If you're still on a Windows 10 Mobile device, this is the year to jump to another platform. Microsoft said this week it will cease support for the mobile operating system (OS) on December 10. There will be no more product or security updates for the platform.
"Windows 10 Mobile, version 1709 (released October 2017) is the last release of Windows 10 Mobile and Microsoft will end support on December 10, 2019," Microsoft announced in a life cycle support page this week. "The end of support date applies to all Windows 10 Mobile products, including Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise."
Microsoft announced in 2017, the same year it canceled Windows 8.1 Mobile Support, that it wasn't developing any new features for the OS (and that it wasn't working on new phones), but you could still get security patches. That won't be the case in December.
The company advised current users to switch to iOS and Android devices.
"With the Windows 10 Mobile OS end of support, we recommend that customers move to a supported Android or iOS device. Microsoft’s mission statement to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more compels us to support our Mobile apps on those platforms and devices," Microsoft said in an FAQ.
The company has been increasingly focusing on getting its services on iOS and Android devices. Android has become the de facto mobile OS for Windows users, especially with the introduction of Windows 10's "Your Phone" feature, which can move photos, send and receive texts and even mirror Android on your desktop. For iOS users, most Windows 10 services are buried in the Edge app.
And while there have long been rumors of a pocketable Andromeda device (which has been shelved, for now), it seems that it won't be a phone and will more likely use a version of Windows 10's new C-Shell command programming language.
