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UPDATE—Wed. Mar 30
Yesterday we started delivering the “copy and paste” update to Windows Phone customers at more than a dozen new mobile operators around the world. You can see the list at Where’s my phone update?, which we’ll be refreshing on Wednesdays with the latest schedule changes. So far, the rollout is progressing smoothly.
We’re happy to finally be making the copy and paste update more widely available. But remember that we deliver updates gradually to start. So even if the status for your operator changed today to “Delivering update,” it could still take about two weeks or so before you see a notification on your phone that it’s available for download. We are taking the time to really scrutinize quality to make sure your update experience is great.
Some of you might actually get two update notices on your phone in the weeks ahead (if you see “Delivering update” in both status columns). The first notification you’ll get is for the February update. After you’ve installed it, you’ll receive a second notification for the “copy and paste” update. I’ve already started seeing a few questions about the timing of these in blogs and forums. Because of how our process works, these two updates most likely won’t arrive back to back, but days or even a week or two apart. You can learn more from this support article.
I know many of you are disappointed, even angry. You certainly have a right to be. We’ve fallen far short of your expectations, and our own, and for that I’m truly sorry. We didn’t set out to let you down. But it’s clear we did. Whether you’re someone who has followed our progress from the start, or are new to Windows Phone, you deserve the updates we’ve promised. My job is to get us on the right path and deliver them.
_________________________________________________
Hello again. As you might have heard, yesterday we kicked off our "copy and paste" update, which comes with a bunch of improvements for your phone. Today I want to briefly explain where we are in the process—and also tell you about a new update-related resource we’ve created based on your feedback.
This week we’re sending out the new update only to “open market” Windows Phones around the world. If you own one of these phones, you probably already know it: these are unbranded devices that aren’t customized for a specific mobile operator.
In next phase of the rollout process, we’ll start making the update available to a broader range of customers. When the update is available for your phone, you’ll get a message on the device letting you know. All the instructions you need to install an update are here on the Windows Phone website. (Some new phones come with the update already installed.)
As I explained in my last post, we intentionally deliver updates in batches, ramping up gradually to help ensure the process is as problem-free as possible. (And so far, the copy and paste update is proceeding smoothly.)
But it was clear from your comments that many of you want a better idea of when to expect your update. Is it on the way—or weeks away? These are natural questions.
To help answer them, we’ve created a new online resource called Where’s my phone update? that provides some insight into where we are, and where your phone is, in the multi-stage update process.
Much like when you buy a PC online, you’ll be able to see when the update is being tested and packaged, when it’s about to ship, and when it’s “left the warehouse.” We’ll update the site once a week with the latest status changes.
Thanks again for your patience as we work to streamline our phone update process. And I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about copy and paste and the new update status tool.
Eric Hautala
General Manager, Customer Experience Engineering
Finally some communication & openness! Good page on carriers & countries!
One thing though "But it was clear from your comments"
You only took ONE thing away from 271 comments, I mean THATS ALL YOU TOOK FROM IT, there are tens, if not hundreds of things customers want improved and have tirelessly tried to tell you guys, I appreciate the progress but seriously you guys need to ramp it up and start addressing more of the issues at a MUCH faster rate!
This really is unacceptable. We've been promised the update since November, had a stalled update go out and nobody knows what the hell is going on. Why is the February update only in a "testing" status? Isn't it past February already? When are you guys going to get your act together?
I'm a software developer myself and know that we can release things to a broader audience with less hastle, using Microsoft products no less. Why can't you guys seem to get it right? Just when it appeared you were making progress, we take two steps back. As much as I love my Windows phone, I'm seriously considering returning it for an Andriod phone instead.
Yes, this is a step in the right direction. Can we have some insight into the lenght of the testing period? Thank You for the post.
awesome - this is great news the status update is exactly what we all wanted. Thank you. I will refrain from detracting by adding any buts or if only's.
I appreciate the response and thank you for it. Now I just want to get my update and happy days are here again.
Good work Eric and the team at MS
I like the idea of the "Where's my update" tool. But it doesn't work. When asked to select my location I select USA (because that's where I am) but then my phone is not in the list! I have an LG Optimus.
Yeah, information on the length of testing period would be useful as otherwise the carrier could just keep testing it for ever and essentially block it!
Thank you for getting us some info. IMHO transparency is paramount when your update process is not as simple as Apples (meaning everyone gets it at once).
Few questions:
- Why does it take 10 days to stage the update and can this be improved?
- Could you add "Early adopters" feature that would allow "power users" to get update as soon as it's available (at their own risk)?
That's pretty much all I needed to hear Eric...that an update is going out on new phones first, not the early adopters with send feedback enabled that are helping to improve the platform and that I could wait anywhere from 1 day to 2-3 months for the update depending on my carrier. So about half the time it takes Android fragmentation (100% improvement should be the PR spin), and about 1 day to 2-3 months longer than iOS, and maybe 1 week to a month longer than I could get a custom ROM for an Android Phone!
So when Steve Balmer says, first half of March, then wait we want to get it right second half of March, he really means second half of March to late April possibly May, maybe later, depending on carrier testing and if we roll the "here it is" beacon out to your phone that week! Whether you delayed the update two weeks or not was no matter, Steve Balmer still lied to us to continue to string of lies that has been perpetuated with this platform since late summer 2010.
One thing you can put on that spreadsheet is a list of the carrier, or handset manufacturer contact information on each handset. So if they are taking to long to test, while other carrier are not, we can call them for information. If not I'm sure I can provide it because I will be calling AT&T very soon!
Eric, you folks really need a kick up the bottom for failing to communicate, failing to deliver and failing to provide fast and quick updates to WP7 that it desparately requires and that was PROMISED by Microsoft. Obviously, Microsoft is completely LYING.
How can you justify it to your customers, that they have to wait months and months, to deliver a just few fixes and a basic (although poorly implemented) feature -- that is an utterly appalling state of affairs. Honestly, there is NO reasonably and sane method of logic that could justify waiting this long for such a simple update.
If you are going to take at least 4 months for each and every BASIC update, then quite honestly, whats the point of supporting this phone? Just give up now ok.
Why is Vodafone Australia *not* listed on that page? www.microsoft.com/.../update-schedule-world.aspx
Thanks MS - this transparency is appreciated....if a little overdue ;) Much angst could have been avoided in twitterspace and MS Blogs if this has of been more pro-active. Anyway - we understand that MS required strong carrier support to partner and push a new MS OS for mobiles. We understand that one of the carrier pre-req's was mpore control in the update approval process. We have to live with this - to get our WP7. Understand.
Now however, with this update from MS - we, the customers, can now voice our displeasure and focus our attentions on our respective carriers.
