back to article Look out, Windows Phone 8 users – yes, both of you – here's ... Windows 10 Mobile

For the past few months, peeps keen to run Windows 10 Mobile have been able to buy handsets with the new OS installed. Now patiently waiting Phone 8.1 owners can upgrade their smartphones to the operating system – well, some of them, anyway. "Today, we're pleased to begin the roll-out of Windows 10 Mobile to select Windows …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can people opt-out?

    Can people opt-out of this upgrade, perhaps using a registry setting like in the Desktop version?

    1. Field Commander A9

      Re: Can people opt-out?

      The upgrade is currently opt-in only. You have to install an app to enable the upgrade.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: Can people opt-out?

        Currently is the operative word. For how long eh?

        My guess is August.

    2. Bob Vistakin
      Facepalm

      Re: Can people opt-out?

      No, they can get lost

      1. SW10

        Re: Can people opt-out?

        Yeah, I was sure that I got a 'lifetime' licence to use HERE maps when I bought my 925...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: 'lifetime' licence to use HERE maps

          So keep with 8.1 on your phone. What has windows 10 got that you need that 8.1 doesn't do?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: 'lifetime' licence to use HERE maps

            Fixes to security issues that are found in Windows Phone but will have patches delivered for Windows 10 only, not for 8.1?

    3. Andy france Silver badge
      Go

      Re: Can people opt-out?

      As others have said you have to opt in. I opted in last night and updated my Lumia 640XL.

      Based on the bad press here I was expecting it to be a little raw, but was pleasantly surprised. It's good.

    4. paulf
      WTF?

      Re: Can people opt-out?

      So the upshot of this is:

      On Mobile (where MS is tiny and needs a reason like a major free upgrade to the latest and greatest to pull in punters)

      People who want Win 10 have to beg for it and still may not get it.

      On Desktop (where MS is massive and needs to avoid upsetting users en masse to maintain its position)

      People are being forced to bend over and take Win 10 regardless of whether they want it. Those Win 7/8 users who reject it have to edit their registry, disable Win update and be vigilant with a wooden stake to keep the GWX zombie off their computers

      1. Terry Barnes

        Re: Can people opt-out?

        "On Mobile (where MS is tiny and needs a reason like a major free upgrade to the latest and greatest to pull in punters)

        People who want Win 10 have to beg for it and still may not get it."

        In your scenario they've already bought the phone, so how does an upgrade pull a new user in? A new user will buy a new phone that will come with W10.

  2. ZSn

    three

    Hey, can't you count? With me it's 'all three of you'.

    1. L05ER

      Re: three

      my fault, he probably could see you behind my fat ass.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: three

        Windows 10 Mobile 'is' literally starting from the bottom.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: three

      Four.

      "No. I'm Spartacus the WinPhone user" -

  3. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    $49 Win Blu Jr

    That's Cdn$49 (with free shipping). Spare phone. Owner, but not user.

    "Your [comedy] phone is not supported for the upgrade to Windows 10"

    1. stevenotinit

      Re: $49 Win Blu Jr

      I had that phone. If memory serves me, it had too little internal hard drive space for the upgrade. Otherwise it was a great 4 inch Windows phone.

  4. Thought About IT

    Phew!

    It's the complete opposite of cold comfort that my 925 is not on the list.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Microsoft Office Installs for Android / iOS Getting GWX adware?

    Just opened Office on iOS. Waiting to see if the equivalent GWX 'Malware' has started appearing on Office for iOS and Android...Microsoft must be feeling those users are missing out on all the fun.

    Not yet...is today's answer.

  6. thomas k

    Forget targeted ads

    Targeted news is the new shiny.

    from one of the two Winphone users

  7. Ye Gads

    And what do you get from W10 mobile?

    Well, one my Lumia 1020 I got:

    1. A slow phone

    2. Here Maps and Drive vanish in June

    3. A less good camera app than 8.1 (from a 1020 owners point of view)

    4. A less good email client than we had in 8.1 (why can't I just link my folders and view multiple accounts in one folder - I loved that).

    I could go on...

