Windows 10 Mobile
Windows 10 Mobile is an edition of the Windows 10 operating systemdeveloped by Microsoft. This edition of Windows 10 is a mobile operating system that succeeds Windows Phone 8.1 and is designed for smartphones, and small tablets under 7 inches in screen size, running on ARM as well as IA-32 processor architectures.
Windows 10 Mobile aims to provide a larger amount of synergy with its counterpart for personal computers, including more extensive synchronization of content, a new "universal" application ecosystem that will be able to port apps developed for Windows 10 on PCs, Android, and iOS to the platform, as well as the capability to, on supported hardware, connect devices to an external display and utilize a "PC-like" interface with mouse and keyboard input support. Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones will be eligible for upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, pursuant to manufacturer and carrier support. Some features may vary depending on hardware compatibility.
The first Technical Preview for Windows 10 Mobile was made available for download to select Lumia smartphones as of February 12, 2015. Additional Lumia devices were supported in subsequent builds. Versions released after Build 10080, released on May 14, 2015, also work on the Windows Phone variant of the HTC One (M8). Although the M8 is currently the only non-Lumia Windows Phone included in the preview program as of build 10149 released on June 24, 2015, Microsoft has assured that future builds will add support for more non-Nokia, non-Microsoft Windows Phones, though not all devices will be included.
While general availability for Windows 10 on PC is set for July 29, 2015, Windows 10 Mobile is being developed at a slower pace than the PC version and will not be available at the same time.[6]
Development
Microsoft had already begun the process of unifying the Windows platform across device classes in 2012; Windows Phone 8 dropped the Windows CE-based architecture of its predecessor, Windows Phone 7, for a platform built upon the NT kernel that shared much of the same architecture with its PC counterpart Windows 8 including file system (NTFS), networking stack, security elements, graphics engine (DirectX), device driver framework and hardware abstraction layer. At Build 2014, which was held a few months prior to Nadella's announcement, Microsoft also unveiled the concept of "universal" Windows apps. With the addition of Windows Runtime support to these platforms, apps created for Windows 8.1 could now be ported to Windows Phone 8.1 and Xbox One while sharing a common codebase with their PC counterparts. User data and licenses for an app could also be shared between multiple platforms.
In July 2014, Microsoft's then-new CEO Satya Nadella explained that the company was planning to "streamline the next version of Windows from three operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes," unifying Windows, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded around a common architecture and a unified application ecosystem. However, Nadella stated that these internal changes would not have any effect on how the operating systems are marketed and sold.
On September 30, 2014, Microsoft unveiled Windows 10; Terry Myerson explained that Windows 10 would be Microsoft's "most comprehensive platform ever," promoting plans to provide a "unified" platform for desktop computers, laptops,tablets, smartphones, and all-in-one devices. Windows 10 on phones was publicly unveiled during the Windows 10: The Next Chapter press event on January 21, 2015; unlike previous Windows Phone versions, Windows 10 will also expand the platform's focus to small, ARM-based tablets, thus making it a de facto successor to Microsoft's commercially unsuccessful Windows RT platform (which was based upon the PC version of Windows 8). Windows RT devices will receive a different update with some of the features of Windows 10 for PC.
During the 2015 Build keynote, Microsoft announced efforts to ease the porting of Android and iOS software to run on Windows 10 for mobile. The operating system will feature a runtime environment for Android software (codenamed "Astoria"), that will allow Android apps written in Java or C++ to be adapted for use under Windows 10. The layer will implement the majority of Android 4.4's APIs, translating relevant calls into calls to equivalent Windows APIs. Support for Microsoft platforms such as Bing Maps and Xbox Live will be available as nearly drop-in replacements for equivalentGoogle Mobile Services. Android apps for Windows 10 can be published to Windows Store in APK files. The layer contains some limitations: Google Mobile Services and certain core APIs will not be available, and Kevin Gallo, technical lead of Windows Developer Platform, explained that apps that have "deep integration into background tasks", such as messaging software, may not run well in this environment. For iOS apps, a middle ware toolkit (code named "Island wood") provides a tool chain for compiling objective-C based software to run as universal apps on Windows 10. Visual Studio 2015 can convert Xcode projects into Visual Studio projects. Neither of these tool kits will be immediately available on launch.