Note Aussie Telstra Feedback blog on this - as Telstra are = worst carrier in world based on this schedule: feedback.telstra.com.au/.../1604251-you-need-a-single-portal-update-page-for-all-smart
Cheers MS
(PS Of course - we customers are a Demanding bunch, so any word on when the SD Memory Expansion certification process will be made public so I can expand my Focus up to 40GB ?) ;)
I would like to say I feel better about this, but I do not. 13 days later and 260+ comments on your last post--almost all negative--and we are told what we already could surmise. I guess the web page is supposed to put our heart at ease, but what does it really tell us? Wow, my phone is still being "tested." What is it in this update that needs 3 months (or longer) testing? I cannot express my frustration. Why don't you guys just put it on the table? If you screwed up, say so and make it right. If carriers are the cause, point them out (even if indirectly or by leaking the info). If some manufacturer like Samsung is to blame, tell us. I can confidently tell you that come November, when my contract is up, if there are not HUGE changes, I'm going back to the iPhone. Also, as a side note, please mark that I left and iPhone for WP7. I've noticed many others in the comments mention the same thing. That is a big deal. It shows how much we believed in the product and the promises of greater things. Patience is wearing thin.
"Could you add "Early adopters" feature that would allow "power users" to get update as soon as it's available (at their own risk)?" - Great Idea, because otherwise we're going to be looking for workarounds from the hacker community
OK so it looks like if your an AT&T customer forget ever getting updates. I don't blame Microsoft I blame AT&T...
I think a call from CEO to CEO needs to happen to get AT&T off their butts and finish testing. For over a month now I've waited for the February update and now looking at the update page I bet I don't see any update till JUNE! I should have know this as I've been a loyal MS customer for ever and an AT&T customer since 97... They are two big to care about TRUE customer service and I should have just gone with a fruity phone and not help MS grow their Market.... in functionality I stepped 10 years in the past. I cannot even attach a file to an email and send it in this new OS... Such basic functionality not even on the horizon... Not to mention the inability to schedule reoccurring appointments on the phone...ie Every two weeks, and so many more... I'd love to get in a customer focus/beta group as whoever they have are so out of tune!!! Zune has failed to obtain substantial market share because they cannot get basic feature/functions down and out the door....
I wasted so much money and time betting on MS to come back strong only to be let down time and time again. No wonder why tech/media coverage says MS will fail.... Past Performance Predicts Future Performance. If Ballmer cannot right the ship get anyone who can!
You can't do this update any worse, you failed in communication, you failed in delivering, you failed your customers. I won't blame handset maker or carriers. It's Microsoft fault. I like the system but the way you are treating us early adopter is bad. Stop lying to us you said late March not early April or May. You are trying to blame the handset maker but if I remember well, you have strict requirement that include even the Camera button. I really regret the day I bought my windows phone.
Let me get this straight, to help answer when I will be getting my update you kindly created a resource called "Where's my phone update" that states the update is in "Stage 1: Testing" for an undetermined amount of time, "Stage 2: Scheduling" which should be less than ten days, then onto "Stage 3: Delivering update" which might take several weeks. So let me check my math:
Undetermined number of days + Less then 10 days + several weeks = No closer to knowing when I will receive the update than before the helpful table was posted.
The only thing I get from the table is that I have 8 days left in March and that I will not be seeing the update this month. Oh wait, my bad, you never said March of what year. I bet I see the update March of 2012, what a fool I was, it is all so clear now.
The iPhone is on numerous carriers worldwide, but it doesn't take apple for ever to test, schedule and release an update, yet they have millions more customers then windows phone 7 - Its ridiculous that such a big company is struggling to release an update, what idiots!!
It is concerning to have so many devices still in testing. It's also interesting, but acceptable that it takes two weeks to schedule the update. Once it's scheduled, "several weeks" is disturbingly nebulous. Is it safe to assume that is less than 8 weeks because then you're talking about months. Why might it take more than a couple weeks? Is this to be expected long term or can we expect it to improve as more successful updates are rolled out?
Reviewing the data it seems like AT&T might a stumbling block or is the related to the Samsung update problem? Regardless, hopefully this pattern doesn't continue.
That said, I think that the "Where's my phone update?" is a huge step in the right direction, and I look forward to even more transparency in the future.
I've been as patient as I possibly can but after today's post I had to say something. While increased transparency is a step in the right direction there is alot of vagueness in the details that really matter. From the "Where's my phone update?" page:
"Because updates are typically delivered to customers in batches, it might take several weeks before you receive notice that an update is available for you."
Are you kidding me?!? Windows Updates are easily rolled out to all users at the same time, and yet I could wait weeks before I see it on my phone? What is the point of calling this a January/February/March update when it could be the middle of May or even longer before I see it. Why the hell can't power users have the option to download the update early?
It's sad enough that I learned about the update from sources other than Microsoft, and the Microsoft couldn't be bothered to make a short blog post on the day of the update release. Why the hell doesn't someone from Microsoft actually respond to the comments directly? You guys must have noticed the low ratings your blog posts have been getting these past weeks? I think alot of us would agree this is in large part to having no real dialogue with Microsoft.
Make the updates accessible early to those that want it, not just devs. I can handle resetting my phone if I have to if something screws up. What I can't handle is Microsoft not giving us the choice.
/goes to Google to find out how to unbrand his phone
PS: Why does Zune have so little to offer in Canada? How do you expect to compete with iTunes (which sucks, no question) if you don't make all your services available?
"Much like when you buy a PC online"
Were not buying a pc, were updating software and if you compare it to a pc you guys suck, windows update releases a batch of updates, once a month to millions of users worldwide, on different hardware. Yet you guys cant release one single bloody update!!!!
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF..... I have AT&T and I'm doomed! :( Why does this have ot happen! ATT forums have people complaining at AT&T and MS forums have people complaining at MS. Can't you guys make this faster? D: I don't want to wait till june to get the update, I wont!
"Thanks again for your patience as we work to streamline our phone update process. And I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about copy and paste and the new update status tool."....please read all the comments from your previous post.
Folks - trying to keep some perspective here (also a not happy Focus owner O/S). MS needed carrier support 100% to push WP7 (whole new untried OS against formidable foes). Yes - they have not engaged their customers as well as we expected and they probably hoped. Yes we expect better. With multiple handsets and a come-from-behind sales strategy, MS was never going to be able to dictate to carriers for multiple handsets in multiple regions of the world to be pushed to each carrier network without carriers approval. And until now, MS have been fiercely protective of having any criticism leveled at carriers, actually absorbing the hits themselves.
The latest post "Where's my update" is therefore the first really significant shift back towards MS WP7 customers we are actually seeing. If you read it the way we disgruntled carrier customers can - it is actually a "Name and Shame" exercise wrapped up in an informative status update (which had not previously been provided by MS).
Contrast the AT&T recent Facebook update on WP7 Updates from today "We know you’re eager to update your devices. We want you to have the best experience possible, so as soon as we have news to share on the update, we’ll post it right here on Facebook."
So MS are finally doing what their carriers wouldn't - and giving us at least some schedule/update. If we want improvement from here - it will be the carrier's that will have to deliver it - given the commerical realities of the MS WP7 - Carrier relationship.
This has gotten to the point where it's like watching a reality TV show, about some washed up star with major life issues. The problem is I've been IN EVERY EPISODE, not watching from the outside shaking my head. Tell me Maury, is it my kid, please don't let it be my kid....DAMN it's my kid and it's gonna cost me 2 years of my life!
