[soumitro316]

Has Microsoft completely abandoned windows phone 7 users?..because all new app announcements and releases seem to be windows phone 8 only..they are acting as if windows phone 7 never existed..which is bad for ppl like me because here you don't get phones on contract..you have to by them outright..so I can't exactly upgrade everytime a new device comes...show us some love Microsoft

[mikeeemm]

I feel the same way except im on contract and now upgrades ain't cheap.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

[rdubmu]

This was what I was afraid of. I actually bought my Lumia 920 at full price to save my early upgrade. I am probably going to get a WP9 device or a iphone when my upgrade is up.

The app quality on the WP8 is much better even for the same apps, Apps like ESPN Scorecenter and the Main ESPN apps are prime examples. WP7 I believe is dead. the 7.8 Upgrade isn't happening like it should and Microsoft should have not released wp7 UNTIL probably Mango was release. I just hope that don't force people to upgrade their devices with WP9 to get it.

[Laura Knotek]

I'm still using a WP7 device, and I've gotten a bunch of new apps lately. I got Assassin's Creed and Earthworm Jim games a couple weeks ago. I just got Foroplex today, Angry Birds Seasons is also available.WhatsApp got the latest updates.

[MikeSo]

Yes, it is. The entire installed base of both WP7 and WP8 is barely enough to motivate developers (more seem to DROP WP8 than ADD it), the idea that they will spend even 1 minute developing for an OS that no longer will be getting any new users is not realistic. I expected this though, so I'm OK with just using whatever exists right now. But it does make those dumb "the end of the beta" ads that MS (or was it Nokia) were running pretty ironic in retrospect.

[soumitro316]

Assasins creed and earthworm Jim have been out for about 3 years now....whatsapp too didn't get the large tile and stuff...also new apps like Nokia Here maps is available for non lumia devices but only windows phone 8

[Bearach]

Not dead per se, but it is from a development point of view. I wouldn't expect any more updates, and applications that do get released will be ones that were developed for WP8 firstly, and WP7 compatibility is "fortunate".

[soumitro316]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

[rdubmu]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

a very valid concern
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

[WasteSomeTime]

This is why WP 8 isn't that appealing to me. If MS dropped WP 7 so quick and pretends that this is their first mobile OS to ever come out is ridiculous.

Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

[Bearach]

a very valid concern
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

I agree it is a valid concern.

[soumitro316]

And I'm not trying to bash Microsoft or WP....i think WP is an awesome OS...better than Android and I say this inspite of owning an Android tablet...but I think Microsoft has been pretty unfair with us WP 7 owners

[jlynnm350z]

Put yourself in Microsoft position, of course your going to pay more attention to Windows 8 as to further progress the OS as well to bring in new customers. You don't want to completely ignore Windows 7 users so you don't alienate your core customers but I think it is inevitable that Windows 7 will slowly be forgotten by Microsoft. It's probably best to not hang on and invest to much into Windows 7 and try and move on to Windows 8 where you know there will be support. It sucks if you are already heavily invested, bad move on Microsoft's part but it would be wise I think to slowly migrate to Windows 8. It does no one any good to sit there and sulk in sorrow for yourself and be angry at Microsoft. Your not hurting anyone but yourself and denying yourself of an awesome OS ecosystem experience. After all I'm sure you expected this to happen, so it shouldn't be that big of a surprise. Hopefully Microsoft will learn not to **** of it core supporters in the future. Stupid move Microsoft.

[soumitro316]

Yea I agree...and I already said I'm not bashing Microsoft....windows phone is the coolest mobile os in my opinion..both 7 and 8.....but still you have to agree 7.8 is a bit of a joke

[ousooner314]

It shouldn't be surprising that WP7 is ramping down. WP8 is the new OS and will get all the focus and resources from Microsoft.

[WasteSomeTime]

Yea I agree...and I already said I'm not bashing Microsoft....windows phone is the coolest mobile os in my opinion..both 7 and 8.....but still you have to agree 7.8 is a bit of a joke

Yes but I still want it. And they said that it was coming . . . So I want it.
Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

[a5cent]

...but still you have to agree 7.8 is a bit of a joke

I think you are obsessing over rather irrelevant things. Can you provide concrete examples of what you can not do with WP7 that you would like to? Many actually believe WP7 is still better than WP8 at this point. Jealous of a version number?

There certainly is a point when support for WP7 will dwindle, it has started, but WP7 has got a lot of new stuff lately, including new versions of Nokia Drive and Skulls of the Shogun! WP7 isn't becoming useless! New WP7 devices are still being sold all over the world. It is far from dead.

