DZone
Mobile Zone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
  • Refcardz
  • Trend Reports
  • Webinars
  • Zones
  • |
    • Agile
    • AI
    • Big Data
    • Cloud
    • Database
    • DevOps
    • Integration
    • IoT
    • Java
    • Microservices
    • Open Source
    • Performance
    • Security
    • Web Dev
DZone > Mobile Zone > The End of Windows Mobile/Phone Just Leaves More Questions

The End of Windows Mobile/Phone Just Leaves More Questions

The end of the Windows Phone era seems nigh, but what exactly does it mean for developers? How clean of a break will this be?

Matt Lacey user avatar by
Matt Lacey
·
Oct. 16, 17 · Mobile Zone · Opinion
Like (1)
Save
Tweet
3.20K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

Image title

With posts like this, it seems that Microsoft is starting to publicly acknowledge the end for Windows Phone/Mobile.

So should we just shut up and move on? It's not that clear-cut. There are still some things to consider.

If you've built Phone/Win10Mobile apps that doesn't mean you should abandon them. If you still have users keep serving them while it makes sense to do so.

Windows isn't dead. It's part of three areas that cover the broad spectrum of computing that Microsoft support.

There's Azure for Web/Cloud. There's Xamarin for X-Platform Mobile development. There's UWP for everything else (PC, Gaming, IOT, & more)

This still leaves lots of questions/thinking points.

Questions specific to the Windows app ecosystem:

  • What, exactly, does "not the focus" mean?
  • Will anything be done to push the consumer focus of UWP apps?
  • Will the mobile version of Windows 10 ever go away?
  • What about small tablets? Will they ever be a thing? And, if so what version of Win10 would they run?
  • What about Windows on ARM?
  • Will we see greater investment and support for UWP and Xamarin? So there's a single solution for client apps on all platforms?

Broader questions:

  • Is it good that there are only 2 mobile platforms (iOS & Android) out there?
  • Are there other mobile platforms that could make a challenge or drive innovation?
  • How important are devices other than the portable computers we carry in our pockets?
  • Will anything ever come of "continuum" style devices where a mobile can become a PC or it becomes your personal, portable storage, and identity?
  • Will people ever get over the silver bullet idea of "write once, run everywhere" (with no specialist knowledge or extra effort required)?
  • When will offline web support be good enough we can all just use the web all the time?
  • How will Microsoft's push for AR/VR/MR with dedicated devices sit with so many other platforms building solutions on top of mobile?
  • Does any of this really matter?

One of the joys of technology is that there are always more questions.....

mobile app

Published at DZone with permission of Matt Lacey, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • How to Use Geofences for Precise Audience Messaging
  • Top 20 Git Commands With Examples
  • A Guide to Events in Vue
  • Building a Kotlin Mobile App with the Salesforce SDK, Part 3: Synchronizing Data

Comments

Mobile Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • MVB Program
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends:

DZone.com is powered by 

AnswerHub logo