Naming
In accordance with Microsoft's unification strategy, this operating system will be branded primarily as an edition of Windows 10, rather than "Windows Phone 10". Microsoft had begun to phase out specific references to the Windows Phone brand in its advertising in mid-2014, but critics have still considered the operating system to be an iteration and continuation of Windows Phone due to its lineage and similar overall functionality. Microsoft referred to the OS as "Windows 10 for phones and small tablets" during its unveiling,[21] leaked screenshots from a Technical Preview build identified the operating system as "Windows 10 Mobile" and the technical preview was officially called the "Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones".
On May 13, 2015, Microsoft officially confirmed the platform would be known as Windows 10 Mobile.
Features
A major aspect of the operating system is a focus on harmonizing user experiences and functionality between different classes of devices; particularly, devices running the PC-oriented version of Windows 10, and smartphones. Under the "Windows app" concept, Windows Runtime apps for Windows 10 on PC can be ported to other Windows platforms, such as Windows 10 on mobile, and share nearly the same codebase, but with adaptations for the specific device class. Windows 10 on mobile will also, where applicable, share user interface elements with its PC counterpart, such as an updated Action Center and settings menu. During its initial unveiling, Microsoft presented several examples of Windows apps that would have similar functionality and user interfaces between Windows 10 on desktops and mobile devices, including updated Photos and Maps apps, and new Microsoft Office apps.
Notifications can be synced between devices; dismissing a notification on, for example, a laptop, will also dismiss it from a phone. Certain types of notifications now allow inline replies. The start screen now has the option to display wallpapers as a background of the screen behind translucent tiles, rather than within the tiles. The messaging app adds support for internet-based Skype messaging alongside SMS, similarly to iMessage, and can synchronize these conversations with other devices. The camera app has been updated to match the "Lumia Camera" app previously exclusive to Lumia products, and a new Photos app aggregates content from local storage and One Drive, and will be able to perform automatic enhancements to photos.[34] The on-screen keyboard now contains a virtual pointing stick for manipulating the text editing cursor, a dedicated voice input button, and can be shifted towards the left or right of the screen to improve one-handed usability on larger devices. Windows 10 Mobile also includes an adaptation of the "Continuum" concept from its PC counterpart; on supported devices, when attached to an external display, Windows 10 Mobile can scale its user interface and apps into a "PC-like" desktop interface with windowed apps and support for mouse and keyboard input.
A new iteration of the Office Mobile suite, Office for Windows 10, will also be included with the operating system. Based upon the Android and iOS versions of Office Mobile, they introduce a new user interface with a variation of the ribbon toolbar used by the desktop version, and a new mobile version of Outlook. Outlook utilizes the same rendering engine as the Windows desktop version of Microsoft Word. Microsoft Edge will replace Internet Explorer Mobile as the default web browser.
Release
Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones can be upgraded to Windows 10 for mobile, pursuant to hardware compatibility and manufacturer support. Not all phones will receive the update or support all of its features.
In November 2014, a post by a Microsoft Twitter account stated that all Nokia and Microsoft Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 would receive updates to 10, but following the official unveiling, Microsoft reiterated and stated that they were targeting the "majority" of Lumia phones. In February 2015, Joe Belfiore stated that Microsoft was "working on" a version of 10 for low-end devices with 512 MB of RAM, specifically citing the Nokia Lumia 520—a model which represents 24.5% of all Windows Phone devices sold, but reaffirmed that not all of its features would be supported on these devices.