Frankly all your where's my update page does is frustrate me even more. It's not like you're delivering this update over the air like android does. This update is being "delivered" through zune which should be no different than using itunes to download the update. It's not like you have to manage the wireless providers' bandwidth delivering the update. What the %#$( is the issue here? Put the file up so that we can download it. You've had four months to test this crap. Honestly if I have to deal with this again i'm done with developing for this thing. Right know i'm definitely regretting spending my money on this phone. Get your act together because all i'm seeing is more of the same crap we got with windows mobile before this. So far by my count you on your way to missing four cycles in the modern smart phone market not one. The iphone is the standard that you need to meet and surpass in every way if you hope to compete and right now you're not even making any effort when I look at this from the perspective of an iphone user. We've heard from day one that updates would be available for all devices at the same time, not staggered over what is now sounding like months. I could have excused this cautiousness being that it is the first update but so far you've screwed that up royally even with the extra effort to be cautious.
I don't even have a phone, and I have been watching from the sidelines, and it is really depressing.
I understand the idea of rolling out the update slowly at first, just to make sure if there are any issues, you can catch them before it affects a lot of people -- completely fine. But after a few days with no issues, why would it not go out full speed?
What is your excuse, that Microsoft's data centers can't handle the load? If so, that's a load of bullcrap seeing as there are billions of computers running Microsoft software, and at least 400+ million running Windows 7, and recently Service Pack 1 was released upon the world, ranging anywhere from 20MB to almost 1GB... Yet there are what, 2 million Windows Phones out there?
I hope that this only happens with this update, and that the only reason for this update taking so long is because it is a new platform, with new rules, and what not, and that the next updates come out quickly. If not, Windows Phone 7 is doomed.
Eric, I don't envy your job or position ATM. I am glad you folks listened and provided some form of communication. You are in a no win situation. However, MS and it's partners (mainly the carriers) have all screwed up this first update. No one expected a first update to go flawless. Nothing ever does in technology.
The "Where's my phone update?" page is a good start. I would emplore you to look into an option for Power Users, to obtain software updates to help further test. Heck, Brandon Watson reached out the ChevronWP7 team on Homebrew options for the WP7 community. Why can't your team reach out to pationate users here, providing feedback? There are plenty of folks providing criticism, while mainting civility.
We should not be tied to carriers testing cycles, as we have no idea how long that will take, or if it would really ever be released. Carriers in the US are not consumer friendly. Everyone knows this. Heck, if we knew who to contact within the US carriers, I am very sure they would recieve a ton of positive criticism. I, like many, still hold true that no carrier deserves to test software updates, unless the update affects cellular or network traffic. Carriers should be treated just like an ISP. Does an ISP test MS patches prrior to release? Uh, no. You say you have 60 partners world-wide, yet you only have 5 OEM's. That means there are 55 Carriers that you classify as partners. Why would you believe this is scalable, and an efficient method to release and test software updates? I really hope you folks are looking to resolve this very critical issue, as it only serves to stunt (if not kill) the growth of WP7.
So for Att customers, the update is not going to be available "Late March". When Apple and Android can update their devices (Android with all fragmentation) with such an ease and you make is sound like "rocket science" I guess its time for everyone including you to say good bye to wp7.
Thanks for the update Eric. Next thing MS team should learn is STOP promising updates / delivery timelines UNLESS you make sure that you can deliver it.
While the idea is good, the whole picture is that they didn't have any other option than release this because the update is going to take from 1 to 2 months more to arrive for many devices. This makes the update process officially open but slow anyway, qt least
"And I’m looking forward to hearing what you think "
How could you fail to get an idea of what were thinking, every blog post about updates is commented on like mad. Angry customers complaining and annoyed/frustrated by your stupidity - Just read the comments on the other post and this one and you'll hear what we think, but you wont like it and nether should you!! Useless!!
HURRY UP AND UPDATE!!! - Its simple!!!
This is no way to treat your customers. This is my last foray into the WP7 world and its been a couple of months now that I've been recommending the iPhone or Android. As a platform it's nice but it needs fixing. I got into the platform for its potential and not for its initial state. But it seems that it's going to stay in its intial state for too long.
Great job of showing the love to the early adopters.
Next time just stick to Windows, Office and enterprise solutions.
I suggest you stop calling these people "partners" if they led you to believe that you could release the update in January, then let you promise late March, and then are still testing your update. Samsung firmware issues aside, I think of nothing so possibly wrong that would take so long to test when phones have had NoDo for so long
If At&t is considered the "premiere carrier" for Windows Phone (as stated by Microsoft) then why are we (At&t users) in late March and still testing for an update that was supposed to come out months ago? I can't express how much frustration I feel with the whole update process. This is NOT how you "look out" for the customer.
Mr. Hautala, thank you for trying to be more transparent with us, the consumer. I feel that the 'Where's my Update' page is the right step in that direction, but more can be done. You state in the post, it is clear that we want a better idea of when the to expect these updates. The problem is that the WMU page does nothing to tell us that. All that page does is tell us whether we at the beginning or the end of an unknown time period. We still have no clue when the update is coming, we just learn that it could be coming soon (however long soon is). I feel as though, you guys aren't taking this seriously. I can only believe that most of the issues are coming from the mobile operators. I understand that as the newest OS, you are at their whim. You don't want to anger them, so you haven't able to say who is at blame for the update taking so long. But you guys are Microsoft; sack up. If Windows Phone fails that's all on you, the mobile operators won't care. So stop letting them dictate everything. You said in an earlier blog post, that the phone manufracturers have firmwware updates they want to push and that may factor into why an update takes so long. Let them give that to you, you test it and send it a smaller update or something. However this process needs to improve, get it done. Don't tell me all the smart people are at Facebook, Apple and Google. I can't have any sympathy for the issues you guys are having, because it's do or die time. Do you guys realize there is no one I can recommend this phone to? Other than maybe my mother and that is only because she doesn't know what the competition's OSes can do. I really hope you guys get it together and get competitive.
TL;DR: Microsoft grow some balls, stop letting the mobile operators jerk you around. Remember when you guys were a terror, crushing all the competition? What happened?
"Remember when you guys were a terror, crushing all the competition? What happened?"
The United States Department of Justice happened, that's what :-\
@ian.aldrighetti Touché sir, touché.
If you have no control over the carrier, stop bundling your bug fix with the so-called OS upgrade. Many of us don't care about Copy & Paste or Multi-tasking, just push those bug fixes, send them over through the Market Place or whatever means suggested in these blogs!
The status page says "We periodically release software updates that add new features to your phone or improve its performance." You have missed quite a few periods, as a period is one month.
Eric, we understand that you are probably not authorized to answer the majority of the comments, and we don't want to kill the messager, but it is absolutely in your job description to bring all the feedbacks here to your boss and all the way up, let Joe Belfiore or SB read these blogs and give us a straight solution that we truly deserved. Any remember that no doubt the whole world is reading these blogs, including Google, Apple and Nokia!
