Microsoft has been a leading company in the tech industry over the years. Because of their reputation, most people would have already stumbled onto their many products and services. Their computers are well known, there is a solid fanbase around their Xbox consoles, and Microsoft has already ventured into the world of cellphones. In line with this, the tech giant will be making some changes towards one of their mobile services.
Three years ago, the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system was released for various mobile devices. That was a significant update over the previous operating system which lacked many features for a mobile system.
What has ended?
Many companies, especially in the tech industry, have to make occasional changes to their services to keep consumers up to date with the latest features. Windowscentral.com previously stated that the Windows Phone 8.1 support for updates and security patches would end on July 11, 2017. During the Windows 8.1 launch, there was a statement announcing that Windows would only support the operating system 36 months after the lifecycle start state.
For those unfamiliar, the latest update for the platform was the GDR2 update which was added in spring 2015. Since then, the operating system hasn’t seen any new updates due to the company's shift to Windows 10 Mobile.
A quick look when it was at its best
According to Gadgets.ndtv.com, Windows Phone 8.1 had some great features like the “Superb start screen personalisation” and “Cortana integration.” Microsoft added more customizable options wherein you could add a personal image to the tiles on the start screen of the device. Similarly, they also added an option for users to change the screen sizes of the Live Tiles.
Windows 8.1 also introduced Cortana which acted like a virtual assistant that could help users with their daily tasks.
Moving forward with Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile has been a solid successor to the previous operating system and is still going strong. Even though Windows 8.1 support has ended, Microsoft still has a few surprises up their sleeves, as per TechRadar.
Rumor has it that the company might even have plans of releasing their own mobile brand. CEO Satya Nadella teased consumers saying that they are indeed still interested in producing more smartphones, TechRadar reported. This has already further rumors, but for now, we’ll just have to wait for more updates from the tech giant.
