Microsoft has decided that the company will no longer disclose when people will receive Windows Phone updates on the “Where’s My Phone Update?” website. Many users are disappointed that Microsoft will no longer be individually detailing country, model, and carrier details for upcoming updates.
“In the months ahead, we’ll continue to send out firmware and maintenance updates as needed. These will be available across the globe—although not everybody will receive or require them. It depends on your country, carrier, and phone model. But remember that you’ll never have to guess when a Windows Phone update is waiting: Just watch for the pop up notification on your device. There are also a few changes on the way for the blog and website. As we continue our growth, we won’t be individually detailing country, model, and carrier details on the Where’s My Phone Update? site any longer,” Microsoft stated on its official Windows Phone blog.
The bottom line here is that Microsoft will no longer be providing specifics on who will get software updates and when they will get them. Instead, a new Windows Phone update will be “available to all carriers that request it.”
Reading some of the comments made on the official announcement clearly indicates that this move has disappointed many Windows Phone users. Comments such as “this is not acceptable at all” and “this is a HUGE step backwards in the update process” clearly shows that the community is not happy with Microsoft’s decision.
Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet spoke to Greg Sullivan, the Senior Product Manager on the Windows Phone team, who urged all customers to relax. “Nothing has changed in regard to how we work with carriers to deliver Windows Phone updates to our customers,” he stated.
Just recently, Microsoft began to finally roll out a service update to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango that addressed a disappearing keyboard issue as well as other issues in the operating system. It has taken Microsoft three months to finally release an update for this major issue that has affected a number of people.
Further reading: Microsoft, Windows Phone 7