[power5]

Rooms, Kids Corner, Lock screen notifications, any new app. I think every feature available for WP8, I wish I had on my 7.8. All I got was themes and tile sizes. Who believes that WP7 is better than wp8 and can prove it?

Still not sure why the wp7 team was not able to make wp8 work on wp7 hardware. EVERY other platform has been able to do that for at least the consecutive OS update. Yes, I know the kernel changed. That really breaks rooms? All rooms does it share a calendar and put all those contacts in a group. Kids corner, really? Thats a UI tweak to get a right swipe and lock to get back. They already had notifications on the lock screen, all they did was prevent us from putting our own up there from 3rd parties. Apps are just lazy devs. How hard would it be to just remove the parts that will not work on wp7 kernel? Cannot take that much time.

[a5cent]

Who believes that WP7 is better than wp8 and can prove it?

An editor at pocket now for example. Many bloggers all over the web agree with his take. I too believe that, at this point, WP7 is the more mature OS. It's a lot more stable. It boots faster. It is just as fast and fluid, not to mention all the other reasons listed in the editorial. At this time, I fail to see much value in the WP8 update. It actually feels like a step back. I got a Lumia 920 from work, but the only thing I find truly superior to my Lumia 800 is the camera, largely due to the hardware.

Still not sure why the wp7 team was not able to make wp8 work on wp7 hardware. EVERY other platform has been able to do that for at least the consecutive OS update. Yes, I know the kernel changed. That really breaks rooms? All rooms does it share a calendar and put all those contacts in a group. Kids corner, really?

Actually, Microsoft had the NT kernel running on Gen1 WP7 hardware. Microsoft never said a port wasn't possible due to hardware limitations. That rumour popped up on the web. Eventually, that rumour won out over the other presumed reasons, likely because it felt most acceptable and most probable to most people. However, it is BS. Microsoft could have done it, had they felt it was in the platforms best interest.

You take on Kids corner, Rooms, etc. is spot on.

Rooms, Kids Corner, Lock screen notifications, any new app. I think every feature available for WP8, I wish I had on my 7.8.

Well, obviously I can't tell you what you want or don't want. However, you are the first person on this forum I've heard calling for Kids Corner. Most are utterly uninterested. Rooms are nice, but they're hardly a mainstream feature. Lock screen notifications are likely the most useful, yet none of those things are major features in any way. Compared to the advantages of WP7, I would say those features are laughably unimportant.

I don't think wanting to install "any new app" is really a feature. I'm sure installing apps isn't a major hobby of yours. Using apps is what it's about. At this point, there are barely any features that are exclusive to WP8.

Honestly, I think many people want an OS update just because they want an OS update. Like I said, it's version number jealousy.

To sum up, WP7 is not yet dead. It's just settling down.

[WasteSomeTime]

The app quality on the WP8 is much better even for the same apps

Ok you dont have to keep rubbing it in.
Sent from my SGH-i677 using Foroplex

[a5cent]

The app quality on the WP8 is much better even for the same apps

Yes. Such examples certainly exist. It's not generally true though.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying WP8 is crap or worthless. It's just not the huge leap some people imagine it is, and its existence certainly doesn't instantly make your WP7 device worthless.

[WindowsPhone8User]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

this wont happen. MS killed wp7 because the hardware just wouldn't run WP8. WP8 hardware is already announced to run blue (WP9). Its like if apple stuck mac osx on an iPhone 3GS...

[David Tomilson]

When were upgrades cheap? :P

[akar33]

Don't know whether to buy a WP 8 device or a bb next year...because it would be really disappointing if after I bought a WP 8 device Microsoft announces WP 9 and says existing devices won't be compatible...like what happened to me with my current WP 7 device

What happened with WP7 isn't going to happen with WP8. You obviously know that WP7 was based on WinCE and WP8 is based on NT. This was done to ensure forward compatibility. All future WPs will be based on the NT kernel. Microsoft doesn't have any other advanced kernel to use. So I'm pretty sure you'll be safe buying a WP8 device. Now, what the device actually has (hardware wise) is a different question altogether. If you buy the 920, you wont have the super-awesome camera that Nokia will unveil in the future.

[a5cent]

MS killed wp7 because the hardware just wouldn't run WP8.

Despite that being a very simple excuse, Microsoft never admitted to it. They never said anything of that sort. If it were true, I'm sure Microsoft would have said so. Again, based on the fact that Microsoft already had the entire Windows kernel running on pre-WP7 ARM hardware, it is safe to say this is simply wrong.

I've already written about this here (includes a video, by Microsoft Research, of the NT kernel running on pre-WP7 ARM hardware).