Seriously this is a joke. WTF happened to all the promised updates. I hope all the big shots are reading this.
Getting the carriers involved in any capacity with the update process was a terrible idea.
Microsoft, please grow a pair. All this allowing involvement with the carriers is going to kill this platform before it's really off the ground.
It's nice to see some updates on the matter however as others have mentioned, news about this update came first from an outside source two days ago which doesn't say much for your efforts to communicate what's going on as it just looks like you were pressured because news about unbranded phones being updated got out and made a fuss with the users who have patiently been waiting for this update.
A few thoughts about the "Where's my phone update?" page: First, testing phase with indeterminate amount of time doesn't really tell us much and thus it looks like as an AT&T customer with a focus I'll be waiting until sometime next month assuming that there are no big hiccups in the process which is yet another broken deadline since this thing was supposed to be coming 2nd half of March. Second what's with the lack of updates for MS supported apps for WP7 and why couldn't this feature just be created as an app for the Phone so that users could just check the app for update status. My thought is this should just be baked right into the Settings app within Windows Phone 7 and a link to click the support department of the party responsible for the delay would be an extra nice touch. Okay that last point is wishful thinking but I'm sure it would help push the update along if customers were using making more calls to the right people. Thirdly, if this update has been completed sometime in December why has it taken so many months to get only a handful of devices tested. The reason I picked WP7 over Android was because of the supposed lack of branding and customization by the carriers and OEMs within the OS and thus updates should be simpler to test and deploy but I'm starting to question that. Recent news about Nokia suggests that they have been granted permissions to modify the WP7 OS as they wish as part of Microsoft's agreement with them which makes it sound like WP7 is really just headed down the same ally as Android.
I happen also to be an iPhone customer who had a 3Gs and was happy with it but decided to get a Samsung Focus instead of an iPhone 4 when my contract was up back in January. I made this decision for several reasons but one of the main ones was that WP7 was supposed to be updated directly from Microsoft without any control given to OEMs or the wireless carriers and thus we wouldn't have to wait or rely on hacking our devices to get new features as they are released. Since I bought my phone from Costco which has an excellent 90 day return policy, I'll be approaching the end of that period in the next few days and since I'm unable to get this update by that time and verify that I will be happy with the changes I would be a food to keep my Focus so instead I'm going to drop it for an Android device. It's sad that as a .NET developer who was hoping on getting involved with developing apps for WP7 I will probably instead focus on building Android apps instead because I don't want to deal with the slow pace and lack of communication that I've experienced for this platform. So long WP7, Android here I come.
Damn this site needs an edit button. Just adding this:
I don't have to wait til my ISP says it's okay to let me update Windows. I expect the same with my phone.
I'm really pissed. When I first saw the WP7, I was sure MS was finally moving in the right direction. Once I got my HD7, I was really impressed how the OS performed. I was really happy when MS announced that they were releasing an update.
You really kicked the Early Adopters like us to the corner. I'm really amazed to find out that a corporation like MS cannot even handle to update their customer devices in one go. This is a shame. No doubt Apple iPhone is kicking your butt. You guys should really get your act together.
Either you just shut up and not talk about the update at all until you guys clean up your mess, or when you start talking about it, you deliver in time.
I'm really disappointed and you guys really messed up this process. You have really pissed off each and every one of us (early adopters). The only way you guys can really make up for this mess you have created is make sure we get the 'Mango' update as soon as possible, and it better have some mind blowing features.
On a last note, I love WP7, but I HATE you guys for letting us go through this BS.
Eric, thanks for the info,, but as far as the where's my phone update resource is concerned, are you aware that planet earth extends beyond the United States of America?
Apologies Eric, there IS an international schedule - now this is MUCH BETTER, I can see from this that my update will arrive in about 10 days, Brilliant and very much appreciated!!!!!!!!
Again, all you guys need to chill out....why all the hate? Yes Windows Phone needs improvements. Yes Microsoft needs more communication, blah blah blah..who the hell cares. This is the first BIG update for Microsoft and hang-ups were expected. Microsoft will learn from their mistakes this time around and the next update will go much smoother. What did you expect being an early adopter anyway? If the way Microsoft does things is unacceptable to you, make your own damn company and try to break into the smartphone market with a brand new OS.
You call this transparent? A big chart for dummies that doesn't actually give any substantive info. You folks at Microsoft are becoming expert at throwing a lame breadcrumb out when we know you have the gray matter to actually get what we mean. You know, many of us are a cut above your average teen fanboy and have a much deeper level of understanding and intended use for these devices. The only thing I can give you credit for in this latest post is telling how badly screwed we all are. What's missing is a full explanation of WHY, AFTER FOUR MONTHS, MOST OF US ARE STILL IN FLIPPING TESTING PHASE FOR WHAT, BY MOST ACCOUNTS, IS A TINY UPDATE!!!!! Good grief, how can anyone be so unbelievably dense? You DO realize, do you not, that carriers like AT&T don't appear to have ANYTHING in the form of clued in tech support able to even recognized our devices CAN be updated, let alone provide details as to why their own "experts" can't test their way out of a paper bag? Explain to us why ANY device is still in testing. This is just inexcusable. Like a bad marksman you guys KEEP MISSING THE TARGET.
I'd encourage everyone to tell it to the man. This is pathetic.
steveb@microsoft.com
Thanks for the info, hope to see more like that!
What would really help I guess is if media never ever said "update is available"... It's useless statement because it is just teasing and nothing else. So why do that... If they could only be shut up :-)
Personally, I am happy with WP7 so far, incredible product! I wouldn't mind an update (some marketplace app fixes :-) but it's not like I must have it NOW. Patience is virtue.
typical testing time for ATT is 6-8 weeks + 10 days of scheduling + up to 4 weeks of staging a rollout of updates?? that is a 3-4 month window. Whoever came up with this idea.. they shouldn't just be FIRED they should be black listed from ever working on any technology devices period.
I honestly don't see what WP7 has over other OS now.
With iPhone you always get the update, on day 1.
With Android you wait if the phone manufacturer thinks it sold enough units to make effort adopting a newer version, than wait and wait and wait to actually update your phone.
With WP7 you wait for MS, than you wait for the manufacturers and than for the carriers and than for MS to make a schedule, which takes "only" several weeks.
And it wouldn't really be such a big deal if we had a fully functional OS and updates were just small tweaks and improvements, but WP7 lacks features that the other OS already have (very needed ones), the heavier applications take forever to load and a lot of the advertised features have nothing to impress (I doubt anyone thought how dumb implementation Xbox live would actually be).
You made me regret buying my windows phone, you lowered my trust level in you to the ground and you made me ask myself if other corps can make better OS for Notebooks too.
How can the same company that stands behind Windows, Xbox, Kinect, Office and SharePoint be the same company that fails to deliver a fully functional phone OS for 3 years, how do you fail so badly?
Well, I have HTC 7 Trophy, unbranded, there is no update yet avaiable, nor the phone is listed on the update list.
