Joe Belfiore breaks Microsoft’s silence: Windows 10 Mobile is in maintenance mode, supports users moving to iOS or Android

Jack Wilkinson

In what hardcore Windows phone fans have wanted for a long time, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President in the Operating Systems Group, has broken the silence on Microsoft’s mobile operating system, Windows 10 Mobile.

In a series of tweets, Belfiore explained his personal thoughts on switching from Windows 10 Mobile to another operating system, as well as, subtly, recommending others to do the same. Additionally, Belfiore also made a comment that leads to the conclusion that Microsoft is only supporting Windows 10 Mobile for businesses that still deploy devices to their employees.

The first of the tweets is what alludes to the platform only being supported to be able to support businesses still deploying devices to employees. Then, Belfiore talks of why he switched from Microsoft’s mobile platform, mentioning the issue we’re all too aware of – the app gap and lack of hardware.

Moving on to the updates being made to Windows 10 Mobile… it’s official. It is in maintenance mode. Bug fixes and security updates only, with new features and hardware not being the focus.

Expanding further on his previous comment of switching due to the app gap, Belfiore explains the effort put in by Microsoft to attempt to bring app developers to the platform, but that their efforts never paid off. Essentially, as we all know from the monthly market share reports, there’s just not enough users for it to be worth it for Microsoft nor app developers.

While Microsoft supports users moving to iOS and Android, Belfiore explains that they’re OK with their users being on multiple eco-systems, and that most people have a different phone OS to what they use on their PC.

So, it’s official. While Microsoft isn’t directly saying it’s “dead” like many want it to say, this is as close as we’re likely to get. The OS is in maintenance mode, with no focus on new features or hardware, and Microsoft itself recommending competing platforms. Microsoft’s recent announcements of bringing Microsoft Edge to iOS and Android signified this further, preceded by the earlier ending of its music subscription service, Groove Music.