When Microsoft introduced Windows Phone, nearly five years ago, the company promised that it would control the update process, bypassing the carriers if necessary.
The reality of the update process, through major updates to Windows Phone 8 and 8.1, hasn't held up to that ideal, especially with U.S. carriers involved.
Microsoft's Denim update, for example, was announced last September but still isn't available on AT&T's Lumia 830, T-Mobile's Lumia 635, and a handful of other phones. Verizon was the first to release Denim as an over-the-air update, but only after it had continuously rejected the previous (Cyan) update, leaving owners of their flagship Windows Phone device running a badly outdated version.
It's not exactly Android-level fragmentation, but it's a problem.
That's all going to change with Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft says. And this time they swear they mean business.
The original news was buried in a post from
the Microsoft Ignite blog, introducing Windows Update for Business :
If your phone is running Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft says, it will get all updates, with Microsoft making the final call on when to push the update button.
That doesn't mean the carriers are completely out of the loop. The Windows Insider program will continue after the launch of Windows 10 Mobile, which means anyone who registers with the Insider program can get early access to updates with new features. The carriers will be part of that testing program, I'm told, probably getting access to builds at the same time as Microsoft's Elite Dogfood group and their input will help Microsoft decide when an update is ready to go out to all devices.
But those updates will be delivered simultaneously, to all devices on all carriers, meaning much less opportunity for fragmentation.