Microsoft “ending” support for WP8 and WP7 in late 2014 [but dont panic!]

This story has been going around the blogosphere today, spreading word of impending doom, so I figured I’d try to clear things up a bit.

Microsoft hasnt always been very transparent about their support plans for versions of Windows Phone (they took forever to tell us that WP7 wouldnt be getting the update to WP8), but it seems to be trying a more direct approach this time around, by posting a table on their website explaining that they will be ending support for Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.8 in late 2014.

Basically this means each OS gets about 18 months of support, with WP8 ending on July 8th 2014 and WP7.5 Mango ending on September 9th. So why is this a non-issue?

Because hopefully this means that current WP8 users will be moved on to Windows Phone 9 or whatever Microsoft decides to call the next version of their mobile OS. Microsoft has stated that they will not be leaving WP8 users behind the way they did with WP7, and that they would have “an upgrade path going forward.” This is standard practise for product lifetimes. As such, if WP8 stops being supported, it would hopefully mean that they’ve moved users on to WP9. I’d worry about WP7 users though, but the support document does specifically state WP7.5, so perhaps WP7.8 and onwards will continue to be updated?

Sigh, wouldnt be Microsoft, if they didnt decide to confuzzle users out of the blue.