Windows 10 Mobile support to end in December 2019

Mobile operating system analysts forecast would challenge Apple and Android to be buried by the end of the year

Support for Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile operating system will end on 10 December 2019. The cessation of support will bring to a close Microsoft's attempts to port Windows to every device from embedded all the way up to data centre servers.

The company has recommended that the remaining users switch to either Android or devices running Apple's iOS instead.

"As of December 10, 2019, Windows 10 Mobile users are no longer eligible to receive new security updates, non-security hot fixes, free assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft for free," warned the company via its support website.

For enterprises running mobile applications on Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft may provide support for a fee, while third-parties might also offer ongoing support, "but it is important to recognise that Microsoft support will not publicly provide updates or patches for Windows 10 Mobile", the company added.

It is also unclear how long the Microsoft Store will remain available to Windows 10 Mobile users. But the move, the company added, is in-line with its lifecycle policy.

Users taking advantage of some features, such as device back-up, might need to seek alternatives.

"After the end of support, automatic or manual creation of new device backups for settings and some applications will continue for three months, ending March 10, 2020. Some services, including photo uploads and restoring a device from an existing device backup, may continue to work for up to another 12 months from end of support."

The end of support marks an ignominious end for an operating system that former CEO Steve Ballmer had hoped would take on both Google Android and Apple iOS. Ballmer even went as far as buying Nokia's battered mobile phone business in a deal worth €5.44 billion, completed in April 2014 - four months after Nokia had released its first Android smartphone, the Nokia X.

Nokia had gone from market leader to also-ran since it had announced plans to adopt Windows Phone 7 back in February 2011 - eight months before the first Windows Phone device, the Nokia Lumia 800, appeared.

Back in 2014, Gartner had forecast a Windows Phone market share of at least 10 per cent by now. Instead, CEO Satya Nadella left the operating system fade away, while pushing Microsoft apps onto Android and Apple's iOS. Rather than pushing Windows everywhere, as predecessor Steve Ballmer did, Nadella has primarily focused on enterprise and cloud computing.

The Nokia assets were written off by new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the year after the deal had been completed.