++ the future of Microsoft Lumia mobile phones ++

As I said the IF is pretty large -they've clearly stated they aren't pursuing win10M but have they been so clear about being out of mobile altogether (I ask purely for information) and does that mean no Surface and an end to IOT?

Their future strategy for mobile is mostly what this thread is (should be) about so putting hopeless  optimism to one side and returning to a previous point: if Microsoft are out of mobile how do they remain relevant to mainstream consumers with most people unlikely to pay for expensive notebooks and tablets when their smartphones do enough or do Redmond believe their future is purely Enterprise with a rump of PC Master Race gamers for beta testing?

Panos Panay (Head of the Surface program) was unequivocally clear that there will be no Surface Phone. There will be some sort of "mobile" or rather "pocketable device" as the preferred term seems to be, but Microsoft's vision has not been made very clear so far as to what it will look like - just that it does not necessarily include telephony capabilities. Rumours are for some sort of folding tablet-like device with different screen size depending on whose guess you are reading about.

I personally could not care less how this ends, I jumped ship 3 years ago and never looked back. There are probably at least 30 apps, if not more, which I need on a daily basis and were never released for Windoes Phone/Mobile plus several more which are being discontinued each day, I simply couldn't function with a WM device any longer.

If you look at Microsoft, the only consumer-oriented product is XBox. Everything else is enterprise oriented.

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I can only encourage productive users to try the updated Windows 10 mobile, at least as a research option ++ it will be a great experience ++  interesting enough there is a current case involving one of the rivals before EU competition authorities // maybe this case will open the door for manufacturers to adopt Windows 10 mobile // a big case involving MS over a decade ago has drained many resources from the company & maybe caused some penalties in issues like search engine competitiveness & later the browser market share //

I can only encourage productive users to try the updated Windows 10 mobile, at least as a research option

I own Lumia 800, 920, 820, 1020, 1520, 830, 640 LTE and 550 - I believe have been more than a productive user over the last 7 years. Enough is enough. There is nothing to research.

• impressive Lumia line (quite complete from the nokia development stage). Lumia 550 provides the needed support level & there are some ways to bring even 640 LTE to version 1709 ++ US & European (e.g. ebay London) markets may offer some opportunities also to save some 650s or 950s for those interested + if there is quality it is worth the try //