wonder if he was one of the people laid off during the sale to Microsoft. Trying to convince everybody that Elop’s Windows Phone strategy was successful wouldn’t make any sense after that.
Does anyone know?
They meddle in almost everything but in this huge and important deal both the Finnish governments and EU leaders sat on their hands.
Funding Minix with millions euros from citizens’ taxes to get a “secure” OS… BTW they reached a new milestone, they can now boot an ARM image, but still no USB support.
What ? I sound sarcastic ?
Back in the states, I used a Lumia 620 with Windows Phone 8.1. I used to actually use the phone all the time because of how responsive the operating system was. Now that I live in Japan, where the Windows Phone market is non-existent, I had to resort to using an iPhone 5S (the only phone that actually fits in my front pocket). I definitely do not catch myself using the phone very often anymore. The interface is ugly, cluttered and not as intuitive as Windows.
I am confused.
How is it implied from the statement “#practice runs” that Windows Phone is dead? There certainly will be WP10 and Microsoft just starts to make its own phones – three separate segments as they said. So the Lumia lineup would become to an end but not Windows Phone as a platform. I have owned Lumia 520 for quite a long time now and love it and looking forward to load WP10 to it. I see no issue with Windows Phone platform as such.
So of course MS have experimented with mobile platform since early days (Windows CE, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile etc) long before anybody else and I see no end to it.
Did you miss the news earlier in the month that they essentially fired everyone that was from the Nokia acquisition and wrote off the cost?
So the largest maker of windows phones ( essentially an internal MS division since the Nokia announcement) is gone. Its basically what Android would be like, if Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC and Motorola closed down. Google could continue releasing updates, but without those OEM partners its unclear how phones would be promoted and sold.
OnePlus ?
If one Plus was the only one left, I’d switch to iphone, or possibly the vastly underrated moto F4.
http://mobiua.com/images/mobi_images/Motorola_F4.jpg
Yes the Nokia hardware division was fired, but phone segment does not die. MS announced that they will concentrate and increase efficiency of phone business by offering three distinct segments – consumer, prosumer and enterprise. The phones will keep coming from Microsoft, simply they do not need Nokia expert knowledge anymore. So Windows Phone is far from gone.
Quote from the original email:
“In the near term, we will run a more effective phone portfolio”
“In the longer term, Microsoft devices will spark innovation, create new categories and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly. Our reinvention will be centered on creating mobility of experiences across the entire device family including phones.”
Source: https://news.microsoft.com/2015/07/08/satya-nadella-email-to-employe…
So phones are part of MS strategy and Windows Phone will be center piece of it all.
Edited 2015-07-30 20:08 UTC
Dear Deity!
Do you believe every insanely positive thing you read in a press release that announces a major, major loss?? They don’t have a hardware phone division anymore! Its Gone.
And they still do Surface, XBox keyboards/mice you name it. MS can easily outsource the bulk production to Foxconn even. All that it takes to run WP is some random ARM-equipped handheld with MS logo printed on it. So the hardware production is the least of the hurdles I guess.
Its kind of pointless arguing reality to a Pollyanna. I give up.
I am fairly certain that they are going to use in-house Surface team to design their next phone. In fact, who says their next phone is not a 5.5 inch Surface running Windows 10 in phone mode? There is no need anymore for dedicated Nokia team to come up with generic phone form-factor device designs. Anybody can do it these days.
Wow. A new version of the OS has been released with a slew of interesting/debatable features, and the only articles we see here are about doom and failure… (this is actually the third in a row). Not to mention, things like these unfortunately happen in many companies all the time – and often their key people are not equally open at admitting such a truth…
I am forced to use Windows and MS Office every day to do real work (not Xbox, Cortana and stuff).
If I had a choice, I would switch back to XP and the Office version of that time immediately and dump all the crap that MS has added in the meantime.
It is getting harder and harder to use Microsoft desktop products productively and I do not see much improvement with Windows 10. Well, other than the start button…
For me it’s really just undone a lot of the stuff from Windows 8/8.1 that lots of folks didn’t like. Metro style applications now seem to be usable and it’s nice to have the start menu back (to some extent).