This really is unacceptable that you would expect people to deal with major bugs for 5,6 or 7 months. Palm and The Pre had a lot of problems but I will give them credit for one thing. Their updates. Within 3 days of release my Pre already had an OTA update and 3 weeks later it got another one. They were able to release 9 updates in less then a year. If a barely surviving going broke Palm could do that why cant MS? Granted you do have more phones to deal with but if MS cant handle it maybe MS should change their business strategy.
These delays maybe would be more acceptable if you were simply adding features to a 2.0 OS or above, but for a 1.0 full of bugs the updates need to come soon and often. Honestly I can handle it, I'm not complaining for myself. I have many different phones I can switch to until WP7 gets up to par. Im speaking for all the people I recommended this phone to back in November who have to live with the bugs everyday. We expect a 1.0 to kinda beta which is ok but also were lead to believe by MS that MS was the major authority when it comes updates and that they would be frequent and prompt. At this rate I might as well sell my HD7 because by the time the OS gets up to task to be my main phone the hardware will be well out of date.
MS really need to consider having it own version of the Nexus line for WP7. A phone with cutting edge hardware that gets its updates straight from MS without any carrier involvement what so ever. Speaking of no carrier involvement, the Dell Venue Pro is not even sold by Tmobile, why do they have any say when that phone gets updated?
Eric - It's great if more communication from Microsoft is taking place on the status of updates. You've got some loyal customers hanging in there but there is growing frustation and time is running short. I'm still very disapointed that my Samsung Focus is unable to join hidden WiFi connections (while every other device in the world can). Still no word at all when that support wil be added. I'm desparate for this phone to be useful at my work, but i can not control my companies wifi policies. Is it possible to give a status on thisfeature? Is it going to be added, or not?
i guess you cant please everyone :) thanks for explaining the process. looking forward to the update...
OMG, Open market phones Delivering update Delivering update. So where is it?
I have non-branded Samsung Omnia 7. 7008 update was delivered first day when it was launched. And what about NoDo? Still nothing here. (Czech republic).
I love WP7, but seriously, Microsoft is doing nothing here in Europe. Bing search is crap, bing maps is crap.
And globally, If you want great product, you MUST schedule updates faster - everyone was expecting updating every month. And really fast incoming of new features (NoDo, Mango). ... You must work on localization etc!
If you invest 500M USD to marketing, it will not bring great product.
Where are things like Mobile Access point (sharing internet - available for wp6.5, android and iOS has this feature built in!)
I have WP since Win Mobile 2003. When I bought 2003, I was thinking, ill take notes from class into word, take a pictures of blackboard etc.. it became usable now in wp7. But I've been waiting 7 years!
When I was buying WP7, I gave Windows Phone last chance. Please do not disappoint me!
Before: It’s been reported that Microsoft says 93% of WP7 customers are satisfied with their device and that 90% would recommend the platform to others.
Now: I bet you won't report on satisfaction rates for quite some time.
I used to work at Microsoft, and this state of affairs makes me sad - but doesn't surprise me in the least bit. In fact, knowing this kind of thing would happen is the main reason I left Microsoft. Culturally, Microsoft simply isn't capable of competing with companies such as Google and Apple anymore. The culture there can be summed up as "CYA" (cover your ass) as opposed to rapid innovation and strong technical skills. It seems like the Windows Phone team is so politically charged right now, everyone's just trying to keep from getting screwed on their annual reviews or blamed for the latest mess. There simply isn't any sense of accountability or personal responsibility. Look at Eric's post. It's full of vague, "can't blame me", cover your ass language with no real information. And this is exactly how people communicate within Microsoft in their status emails. No one gets blamed for anything, no one gets in trouble, everything is fluid, and this attitude of "oops, oh well!" is ingrained in everyone. Ship date slipped? "Oh well!" Had to cut an important feature? "HAHA...so did we! here have a donut!" Can't complete the feature that your team committed to and our team was desperately depending on? "Oh who cares? I'll just cut my feature too and let my manager know!"
This is the kind of culture that existed on so many teams I worked on, and in the end I just got sick of it and left. Folks, don't be fooled by the flashy new UI in Windows Phone - it's just a hollow shell above a dieing platform. Microsoft got lucky to have a few great designers who built Metro for WM7, but luck doesn't last forever (I'm pretty sure those designers also got fed up and have probably left by now). Ultimately you have to back a great product with innovation.
There is no innovation happening at Microsoft. I remember how innovation was driven at Microsoft when I worked there. Every few months the team's GM would tell the managers below him to organize an "innovation day" (presumably to show his leaders that he was doing something useful). So the middle managers would tell their minions to prepare 5-minute speeches about an imaginary, innovative new feature for 5 years in the future. Now this CAN'T under any circumstances be something *useful* or what customers need right now...or you would be laughed at! It had to be some crazy sci-fi thing so far into the future that people just go wtf. Extra credit for stuff that has no logical way of ever being implemented. Everyone who attended these meetings knew that nothing would come out of them, so people basically started thinking about them the night before. Then they played their part, did a little dog and pony show, and went back to their jobs. Those presentations would never be discussed again until said GM needed some more ammo for his VP.
Ask yourself --- is this how Google or Apple work? Every revision of iOS and Android evolves the platforms in ways people actually use! For example, Apple recently added improvements for AirPlay streaming, which is something people can make practical use of everyday on their Apple TVs. Google improves maps, adds Priority Inbox to Gmail, and so much stuff that makes perfect sense...it's what people WANT! Microsoft, on the other hand, is always trying to play catch up, and even has trouble doing that with simple crap like copy and paste! The culture at Microsoft simply doesn't allow simple or innovative ideas to come to fruition - it's all about covering your ass, getting promoted, gloating over the smallest wins, and never taking responsibility for failure.
The only places Microsoft is going to succeed for now are where they have their monopolies. Anything that has an innovative competitor like Google, Apple, Mozilla, Salesforce, etc - Microsoft is destined to fail, unless the internal culture changes radically.
Take it from me, a 5 year Microsoft veteran, all the innovation is happening elsewhere. By betting on Windows Phone, you're keeping yourself from enjoying all the great innovation that's happening on the Android and iOS side. For a sampling of what you're missing, take a look at this article from today's WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/gTSOK9. Cut your losses with Windows Phone now, and get back to enjoying a beautiful, cutting edge smartphone experience.
-exmsft
This new page is all well and good, but is still honestly not nearly good enough. What I really want to know is how long AT&T has had the update for. I want to know if you guys just gave them the update, so next time when you guys say an update will be released I can add 6 months to that time to know when I may get it.
What the hell does AT&T have to test in these updates anyway? The carriers are not your customers, Eric. Start treating your early adopters better or this new platform of yours won't last very long. AT&T will see to that.
WP7 is otherwise the best mobile OS out there, but this update stuff is enough to drive people from the platform. US carriers are not your friends, and they're not ours either. Work around them.
First, thanks for the updated information! But something does not seem right. I have an “open market” Samsung Omnia 7. According to "Phone update" page I should be getting the update. According to my Zune, there is no NoDo update for me. You mentioned batches, but then when are you going to release the last batch? Btw, my operator is M-Tel, country: Bulgaria.
