Windows 10 Mobile Death Exaggerated

Microsoft has opted, it would appear, to extend the End of Life for their mobile operating system by another month.

Last week, we reported that Microsoft had dropped support for Windows 10 Mobile on December 10, following a final Cumulative Update. The page for the update, KB4522812, states:

Windows 10 Mobile, version 1709 will reach end of service on December 10, 2019. Devices running Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats. 

By end of support, Microsoft means that Windows 10 users will no longer receive any new hotfixes, security updates, online technical content, or anything really. However, where you pay for support or you use third-party apps or programs, they MAY still provide support for a while but Microsoft stops all public support.

However, it seems we might all have been premature. Microsoft has, perhaps somewhat sneakily updated their page, saying that:

Windows 10 Mobile, version 1709 will reach end of service on January 14, 2020. Devices running Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats. 

We can only assume that this means Microsoft has one more update, if not more, on the way.

There is speculation that Microsoft has delayed the End of Life date for Windows 10 mobile to fall in line with the End of Life for Windows 7 SP1, which kind of makes sense if you think about it.

What this doesn’t mean is that you can put off replacing your device; you may have got a month’s grace but what isn’t in question I that support will end, be it now or in January 2020.

By Anne Reynolds

With more than 20 years of experience in the IT sector, Anne has found her focus in cloud computing and cloud security. She lives in Europe and is an avid consumer of technology.