Microsoft Delays Windows 10 Mobile Rollout - Houston we have a problem
Back in November when the Threshold branch of Windows 10 was released - build 10586 - also called 1511 - it became available for both traditional PCs, Laptops and Tablets as well as Mobile devices. So if you were a member of the Windows Insider - it was the first time that all your devices could be on the same build...
At that same time - MS announced that Non Windows Insider folks - would be receiving Windows 10 Mobile sometime in Mid-January...
So since then an interesting twist has occurred.
MS has performed 3 "cumulative" updates to Windows 10 Mobile based on build 10586 with a "." extension. The most recent of those updates was 10586.63. And then on January 20, MS announced that the production release of Windows 10 mobile would delayed until late February. Most folks think it will be longer...
At the same time - PC, Laptop and Tablet users that are members of Windows Insider - started receiving builds of the RedStone branch that is planned for release by MS's end of fiscal year - so on or before June 30, 2016.
So what is going on here ?
In an earlier post I submitted my theory which is that MS has no plans to move forward long term with the Lumia line. So any or all Lumia's out today that are capable of running Windows 10 - will only receive some version based on 10586 with some patches. New capabilities coming in Redstone will never see the light of day on a Lumia. Even the newest latest greatest 5 series devices - the 950/950XL/550 and the recently announced 650.
MS is struggling a little bit right now with their hardware business. A lot of folks with the new Surface 4 Pro and Surface Books are experiencing some challenges with stability, battery life, etc. Same is true for 950/950XL users here in the US.
Additionally MS recently announced a huge recall for power cords for previous generation Surface devices and several Surface related blogs/forums/etc are full of negative posts about users experiences with Windows 10 on Surface - which is pretty shameful. If anything Surface should run Windows 10 best...
So a little perspective may help here..
First - MS could be considered the youngest PC company on the planet. The Surface line has only been available for just over 3 years. When compared to a Dell, HP or Apple - they are a punk kid with about 1% market share.
So there are going to be growing pains as they figure this out. In fact I have to say MS is now getting a little bit of their own medicine.
Second - I saw a comment in a blog post this morning that "MS is a top tier hardware" company. Uh - no they aren't. Never have been and never will be. MS is at best a hardware marketing company. Again when compared to any of the true top tier hardware names - MS doesn't have anywhere near the engineering, support and supply chain resources that a top tier OEM has. They rely on their "partners" for that.
Third - MS needs to treat their customers much better. Remember the XBox Red Ring of Death (RROD) fiasco.
Paul Thurrott posted an excellent opinion article today regarding MS's whole approach with the recent power cord issue. And he's dead on. MS needs to do something really simple. First - clearly state the problem. Second - have a whole bunch of new power cords made and allow users to A) walk into an MS store or any retailer that sells Surface and get a replacement or B) enter the serial number on-line at MS and get a replacement sent for free. period. Anything less is just bullshit. If MS wants to be considered a top tier hardware player - then this is the ante up...
Here's an example of a level of customer commitment. Unfortunately I'm going to age myself in the process. In the mid 90's Intel had a release of the Pentium chip that had a floating point calculation error. I was working for a major financial services firm at the time and we were using IBM PCs. Once it was confirmed that the problem was real. IBM sent down a group of tech's will new CPUs and they took all 2,000 PCs we had purchased and swapped out the CPUs for free. So this was not a cheap undertaking by IBM and/or Intel - but it was the right thing to do. MS needs to understand the business they are now in what it means to be a player in it.
Bottom line - in this writer's opinion MS needs to get out the hardware business. They aren't very good at it and it's not going to significantly change the MS balance sheet.. In fact if anything it may become a liability. Look at what happened with the Nokia phone division purchase.
At that same time - MS announced that Non Windows Insider folks - would be receiving Windows 10 Mobile sometime in Mid-January...
So since then an interesting twist has occurred.
MS has performed 3 "cumulative" updates to Windows 10 Mobile based on build 10586 with a "." extension. The most recent of those updates was 10586.63. And then on January 20, MS announced that the production release of Windows 10 mobile would delayed until late February. Most folks think it will be longer...
At the same time - PC, Laptop and Tablet users that are members of Windows Insider - started receiving builds of the RedStone branch that is planned for release by MS's end of fiscal year - so on or before June 30, 2016.
So what is going on here ?
In an earlier post I submitted my theory which is that MS has no plans to move forward long term with the Lumia line. So any or all Lumia's out today that are capable of running Windows 10 - will only receive some version based on 10586 with some patches. New capabilities coming in Redstone will never see the light of day on a Lumia. Even the newest latest greatest 5 series devices - the 950/950XL/550 and the recently announced 650.
MS is struggling a little bit right now with their hardware business. A lot of folks with the new Surface 4 Pro and Surface Books are experiencing some challenges with stability, battery life, etc. Same is true for 950/950XL users here in the US.
Additionally MS recently announced a huge recall for power cords for previous generation Surface devices and several Surface related blogs/forums/etc are full of negative posts about users experiences with Windows 10 on Surface - which is pretty shameful. If anything Surface should run Windows 10 best...
So a little perspective may help here..
First - MS could be considered the youngest PC company on the planet. The Surface line has only been available for just over 3 years. When compared to a Dell, HP or Apple - they are a punk kid with about 1% market share.
So there are going to be growing pains as they figure this out. In fact I have to say MS is now getting a little bit of their own medicine.
Second - I saw a comment in a blog post this morning that "MS is a top tier hardware" company. Uh - no they aren't. Never have been and never will be. MS is at best a hardware marketing company. Again when compared to any of the true top tier hardware names - MS doesn't have anywhere near the engineering, support and supply chain resources that a top tier OEM has. They rely on their "partners" for that.
Third - MS needs to treat their customers much better. Remember the XBox Red Ring of Death (RROD) fiasco.
Paul Thurrott posted an excellent opinion article today regarding MS's whole approach with the recent power cord issue. And he's dead on. MS needs to do something really simple. First - clearly state the problem. Second - have a whole bunch of new power cords made and allow users to A) walk into an MS store or any retailer that sells Surface and get a replacement or B) enter the serial number on-line at MS and get a replacement sent for free. period. Anything less is just bullshit. If MS wants to be considered a top tier hardware player - then this is the ante up...
Here's an example of a level of customer commitment. Unfortunately I'm going to age myself in the process. In the mid 90's Intel had a release of the Pentium chip that had a floating point calculation error. I was working for a major financial services firm at the time and we were using IBM PCs. Once it was confirmed that the problem was real. IBM sent down a group of tech's will new CPUs and they took all 2,000 PCs we had purchased and swapped out the CPUs for free. So this was not a cheap undertaking by IBM and/or Intel - but it was the right thing to do. MS needs to understand the business they are now in what it means to be a player in it.
Bottom line - in this writer's opinion MS needs to get out the hardware business. They aren't very good at it and it's not going to significantly change the MS balance sheet.. In fact if anything it may become a liability. Look at what happened with the Nokia phone division purchase.
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