I dont understand. I won my phone, its unlocked and does not have carrier branding. Im on T-mobile in the uk. Now am I global, or uk on the wheres my phone update tool? The Feb update came through very quickly but failed. This update wont come through. Im getting very frustrated now.
I am In China, with an unbranded hd7, on china mobile, but no updates for me. any help here?
Hi Eric, this is definitely a step in the right direction. I think more information is ALWAYS better than less information.
However, I do have a unbranded LG Optimus 7 and I checked for the update last night and still got nothing. I think that saying that the status is "Delivering update" but then that "it may take weeks before you receive it" is not very informative... Can you try to be more specific there? Maybe say something about the phone models, or any other info that can give us a more precise date on when we are getting the update.
Thanks,
Leo.
when will update availble in india for unbranded HTC 7 Mozart. As their is no india related information any where.!
Just Having been waitting for a loooooooong time, but still in no updated..
Thanks for the step in the right direction update Eric but this post doesn't really tell me anything. It tells me that the update is coming and I pretty much knew that before your post.
As an LG Optimus 7 owner on Orange UK it looks like the update for my phone could be anything from 10 days to several weeks away for both the February and March updates - can you be any more specific than that? Is the February update going to come at all / Will both updates be rolled into one delivery of the March update?
You have had months to get this update tested and released. As a developer I know how long it takes to test and re-test software, as someone who has been involved with the mobile industry since smartphones become open platform (circa 2002) I have a pretty good understanding of the perils involved. I've written software for smart phone OSs and I've supplied 3rd party software to mobile manufacturers for inclusion in their ROMs so I also know how quickly things can run as well. Please, please, please give us some dates and sort this mess out.
Using a Unbranded HTC HD7, still no update....:(
Its nice to get some info. But I think it is best described by Liveside.net; we want to cry. Testing, Scheduling etc What is this all about??? Then getting mad at Paul Thurrott for telling the truth that carriers ARE BLOCKING UPDATES!!
Really, this is one step forward, but boy-o-boy, we got some ground to cover to even get close to making WP7 and its ecosystem competitive. But I think you can gather that from all the responses here on the blog.....
Step it up Microsoft, before its too late!!!
Thanks for providing some information - but please, try to make the update process smoother next time. I love my Omnia 7 and love the WP7 OS, so it breaks my heart to see the ire that is being kicked up by this impressively slow update cycle.
This is the first update (if you count February's aborted update as part of the overall NoDo picture), so I'll cut you some slack. But please, when it comes to Mango or, if we're so lucky, any interim updates, please do something to make the process both more transparent and faster.
I still don't understand why Apple is making its updates available world wide on the same day... :(
If you are going to allow AT&T and other carriers to hold back updates so long, you should work with them to provide refunds to users who don't want to wait. I don't need copy and paste that bad, BUT if I have to wait longer than 6 months to get ANY UPDATES on my Focus, I want to be able to get a phone that does (iPhone) or that allows me to unlock it and apply the update myself (Android). I am a developer, and I was hoping to make some applications for WP7, but not anymore.. I even have a license to the Telerik WP7 controls, and I have bought probably about $150 in apps for my phone. I am not recommending the phone to anyone else, and I am letting all the people that I did recommend it to, that if they bought one, it will NEVER be updated again because that is how things are looking. I have often crashes and it keeps going to some weird state that looks like it reset itself (www.youtube.com/watch). Even if both updates didn't fix those issue, it would still show that Microsoft cares about their users, but obviously they don't..or at least they don't care about WP7 customers. The carriers don't care about their customers, so Microsoft should have never left it up to them. AT&T keeps cutting features to customers all the time so they can make more money off them. Release the updates to everyone or give me my $199 back.
Announce an update, then testing it? Shouldn't it be other way around? First test it and announce it when its ready to be released? How stupid is it to announce "future updates" when you are not in a position to deliver one update without issues? Had you not announced this update 6months back, may be ppl wouldn't be so pissed of!!!!!
How many negative coments will it take for Eric to come back to us with another load of bull , Guessing he is now back in the office high fiveing & back slapping for the fantastic spreadsheet he has put out telling us nothing other than all the carriers are still scheduling the update ??????
"Stage 2: Scheduling
Operator testing is complete, and Microsoft is scheduling the update for delivery. This phase typically lasts 10 days or less."
10 DAYS FROM WHEN ERIC ?????????
PLEASE SAVE THE BACK SLAPPING & HIGH FIVEING TILL YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY ERIC.
Guys your really starting to lose us. Based on previous announcements we were lead to believe we would get our update this month, but now we're told that it depends what phone and from whom you bought it from. I remember at the launch you made a point of saying you were trying to insure everyone who bought a windows phone got the same quality experience - what happened to that?
Open Market HD7 in India....em still waiting :(
Eric,
As Eric To Eric, I appreciate the post.
Might I suggest that the testing of the phone-specific firmware and the testing of the O/S be separated, so that we can get our O/S updates faster, and then whatever the carriers do with the firmware is up to them?
This way, Microsoft could roll out the entire O/S update ALL AT THE SAME TIME, regardless of carrier, and we might not get some patches to the phone firmware that the carriers are still testing.
II realize that a lot of times the O/S depends on the firmware update, and I also know that the carriers need to test the firmware ... I get it.
I do also realize, this being the first update, that the interleved updates of both have made things more complex than they will be in the future. We're really only on the first update, after all.
I also realize that the company and its lawyers want to be cautious and roll out the update slowly, so that traceability can be maintained. I can only hope that if things go well, the engineers can be given a little less priority in the process, so that customer satisfaction can be increased.
I'm sick that I'm on AT&T, the premier partner for WP7, and it doesn't look like I'll get my update for a month or so. What's fair about that? All we're creating with this staged roll out is a bunch of customers who like the phone, but are angry because their neighbor just got the update, and they don't know when they'll get it. I'm for the "update at risk if you're a feedback person" idea put forth in one of the other comments.
Let's put that type of update process in perspective:
"Sir, we can get the car you want, but we don't know when it will come in, and the manufacturer is still testing it. We might be able to schedule delivery in a few weeks, but that depends on the testing results." Would you buy a car fro these guys?
I want WP7 to succeed. I want Microsoft to succeed, but it is all about planning, execution and communication. If we can't get them right, we will not make it.
Enjoy Windows Phone 7!
Eric
The main issue that I take with the handling of this update process is the inaccuracy of which the information has been presented.
I come from Android, and was an early adopter with the T-Mobile G1. The first update to the G1 took 4 months, and was minor to say the least; while the first real update (Cupcake) took 8 months. By comparison, if this update only takes 6 months, it is not a bad thing. So, what is all of the frustration about? Stick with me.
I remember lots of frustration from the G1 community at that time as well, with the update delays. Lots of posts in forums, such as the ones seen in the comments, here. However, the major difference between these two situations is how they were perpetuated. The Android team did not constantly make inaccurate promises of release dates. This point is an important one.