    With heavy heart I moved to Android 3 weeks ago.

    1. ardubbleyu

      Re: And what do you get from W10 mobile?

      I said I'd avoid Win10 like the plague on my Lumia 1020, and now it seems I don't have to worry. At last, I can say 'thank you Microsoft!' for something...

      (still a very good phone on 8.1 Denim)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: And what do you get from W10 mobile?

        Me too, bro. And as far as I understood, Here will continue to work with 8.1

        1. SoftwareDeveloper

          Re: And what do you get from W10 mobile?

          While the app will not be updated for WP8.1 neither will the data, so eventually you will be navigating to addresses that can't be found, or roads that have changes, bus timetables that have changed, businesses that have moved. This will impact transit, maps and drive versions of HERE on WP8.1

          1. x 7

            Re: And what do you get from W10 mobile?

            "so eventually you will be navigating to addresses that can't be found, or roads that have changes, bus timetables that have changed, businesses that have moved"

            thats when the programme gets renamed to "THERE"

    2. mswin10

      Re: And what do you get from W10 mobile?

      I tried Andriod a few months ago not because I disliked windows phone but I'm one for trying different things, and I liked the new Samsung phones but unfortunately just like the works IPhone got fed up with scroll scroll, click click, scroll and then get lost as to where I am and seemed very buggy not what I expected for a top end phone.

      I'm now just waiting for my Lumia 950 to arrive I find Windows phone a lot simpler to use and in most instances you do not have to do anything because the information is there on the live tiles which I missed

    3. Candy

      Why can't I just link my folders and view multiple accounts in one folder ?

      The linked inbox feature is back in the Windows 10 client and has been for a while. Unfortunately, due to the poor (non-existent?) change log from MS it's very easy to miss these additions...

  8. Baudwalk

    Glad to see...

    ...my mum's 630 is not on the list.

    8.1 is a terrific phone OS, and very OAP-friendly for a smart phone.

    10 may get there eventually, unless it's axed before then, but is still too rough around the edges, IMHO, and has lost a few of the little UI quirks (when compared to Android & iOS) that actually made it so bloody good in daily use.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Windows

    The W10 ecosystem is coming together well

    As a Lumia 950, Xbox One and Windows 10 laptop user with O365 sub,, the integration and supporting ecosystem MSFT is building is coming along very well.

    UWP apps expected on Xbox One in the summer too.

  10. The Quiet One

    Thanks, but no thanks

    My Work device is a 735 and it will be staying on 8.1 for as long as I can keep it running. From a work point of view the email and exchange integration is the best around and the Here maps are excellent when i am driving between sites in London.

    I should caveat that the media experience is poor to the point I still run an HTC one as my personal device, but for work WinMo does the job.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All this work...

    They could have just given the two actual users, two plastic cups, a piece of string and left them to it.

  12. briesmith

    When There Were Three

    There were these three systems you see: VHS, BetaMax and LaserDisc.VHS relied on terrible technology - a real lash up - to encode its tapes which came in really big cassettes making the players similarly huge. The picture quality and sound were awful and the tapes kept breaking. Betamax used really clever encoding technology which rendered really well with brilliant sound and came in neat small cassettes which rarely entangled or failed. The Laserdiscs were very expensive but the best in terms of picture/sound quality, offered random access and because they were old 33.3rpm LP record sized, could be stacked very economically on shelves etc. The players - also pricey - were thin while pretty large in plan area but, peculiarly, no bigger than the VHS players which seemed to contain a lot of air (because of the enormous loader mechanism I suppose).

    Anyway, Android won and Windows 10 and iOS disappeared.

  13. x 7

    I have a 535

    what advantage will upgrading give me?

  14. SoftwareDeveloper

    The initial promise of upgrading all WP8.1 has suffered from scope changes that introduces more risk to customer who can upgrade to WP10. The Microsoft Vision for Windows 10 was not locked down when moving to development, significant changes will destroy the deliverables and possibly add more risk to WP10 devices. Certainly Microsoft is demonstrating that it does not apply best practice in project management to achieve the publicly announced vision.

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