Windows 10 was announced last year and it is already on a number of new smartphones including the Lumia 950 and 950XL that were unveiled last year.
While many owners of Windows Phone devices have eagerly been waiting for the start of the Windows 10 update rollout, it seems their patients will finally be repaid. Microsoft will apparently start rolling out the mobile version of Windows 10 to more than a dozen smartphones that are still running on the older Windows Phone 8.1. Given the hype this OS has received ever since it was launched, this news will very much be appreciated by those using the older handsets.
Not all Windows Phone devices will receive the update
Even though this is good news for many of those using older Windows Phone handsets, it will be a little disappointing for some as the Windows 10 update will not reach all devices using the older OS.
To help those using older Windows Phone smartphone, the Redmond Company has unveiled a new application known as UpdateAdvisor which will notify users if at all their devices are eligible for the said Windows 10 update. The company has also unveiled a full list of devices that will receive the new update and they include Lumia 435, 430, 1GB variants of Lumia 635, 636 and 638, Lumia 1520, Lumia 930, Lumia 830, Lumia 735, Lumia 730, Lumia 640 and Lumia 640XL, among others.
The funny thing is that Microsoft has eliminated some older Windows Phone devices that were included in the initial list of devices eligible for Windows 10. Whether this list will be refreshed to bring them back or even whether the Windows OS maker will be adding other devices to the list is currently unknown. The company, however, notes that the update will only show up on devices they feel are eligible and will deliver the best experience after the update.
Windows 10 Mobile was scheduled to start rolling out to devices before the end of last year. However, it has only managed to reach several devices, which actually came with it out of the box. With the new Windows 10, users of older Windows smartphones will enjoy a bunch of goodies the new OS brings, among them an improved Cortana, new Office and Outlook apps as well as the Continuum feature.
More devices are expected to be released running on this Windows 10 OS, but most OEMs seem to be taking it slow as Microsoft beefs up the mobile version of the OS.