Microsoft to kill off support for its Windows 10 Mobile Office apps

[midian182]

In brief: Microsoft’s slow eradication of Windows 10 Mobile will continue through to January 2021—the date when support for its first-party Office apps comes to an end.

Way back in July 2017, Microsoft officially pulled the plug on the Windows Phone, and its focus on Windows 10 Mobile was waning rapidly. The inevitable happened in January this year, when the Redmond firm said free support for all Windows 10 Mobile products would end on December 10—tomorrow—which means no more security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options, or online technical content updates.

But what about Microsoft’s suite of Windows 10 Mobile Office apps, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote? They still have a while before reaching their end-of-support date: January 12, 2021.

The Office apps will still work after that date, but users won’t be able to install them on phones using Windows 10 Mobile. Additionally, there’ll be no more technical support, bug fixes, or security updates.

"Because of the lack of security updates, we strongly recommend that if you wish to use Office on a phone you transition to the latest Microsoft Office apps on an iOS or Android phone," wrote Bill Doll, senior product marketing manager for Office apps strategy at Microsoft.

Microsoft started stepping away from Windows 10 Mobile in 2016, so killing off support for its Office apps isn’t too much of surprise—Facebook did the same thing with its application earlier this year. But with the company’s Surface Duo—a dual-screen, Android-powered smartphone—arriving in 2020, Microsoft’s next mobile venture could be a lot more successful.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/83092-microsoft-kill-off-support-windows-10-mobile-office.html

 

[gusticles41]

I really do wish Microsoft would make another honest effort at the Mobile market. There is so much potential for them to go toe to toe with Apple in the professional world...Seamless integration with Windows 10 and O365 for business on the go. Maybe even docking ability, and/or the ability to run Win 10 in S-mode. I'd sign right up.

 

[Irata]

I really do wish Microsoft would make another honest effort at the Mobile market. There is so much potential for them to go toe to toe with Apple in the professional world...Seamless integration with Windows 10 and O365 for business on the go. Maybe even docking ability, and/or the ability to run Win 10 in S-mode. I'd sign right up.

While I was and still am perfectly happy with my Lumia, I am rather hesitant to give them another chance.

To be fair, continuing support for a platform for which the last product was released four years ago is commendable.

 

[gusticles41]

While I was and still am perfectly happy with my Lumia, I am rather hesitant to give them another chance.

To be fair, continuing support for a platform for which the last product was released four years ago is commendable.

For sure. The Windows phone wasn't quite it. I think they'd be better positioned now with Win 10 to support a successful mobile platform.

 

[Irata]

For sure. The Windows phone wasn't quite it. I think they'd be better positioned now with Win 10 to support a successful mobile platform.

There actually was some integration between desktop and mobile via Cortana. Worked pretty well but seems to have stopped now.

One drive also worked well - any saved files were immediately available on my other Win 10 devices, same for anything synched via MS online services (reminders etc).

You can even dock the Lumia 950 (XL) but I never tried that.

Not saying everything is perfect - you can increasingly tell that OS development stopped a while ago.

 

[netman]

Screw Microsoft for betraying millions of Win 10 mobile fans...

 

[cliffordcooley]

I've walked away from all Microsoft's applications. Right about the time you get comfortable using their applications, Microsoft will drop support or change it for the worse. When you finally decide to move to a third party vendor, you find out they are more loyal to their user base. And you also find third party applications are magnitudes better software.

 

[Danny101]

Microsoft was looking for immediate gratification instead of maturing through the issues. There was a place for Windows 10 mobile for enterprise if they would have sold it as a package or an extension of Microsoft's other products to corporations. There's more to the market than just the consumer space. A missed opportunity IMO.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Screw Microsoft for betraying hundreds of Win 10 mobile fans...

FTFY. WP 10 never really got off the ground. MS alienated most of their userbase years earlier with the botched 8 and 8.1 upgrades.

Microsoft was looking for immediate gratification instead of maturing through the issues. There was a place for Windows 10 mobile for enterprise if they would have sold it as a package or an extension of Microsoft's other products to corporations. There's more to the market than just the consumer space. A missed opportunity IMO.

Cool idea, except that MS constantly broke compatibility between windows versions. WP 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 were basically entirely different beasts from eachother, nothing like upgraded android versions or iOS versions. Businesses are NOT known for re-writing apps and replacing hardware every 2 years.

 

[onestepforward]

FTFY. WP 10 never really got off the ground. MS alienated most of their userbase years earlier with the botched 8 and 8.1 upgrades.

Not quite the WHOLE truth.

People bought WP 6.x devices. Those couldn't be upgraded to WP7. So, people got rid of their WP6.x devices and bought new WP7 devices. Problem was, WP7 devices couldn't be upgrade to WP8. So those loyal customers got rid of their WP7 devices and bought WP8 devices. Then came WP10, and, guess what? Have you seen a pattern here. Yep, that's right - only a handful of WP8 devices could be upgraded to WP10.

MS treated their customers with utter contempt and is why MS alienated its user base.

 

[DelJo63]

@netman @cliffordcooley

The Office apps will still work after that date, but users won’t be able to install them on phones using Windows 10 Mobile. Additionally, there’ll be no more technical support, bug fixes, or security updates.