The "Windows Insider" program, adopted to provide a public beta version for the PC version of Windows 10, is used to provide a public beta version of Windows 10 for selected mobile devices. When the first preview of "Windows 10 for phone and small tablets" was released on February 12, 2015, the list of supported phones was fairly limited, and included only newer third generation (x30 series) Lumia devices, and no second generation (x20 series) Lumias.
Gabriel Aul, the head of the "Windows Insider" program, said that the next build was to be released on April 10, 2015, which would support most second and third generation Lumia products. The build was released as promised, though a bug with device scaling means that the Lumia 930, Lumia Icon, and Lumia 640 XL are not included, although all the other Lumias are supported. This includes the Lumia 520, the most popular Windows Phone of all time, though delivery of the update was put on hold for it and several other models, such as the Lumia 640, encountered problems with backup and restore.[44]An update to the Windows Phone Recovery Tool resolved these concerns, and delivery of Windows 10 updates was restored to the 520 with build 10052, and to the 640 with build 10080.
With the release of build 10080 to the Lumia 930, Icon and 640 XL on May 15, 2015, almost all second, third, and fourth-generation Lumia products now support the preview, except for the recently released Lumia 540. Furthermore, the HTC One (M8) for Windows is now also compatible, becoming the first non-Lumia product to do so.
Build number 10136 was released on June 16, 2015, with a "migration bug" that required that existing devices on build 10080 be reverted back to Windows Phone 8.1 using the Recovery Tool before the installation of 10136 can proceed. This migration bug was fixed a week later with the release of build 10149.
While these latest builds are not supported on any devices other than those previously supported, there remains a possibility that subsequent updates might add support for new devices. Additionally, while Microsoft has promised to bring Windows 10 Mobile to every Windows Phone device, including those made by Microsoft's numerous third-party hardware partners, not every one will get a preview build via the Insider program.
Hardware specifications
Minimum specifications for Windows 10 Mobile devices are similar to those of Windows Phone 8, with a minimum screen resolution of 800x480 (854x480 if software buttons are in use) and 512 MB of RAM. Owing to hardware advancements and the operating system's support for tablets, screen resolutions can now reach as high as QSXGA resolution (2560×2048) and further, as opposed to the 1080p cap of Windows Phone 8. The minimum amount of RAM required is dictated by the screen's resolution; screens with a resolution higher than 960×540 require 1 GB of RAM, screens of 1440×900 and higher require 2 GB, 2048×1152 and higher require 3 GB, and 2560×2048 and higher require 4 GB.
As with Windows Phone, Windows 10 Mobile supports ARM system-on-chips from Qualcomm's Snapdragon line, adding support for the 208, 210, 615, 808, and 810. The operating system will also introduce support for IA-32 system-on-chips from Intel and AMD, including Intel's Atom x3 and Cherry Trail Atom x5 and x7, and AMD's Carrizo. Although some of these supported chips are 64-bit, Windows 10 Mobile will only support 32-bit operation.
Version history
See also: Windows Phone version history and Windows 10 § Version history
Previous Current Preview
Table of versions: Windows 10 (mobile) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Version | Release date | Highlights |
9941.12498
|
February 12, 2015
|
User interface
General user experience
Security features
Apps
Universal apps
|
10.0.12534.56
(Build 10051) |
April 10, 2015
|
General user experience
Security features
Windows apps
|
10.0.12534.59
(Build 10052) |
April 21, 2015
|
Bug fixes
|
10.0.12562.84
(Build 10080) |
May 14, 2015
|
User interface
General user experience
New technology support
Windows apps
|
10.0.12634.131
(Build 10136) |
June 16, 2015
|
User interface
General user experience
"Project Spartan"
New technology support
|
10.0.12648.133
(Build 10149) |
June 25, 2015
|
User interface
General user experience
Windows apps
New technology support
|
Announced features
|
Unreleased
|
User interface
General user experience
New technology support
Microsoft Camera
|