If it was a rebuilding exercise then I’d say I’m happy with the outcome.
Mind saying what it is that has reduced productivity for you?
They finally added quadrant snapping to both sides of multi-monitor setups, virtual desktops, and multitouch gestures.
This means you can tile your applications, and spread them out over virtual desktops, instead of using the taskbar, with a bunch of hidden things.
Multitouch gestures means that, like on OS X, you can present the view of your whole workspace over multiple monitors, and navigate easily.
In comparison to XP, they added a huge swathe of security features, and importantly, improved the terminal application, and introduced proper indexing; so, you can now hit the windows key, type 2-3 letters, and launch the app you are after.
I see literally nothing of value missing, especially not the garish plasticine UI with its gradients and unnecessary colours.
I only use Linux and OS X, but Windows 10 is definitely the best windows ever IMHO (Possibly due to the fact that it’s added features that I really like from those two)
Not that I found the plasticine UI beautiful but it was more functional and ergonomic because I could quicker identify different types of items. It helped my eye. Then with W7 it all went light blue. Flat design is not only ugly and boring – which admittedly is a matter of taste – but also harder to work with. Also, screen real estate was utilized way more efficiently before they came up with Ribbon and tiles.
I would trade the new Mail app immediately for an updated Outlook Express.
It is true, my main gripe is actually with the way MS Office is heading. But it is all part of a general concept.
Personally I most miss MDI in MS Office apps. It is still there in MS Excel, if you know how to switch it on, but in the other apps they simply took that option from me.
Up to ten years ago with every new version of MS Office you got new and mostly interesting functionality that helped getting work done. Since then I see virtually no progress feature wise but the software gets bloated and at the same time dumbed down. Now I get scared a new version comes out that I will have to use and it will make life again harder for me.
In short, what W10 does for me basically XP already did but a LOT leaner and more pleasant to work with.
A constant annoyance on my Win8.1 laptop is a disagreement between me and the OS about whether I am making a gesture; I think I’m moving the cursor around and the OS thinks I’m calling up the charms bar.
Googling around, you can find instructions to disable gesture recognition, but those invariably assume you have a Synaptics touchpad, which my laptop does not.
Whenever I’m trying to work on my laptop, there is much cursing and reaching for the Nerf bat.
The idea of the UI in Win8/8.1 allways seem somehow apealing to me. I like the basic idea. Yet somehow, I can not find a way of practical use in it.
I just miss, that feel wich all other previous windows have. Don’t get me wrong. It just works on a phone.
My Lumia630 is actually the phone of all I have owned, wich have the best UI. The best response time, and finally not getting slow after 6 months.
Something that I saw, using Android. And yeah… iOS is just not my cup of tea. Been there, done that.
What I miss from my android day’s, are features, features and more features. And apps….
Windows Phone 8,1 simply does not deliever that for me.
And were is Real Racing 3? That game is the thing I miss the most of all, from when I had Android.
Possibly the biggest failure in technology of all time? Let’s come back down to Earth for a minute. First, it’s not as if every single minute spent, every line of code written, every dollar invested went down the drain. Let’s not pretend there’s zero return on those investments. Clearly there’s been some expensive mistakes but it’s not a complete failure.
Additionally, they’re in the beginning of a huge transition. There’s still plenty of opportunity to bare fruit. If you look at Microsoft stock headings, it’s clear people don’t agree with you.
Microsoft has pulled more dirty tricks than any other company in existence. They are the father of software patents, that have screwed up the software industry and caused endless grief for developers. Nothing is more notorious than how they get paid for each copy of Android, to which they contributed 0% code, while Google (which developed it) gives it away for free.
Karma is a bitch. Burn in Hell Windows phone.
Where were you to contribute, oppose or deliver a better alternative ?
See Communities Dominate brands.
Elop Osborned Devices and called them junk.
MSFT burned Nokia – a good and viable company – to the ground by sending Elop as a trojan horse to push WinPhony.
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