Windows 10 Mobile Production Release for Legacy Devices - Only for a Select Few...

On Thu March 17 - MS finally released Windows 10 Mobile to Production for Legacy Devices.  

 The release appears to be the same 10586.164 build that was released to Production Preview folks back on March 8.  

 So this release is for folks who are not members of Windows Insider and want to receive the update for their qualifying Windows 8.1 Phone.  The key word here is qualifying device.

 Here is the official list of devices that may receive the upgrade.

 Lumia 1520, 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, 532, 535, 540, 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 430, 435, BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q, MCJ Madosma Q501.

 There are some very notable exceptions on the list - for example the long time "flagship" Lumia 1020, along with 920, 922, 928, 820, etc.  Basically if you don't have a 3 series or newer device - you will not be getting the production release.  

 Now this list may change but MS calls out the following...

 "This list includes a limited set of Windows Phone 8.1 devices and does not include some devices that are currently running Windows 10 Mobile in the Windows 10 Mobile Insider program. As Windows 10 delivers significant new innovations, many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience."  

 Basically MS are stating that they - Microsoft - do not feel confident that Windows 10 will run well enough on their legacy devices - other than the ones mentioned.  

 So while many insiders are running a Windows 10 build on legacy devices that are not on the list - they will stop at 10586.164 if they are an Insider.   That's is the case for me with 2 of my 635s which are the 512MB RM-975 edtions. 

If your are not an Insider and your devices is not on the "list" - you will not receive Windows 10.  period.

 Now it goes even further - in order to get the update from MS - you must download the "Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor" app from the store. From my understanding of the way this app works is that it validates your phone against three criteria...
  1. Is your device one of the ones list above
  2. If your device is a Lumia - is it running at least the "Denim" firmware.  
  3. Is your carrier / region supporting Windows 10 upgrade from MS.
If your device fails any of the 3 - you can not get Windows 10 via this method. However you can get it via Windows Insider.  

If your device meets all 3 criteria - then you can "enable" the upgrade and then go to Setting Phone upgrade to get Windows 10.  

So this seems to be a very far cry from the commitment that Joe Belfiore and others at MS made back in 2014 about legacy devices getting Windows 10.  And that is really a shame.  Now - this list may change - but my gut feeling is it won't.  

 All in all this is very disappointing to many Windows Phone users who wanted to get the upgrade - but simply can't now.  MS is telling them - you want Windows 10 Mobile - go buy a new device.  

 An additional announcement this week - was the expansion of the list of devices that will be supported for Redstone and in effect it is the same list as well as the devices already on the "Development" branch like the Lumia 950/950XL, 650 and 550.  My 735 luckily made the list - so will hope to see a Redstone build sometime in April.

 Two things that will be interesting to observe...
  1. Will there be any uptick in Windows Phones 5 series sales as folks realize they may not get Windows 10.  Especially 550/650
  2. How much longer after Redstone 1 release will 3 series devices be supported.



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