Microsoft confirms long life for Windows Phone 7.x

We had heard recent recent rumours that Windows Phone 7.8 will be coming to handsets shortly, and that the Windows CE-based OS will have a pretty long life as an OS for low-end handsets.

Now corporate vice president of the Windows Phone Division Terry Myerson has confirmed to Techradar that we will be hearing more about the OS shortly.

"We’re going to have more to say about 7.8 in the coming weeks," he assured TechRadar.

"I would expect both platforms to exist for quite some time, from a global point of view. Windows Phone 7.8 devices will span much lower price points than windows phone 8 devices, initially, and given the application compatibility across the platforms, it makes the ecosystem stronger to have more device and more price points. We value every 7 and 7.8 customer we have; we’ll continue to work for them as well but it is true that Windows Phone 8 is our future platform."

In the interview he also confirmed that the company generally favoured Nokia when developing Windows Phone, but also worked closely with other OEMs, and that they expected a big push this holiday season, due to a more coherent message with Windows 8 and better operator support.

"We weren’t out there with same experience as Windows, even we though shared the same brand; we didn’t have all the right teamwork in place with our partners on the go to market, and we were not advertising the product. We were not out there telling the story to consumers – and that changes now. We will start telling our story. We are going to go out there and advertise the product and tell people."

"It’s a special time. We have a great product that expresses this unique differentiated point of view, that we are the most personal smartphone, we’ve got killer hardware from partners and we have a great partnership with the mobile operators.

"The fact that they’ve ranged so many phones at such great price points is fantastic. And of course having Windows out there at the same time is exciting; making the experience familiar to users and being the best phone for Windows; if you’re a Windows user, this is the phone for you."

Read more at Techradar here.

Via Neowin.net.