See, in my opinion, as much as others will not like hearing it, the openness at which the Windows Phone team has tried to be is the cause of all of these new negative feeling and attitudes towards WP7. For example, the wait for cupcake was a long one, but not anywhere near as frustrating as this wait has been. Why? because I was not promised; initially, very soon, taken by all as within weeks of the phone's release; then early 2011, with an undertone of January; then February, which was changed to a minor pre-update, which failed; followed by an international promise of early March, which was later pushed back to late March; like this WP7 update has been promised. Notice the difference?
I have a HD7, and I am in the Scheduling phase. This initially made me feel good; I was merely one phase from the coveted Delivering stage. But, the extra "openness" struck again. After further deciphering, I learned that this meant that I would be in this phase until anywhere from 3/25 to 4/2; though, an indication of when this phase was entered would alleviate this uncertainty, but I digress.
Then, the big shocker of "openness" killing an emotional high, the Delivery phase can take "several weeks"! Now, my mind automatically resolves this "several weeks" estimation to mean at least three weeks. I make this estimation because several is clearly more than one, and, I believe that if it was to be within 2 weeks, several weeks would not have been the wording used. Therefore, my update will take, at minimum, until April 8th, and at most infinity, based on this attempt at openness. And, I am one of the lucky ones to be in the next to last phase.
My main point is, all of this openness, or should I call it vague openness, has caused more frustration than good. Windows Phone 7 began with quite an amazing customer satisfaction rating. I am pretty sure that the issues being caused by the vague openness and inaccurate estimates; or promises, as it will be deemed by many, is not helping to maintain that customer satisfaction.
What I would do if I were the Windows Phone team? First, I would stop this inadequate attempt at openness. It is not helping, in my opinion. Next, I would go back to the table with the carriers, and present them with a solution to the customer dissatisfaction that is occurring:
1. As noted by many here, propose an "install at your own risk" updating mechanism. Many of your users are savvy enough to handle this responsibility. Just present a waiver prompt, and let us fend for ourselves.
2. If carriers are worried about the "effect" that such untested updates may have on there network, provide a blocking mechanism; which I am sure that carrier already have in place, in one form or another; that would block any misbehaving handsets with untested updates, requiring the downgrading of said update in order to reestablish a connection to the carriers network.
That is my feedback.
MS, this is terrible. I switched from Apple to you because I thought that THIS time, you would do it right, but I guess I was wrong. Several points:
1) Why in the world are you issuing an update in "batches"? Does that make any sense at all? Do you update Windows OSes in "batches"? No, everyone gets the update all at once. That's equitable. There is no earthly reason two people with the same phone would get an update at two different times. You should be downloading the software to your PC for cripes sake. The only reason I can think of that you're doing this is because you're STILL not certain that your update will work on the phones. You're scared that your update will brick phones just like the mini-update did the Samsung Focus, so you do it in batches so not everyone is affected all at once. And that's pathetic.
2) Your phone update feature in the Windows Phone 7 software is just as useless as it was in Windows Mobile 5 and 6. It's a joke. It would be useful if you updated the phone fairly frequently like you do your PC OSes, but you don't. By the time an update comes (will it be every 6 months?), everyone will have known about it and will be waiting for it anyway! Look at Apple! Do they have that feature built into their phones? No! Because it's useless when you only update your phone every six months to a year.
3) MS, you may try to pawn off your problems to the carriers, but ultimately, a minority of people will be blaming the carriers and a majority will be blaming you. You may blame different hardware and different manufacturers, but YOU dictated the hardware requirements, so you have no excuses. Your PC OS arm certainly doesn't have that much trouble and the hardware that it runs on is orders of magnitude more complex. Next time, when you want to tell your customers when an update comes out, either SHUT YOUR MOUTHS or give us the real date of when users will ACTUALLY see the update on their phone.
4) Oh, and one more thing, new users may like the fact that the HTC Arrive will already have the "NoDo" update, but you will just anger your CURRENT user base by doing so.
You know what I think? I think that Google and Apple's next updates will be called "NoMS", because you guys really screwed up here.
Thanks for the new information on the belated NODO update! I checked the "Where's My Phone Update" link, and I see that the Samsung Focus in in Testing. I only hope that Microsoft and AT&T give some consideration to the people who got their phone early. I got mine on Day One (I was first in line and got my phone first that day!)
I thought the carriers could only block one update. AT&T is now blocking two updates for my phone.
After coming from an iPhone, I'm disappointed that I can't get the latest release of the phone software immediately, like I could through iTunes before. I understand you're extra careful on the updates, especially considering the botched first update, but for the people that want to do it on their own manually, you should make it so we can do that through the Zune software instead of having to wait. It's just another reason why I still can't fully recommend the phone to people that ask me about how I like it. On another note, if you guys make it so WP8 is only available on a whole new set of hardware when it comes out, then I'm done for sure.
I'm 41. I've been an I.T. professional for 19 years. I have built my whole career around Microsoft. I program in .net. All my servers run Windows Server 2008 R2. Exchange 2010, SQL 2008 R2, etc. I got the Samsung Focus the day it was made available. 90% of the phone and features that it has works great. Alot of the phone's aspects are brilliant like the concept of Hubs. The Metro UI just doesn't work for me in all cases especially when text is cut off like APP names in the marketplace. For me the other 10% is just bad. So for me I have been 90% happy with my phone but I will have to say that the thoughts of it being May or later before I get an update is unacceptable.
Some people may think the delays in this first update will get better in the future like the update promised late this year. I can tell you in my 19 years of watching how Microsoft handles things I would fully expect this type of update process to continue for years to come so if you plan to stick with WP7, expect the update process to take months. If you don't, you are kidding yourself and in the end you won't be laughing.....
Another failure by Microsoft..... I tried, gave it a shot. Tried to be loyal. All I got was disappointment.
I really want to keep backing WP7. I love the platform. But come on. You can update Windows on the desktop with hundreds of thousands of different configurations and customizations and it works almost flawlessly and here we are with maybe 10 phones and can't get it rolled out. Just for that we better get Mango in the summer and something else around November. You owe us an extra for this MS. That's an order coming from a paying customer for almost all your products.
Also, how can you show real time demos of features like multi-tasking and IE9 almost right after lunch and we can't get them for almost a year? How long have you guys been making Operating Systems. I can't believe that it's not stable. Maybe not the browser but definitely the other stuff.
thank you for listening. the new update progress tool is awesome. My only gripe is that y'all are still treating a symptom instead of a disease. I do not know why y'all had Ballmer go on stage and say this update would come out in the first half of March. When in reality for most Americans we wil not get in until May. Why is it taking ATT so long to test this? How long do they actually have to test it? I thought that an update could only be delayed for one cycle. It appears that the updates are now being blocked for one cycle+ For now Microsoft I have cooled off a bit because you have shown you are willing to listen if we are standing over you beating you in the head with a stick. Please realize though that I (and most others) still have many questions and many very real concerns about the success of your new platform. I think the biggest concern is your ability to rapidly address feature parity with other platforms and more importantly your ability to rapidly address bug fixes and security threats
"As an added bonus, as Microsoft's official Windows Phone 7 support Twitter account admitted earlier today, there's no guarantee that the firmware will ever leave the "testing" state. Updates will be cumulative, but if a network operator never signs off on the testing, that cumulative nature counts for nothing, and it means that in practice carriers can indeed block updates forever. "
per Arstechnica
arstechnica.com/.../windows-phone-7-update-schedule-arrives-stinks-for-att-users.ars
We want the WP7 in Brazil. When will arrive ?
