Hi there

Never tell a "Gamblaholic" that they've backed the wrong Horse.

Whatever the merits of Windows phones or otherwise - it's not going anywhere except to oblivion and Ms is just throwing good money after bad in perputating the brand.

Sometimes inferior technology does win out -- remember VHS vs Betamax, Cassette tapes vs Minidisc, OS/2 vs Dos (and hence Windows) etc etc etc.

In this area - I'm afraid Ms is on to a NO WIN situation -- and as soon as the win phone is put to bed people can move on.

There are some good things in Windows phone -- but it's not going to survive even as a niche player -- problem is getting things like Banks, e-tickets / payments etc to get apps for Windows phone -- no 3rd party developer is going to waste time on Windows phone apps -- that would be a very "Career limiting" move.

The latest stuff like smart phone contactless payments don't work on Windows phone and I sure can't buy e-tickets (or m-tickets as I think they are called now) when I want to get train / plane tickets or Hotel reservations.

Sorry folks to disappoint you who have and like Windows phones --they aren't going anywhere. They only survive now because Ms has DEEP pockets and it's obviously some high up's pet project.

(I actually like the technology of Windows phones but it's not going to cut it in a tough commercial market place where the best / most sensible stuff doesn't always win out).

Cheers
jimbo

Microsoft rumored to close feature phone business and sell the Nokia name to Foxconn; layoffs coming

The article was about selling off the Nokia feature phone business, not selling off the Microsoft smartphone business.

I have no idea why people keep thinking that Microsoft giving up on Windows Mobile would be a good decision? Today anyone can buy a smartphone that can effortlessly record and seamlessly playback 4k video and store that footage on a tiny 256GB microSD card inside it which is no larger than a fingernail (well, not on the ever so popular iphone they can't). On top of that, phones can do a lot more too. When people were using desktop computers 10-15 years ago and were downsizing their videos & photos to make it easier and less time consuming to process and store them, they would never have thought a phone that fits in your pocket would be able to outdo the massive power hungry desktop they were currently using. One thing I've learnt is that even when it seems impossible for technology to keep moving on, it always does. That means the capability of phones 10-15 years for now (or maybe mobile personal devices would be a better term, as I'm not sure what form factor they will be in then) will be even more capable and will render desktop computers pretty much obsolete.

As technology becomes more efficient and phones become more and more capable, eventually there will be no use for a desktop Operating System anymore. You can already use a phone with a big screen, mouse and keyboard today if you want to, in 10-15 years the possibilities will be even greater and combine that with being able to offload storage and compute power to a cloud server, capabilities will be pretty much limitless (especially when mobile internet gets to the point of near global coverage with fast, cheap and unlimited data).

Microsoft could give up on Windows Mobile and worry about that in the future, but by then it will probably be too late. If Google and Apple continue to dominate the mobile world, as phones get more and more capable (which is a case of when, not if) and people start ditching desktop devices altogether for IOS/Android mobile devices that can double as a desktop, there will come a point when developers will forget about Windows and all their efforts will be shifted to developing solely for Android and IOS. So, with mobile phones capable of doing pretty much everything in 10-15 years, and all software being developed for Android and IOS, Microsoft will cease to exist as a Operating System maker. So please explain to me again why Microsoft giving up on Windows Mobile would be a good move for Microsoft if they want to remain relevant in the future?

I think Microsoft are now moving in the right direction, it's just unfortunate that in their quest to try and balance business-orientated and consumer-orientated use they wasted time with Windows 8 apps and are now in a race against the clock to get everything in place for the next phase of personal computing. I think once everything is in place and they're back on track with proper software/games finally hitting the Windows Store, Microsoft will probably start along the path of the serious desktop replacement phone market with the Surface phone, but undoubtedly Microsoft will be too early to market again and Google and Apple's advertising power will successfully convince the great masses that the Surface phone sucks and Taylor Swift and the Kardashians know best.

But, what do I know. I think companies that continuously try to push people into using apps to do things a mobile website should be capable of doing should be shunned for trying to lock people into an ecosystem that goes against the whole ethos of a open and universal internet for everyone.