Windows user accounts have evolved from isolated local accounts to online accounts with various privacy challenges. We help you sort out your accounts and find the. Optimize your storage and back up your files because the Windows Fall Update is just around the corner. At the IFA Keynote in Berlin Terry Meyerson, VP of the Windows. App Downloads for Android Download, Discover, Share on Uptodown. Lineage 2 Revolution AsiaA new must have MMORPG for Android. Microsofts Windows Phone is officially dead, and its a good thing. Even before Android and i. OS made their debut, smartphones always existed, running on either Windows Mobile, Black. Berry OS, Palms web. OS or Nokias Symbian OS. As Android and i. OS started gaining dominance, the slow and steady fall of other operating systems started. Companies tried their level best to stay afloat, but somewhere lacked innovation, and trust of its loyal users. Microsoft did everything it could for the survival of Windows Phone, but the efforts didnt do any good. Now, the companys VP of the operating system, Joe Belfiore has put the final nail in Windows Phones coffin. Do not try this at home. Concerned OnePlus 5 users have been reporting online that theyre having difficulties making 911 calls. Its unclear if all OnePlus 5. You have not yet voted on this site If you have already visited the site, please help us classify the good from the bad by voting on this site. Those who have been following Microsoft events would know Belfiore as the face of Windows Phone. He was one of the important contributors in the platforms development having created Metro UI, Live Tiles, and also the companys digital assistant, Cortana. A year ago, Belfiore took a 9 month leave of absence to travel the world, where he created uproar by using the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Apple i. Phone. Currently, he owns a Samsung Galaxy S8 loaded with Microsoft software. In a series of tweets, Belfiore revealed why Windows Phone is officially dead, but before I talk more about it, lets look at some key highlights. The journey of Windows Phone. Ive used Windows Phone since the early days, having tried my hands on Krome IQ7. HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch to name a few. Using the Krome IQ7. Andy is the best Android emulator available. Andy provides an easy way to download and install Android apps and games for your Windows PC or Mac. Windows XP on a smartphone. Microsoft made a switch from Windows Mobile platform till version 6. Professional to Windows Phone 7 with Metro UI. This was also the time when Microsoft partnered Nokia for Windows Phone 7 based smartphones. A year later, Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 8, with more refined interface, new features, bug fixes along with a bunch of other improvements. It was also the time when Nokia introduced the Lumia 9. OIS and wireless charging to name a few. ALSO READ Windows 1. Mobile isnt the focus anymore Joe Belfiore. Reviewers praised the Lumia 9. Despite being five year old, the Lumia 9. Nokia also introduced the Lumia 1. Windows Phone. However, all those efforts didnt help either. Microsoft also went ahead to buy Nokias smartphone division, with an intension of making Microsoft branded Windows phones. The Lumia 9. 50 and Lumia 9. XL were the two flagship smartphones running Windows 1. Mobile OS, featuring top of the line hardware and Windows Hello IRIS scanner for biometric authentication. Once again, critics praised the camera on the both the Lumia smartphones, but the wow factor was missing to excite people to buy a Windows Phone. My personal experience with Windows Phone. Back in 2. 01. 3, I was reviewing the Nokia Lumia 7. I was fascinated with the camera prowess of the smartphone. Windows Phone 8 was just in its nascent stage, and it did seem promising. I, for once, enjoyed the no gimmick, pure OS and the Live Tile interface seemed something unique. I went ahead and bought the Lumia 9. I was impressed with the camera performance on the Lumia 9. But slowly, I started feeling left out from the crowd. Yes, the app ecosystem on the Windows Phone OS is to be blamed for the same. Look ma, no cool apps. The Windows Phone platform had popular apps, such as Whats. App, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, the ones that I heavily relied on. Instagram, on the other hand, was in beta for over a year, with no major upgrades. In fact, most apps got new features a couple of months after arriving on Android and i. OS. Take Facebook, for instance, while Android and i. OS versions got the ability to check in, the same arrived on Windows Phone after four months. Ditto with Instagram, after being in beta for a year, it then moved to stable build, with the ability to record and share videos. But things dont end there it was the time when Snapchat started gaining prominence and I was eager to test it out. But I was disappointed to learn that that company had no plans to release Windows Phone version of the popular app. Snapchat is just one case, there have been many other apps that didnt make their way to the Windows Phone platform. Reason Number of users on the platform were too low for the company to invest time and resources for developing Windows Phone apps. Android app supportconsideration. When Microsoft couldnt get developers to build apps for Windows Phone platform, the company briefly considered adding Android app support to the platform. It would have allowed users to sideload APK files of their favorite Android apps and run on Windows Phone. It did create some uproar in the industry, with many calling it a failed move as it defeated the purpose of having Windows Phone OS in the first place. The company did work on it, and offered an early access to developers via preview versions, but the feature never made it to the public version. Black. Berry, also went through the same phase with app gap problem, where it lost to rivals Android and i. OS. The company completely revived its operating system by introducing an all touch Black. Berry 1. 0 OS. It also introduced two smartphones the top end Black. Berry Z1. 0 and the mid range Z3. One of the interesting additions of the new OS was the support for Android apps. While I reviewed the Black. Berry Z1. 0, back in the day, I did give the feature a try. I copied some Android app APKs, such as Facebook, Temple Run and Subway Surfers, to name a few. But the experience wasnt great. It was basically an app running inside an app, which not only used up resources, but also resulted in stuttering, thus ruining the overall experience. Enough of past, back to the present. Ive talked about the journey Microsoft Mobile OS, but its time to look into the present and future where Windows Phone is officially dead Replying to a few users on Twitter, Belfiore mentioned that existing Windows Phones will continue getting bug fixes and security patches, but the company is not planning to introduce any new features or new smartphones running on the OS. Belfiore even admitted to the fact that Microsoft tried hard to pay the developers to write apps for Windows Phone platform, but the sheer volume of users was too low for companies to invest in having developers. Clearly, Windows Phone is no longer a focus for the software giant, and if youre still clinging to one, it may be the time to move on. The future for Microsoft. While Windows Phone OS was losing to Android and i. OS, there was one thing that Microsoft did right. They say, if you cant beat them, join them. And thats exactly what Microsoft did by bringing popular apps such as Word, Excel and Power. Point to Android and i. OS platforms. The move was a masterstroke, not only giving a big boost to the most used Office apps on rival platforms, but also eating a share from Google Docs and Apple i. Work apps share. The basic version allows users with read only privilege, whereas Office 3. To put the above points into perspective, Microsoft had not only been struggling with the app ecosystem, but also with the Windows Phone marketshare which was less than one percent for over three years. The move to stop focusing on new Windows Phone OS and hardware is good for industry as we only have two major operating systems to look at. Its also good from developer point of view, as they will only need to focus on building apps for Android and i. OS that have good number of users. And considering all these points, its a good thing that Windows Phone is officially dead.