I read the "Where's my phone update?" List, and I am using HTC Mozart from the international Open Market, the status stated as "Delivering update", it make me kept checking my phone for the message like an idiot for the last 12 hours.
Wondering the status "Delivering update" really mean delivering???
Eric I would love you to sit down and have an interview with Peter Bright at ArsTechnica.
would love to see your PR spin on this article also. I just don't understand how a multi-billion dollar company like MS does not have enough b@ll* to take on ATT. address the disease not the symptom! if ATT could not block updates this chart would not be required! Angry customers would be happy customers and y'all could focus on getting great software out the door. Imagine that world for a second MS. Now wake up and come back to the nightmarish hell you have created for yourself
Eric, you know you will get fired yea?
*selling my 1-month optimus 7 now.
This is a good small step in the right direction. It is funny that the carrier is not listed on the US side even though it is AT&T that is blocking the updates. Ok you call it testing not blocking. The communication is a definite plus but that is only addressing a small part of the issue. The real issue is the Carriers. They could care less about their customers, especially in the US. We have extremely limited options. If you take AT&T as an example. Their customers see regular updates to the iPhone but not Windows Phone. So to them it must be a Microsoft issue. Something is wrong with Microsofts platform. When in essence the real issue is you give the Carrier too much power to dictate the customers experience with the platform. If you look at the only two areas you are successful with consumers in the hardware space it is Windows on Pc and Xbox. Can a Windows PC maker block Windows updates? Can an internet provider block an update on a PC or the Xbox? No.
Why are you giving the Carriers the power to ruin your platform that had so much potential? You need to address root cause of the Customer unhappiness. Your customers want the update so provide it to them. You have to move fast in the consumer space or you will never be a player. You are going to drive all your early adopters, those that care most about the platform to other platforms like android or iphone. Address the root cause and this goes away. Run updates on your schedule so you have a chance at making this platform relevant.
Looking at the Microsoft page:
Stage 1: Testing
The software update is undergoing mobile operator network and quality tests.
Stage 2: Scheduling
Operator testing is complete, and Microsoft is scheduling the update for delivery. This phase typically lasts 10 days or less.
Stage 3: Delivering update
Microsoft has started to send out the update. Because updates are typically delivered to customers in batches, it might take several weeks before you receive notice that an update is available for you.
It looks like we may not see it on Samsung Focus till June or later.
I am so disappointed by all this, and I am stuck in a 2 year contract with ATT that I got specifically to get the Focus as recommended by Paul.
I went back and read the article from four months ago from ArsTechnica that Quotes Paul. I should have seen this coming and waited for the Service Pack like Windows taught me.
arstechnica.com/.../windows-phone-7-updates-can-carriers-block-them.ars
I really just want out of my contract and away from this phone. I was still waiting for the the Microsoft Certified SD upgrade but after one official mention it has been completely ignored. I really recommend you guys lock out your PR overlords and have a real conversation with your most loyal customers, and soon.
Also of note I see we skipped out on the Windows Phone Radio.
When Paul Thurrott said that the carriers were evil and if Microsoft let them have their way with updates we’d be screwed, I was hoping he was just being cynical. I realize now that he was just forseeing the future. As an At&t (Samsung Focus) customer, I have come to the realization that I won’t be seeing the update for a long time. I’m frustrated because I like the platform so much, but feel like I need to dump it to relieve myself of the frustration over this screwed up update mess. I hope MS see’s that their losing customers because of this.
Signed,
An Increasingly-frustrated Windows Phone Owner
Should have been done this way from day one.
Either way i still cant understand how can a multi national company still be so slow to push out a couple of updates.
Let the guys in charge know your thoughts and feelings. You know you'd do it if you were getting nowhere at any retail store.
MS CEO, Steve Ballmer | steveb@microsoft.com
phone: 425.706.8448
AT&T CEO, Randall Stephenson | rs2982@att.com | randall.stephenson@att.com
phone: 210.351.5401 (direct to his secretary)
alternate phone: 210.821.4105 (headquarters, press 3, ask for Mr. Stephenson's office)
I really hope MS keeps up the momentum on feature updates, but for now I can't wait to flash this to my HD2.
It's laughable that Microsoft can be demoing features like multi-tasking and ie9, which are far in the future - When the very first update EVER for wp7 wont be coming to some people for another month!
One thing that needs fixing is the buggy OS, this doesn't require carriers to test their networks so why not just release a bug fix update - Adding features are great (If we'll ever get them) but when the very foundations of the OS are crap it doesn't do much to improve the experience!!
Men, I'm sorry, but that sucks. It wasn't what the users were expecting from Microsoft and we're are really disappointed.
Hi all. I HAVE MY HTC MOZART UP TO DATE. I'm in Norway, my serviceprovider is Telenor and I have a HTC Mozart that is unbranded/unlocked or whatever you call it. Notification and install of the february update went smoothly for me.
I have been checking for update like 50 times a day for the last month, and disappointed 50 times a day. My mainissue with my Mozart has been and still is; it doesn't handle countrycodes in front of phonenumbers.
I have been talking with both HTC support (one sorry non-worthy support) and Microsoft phone 7 support. HTC has for several months kept on telling me they are working with the issue in cooperation with MS. I called MS win phone 7 support again yesterday. They told me that this problem was sent back to HTC's engineers to get them to fix it. I called HTC to day, and was told that the countrycode-issue most likely wouldn't be solved with the march-update that I was waiting for. I got pissed, and thought; what the heck, I'll try to update by getting a leaked ROM from a well known resourcesite with a x in their url. The upgrade went smoothly. Then the funny part; when I connected my Mozart with a OS-version 7.0.7389 to my computer: BOOM; Zune tolde me "there's an update available for your phone". I accepted the update, and now my Mozart is running on 7.0.7390.
Still; I guess I have to dich my Mozart and return to my HTC HD2, I simply can't live with a phone that doesn't resolve numbers with a countrycode. I really hate to do this, I love WP7. I couldn't care less about copy/paste, but it's to unconvinient having to memorize every contact, to be able knowing who's calling me. Damn HTC or MS or whoever made such a rookiemistake. This migt off course be because the phone isn't released in a Norwegian OS. I just took the risk buying a phone with english OS, but it's still a stupid mistake by someone.
Too bad, the ease of use, the size of the phone, the responsiveness of the phone, the UI...very much by this OS is excellent, and promising - not everything is perfect but still; *siiighhh*
Most carriers are still in the 'testing' stage of the update, it's been finished since December, WTF are they testing, how slow they are - The fist update isn't even relevant to them, why do they have to test it for soooooooooooo long!!