It's almost Christmas vacation, and I've pretty much mentally checked out. But there's one subject not even Dan Rubino himself can stop me writing about: Windows Phone! ANY excuse, ANY time, ANY where. And that time is right now, right here.
That's right, folks, Windows Phone COULD RETURN thanks to this Change.org petition, put together by Σπύρος Κ of Greece.
For all three of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Windows Phone was the mythical third mobile phone ecosystem, behind Android and iOS. The Windows-like interface really put the "fun" in functional, with minimalistic app tiles that surfaced relevant in-app information, while also allowing for heaps of customization.
Notoriously, Microsoft killed the platform with a tweet, saying it was no longer their priority, despite having actively curated a community of millions, atop millions of phone sales via partners like Nokia. Microsoft acquired Nokia's phone division and shut it down before even really giving it a chance, something CEO Satya Nadella would later express regret about.
This Change petition is just another in a long line of similar petitions hoping to drum up support for a Windows Phone revival based on Windows 11. It's another petition that Microsoft will sadly ignore.
"We're calling on Microsoft to revive Windows Phone, a platform ahead of its time that still has a passionate fanbase," the petition reads.
"Windows Phone offered a clean, fast, smooth and innovative experience with features like Live Tiles, deep Microsoft integration, and a bold, unique design. In a world dominated by iOS and Android, there's room—and demand—for a third ecosystem focused on simplicity, productivity, and user choice. We're not asking for a return to the past, we're asking for a reimagined Windows Phone, powered by today's technology."
All we have left of Windows Phone is nostalgia, and fun concepts like the above. Microsoft has no official plans to get back into the space, even though they arguably desperately need a phone endpoint in my view.
There was a time where it felt Microsoft was going to offer us a Windows-like phone experience based on Android, buoyed by the very dead Surface "Andromeda" phone and the abandoned Surface Duo dual-screen phone. After Surface architect Panos Panay left and former CEO Steve Ballmer stepped down, Microsoft simply hasn't had the same passion or drive to build consumer electronics this side of Xbox. And even Xbox is increasingly moving to an OEM-first model with devices like the Xbox Ally built by ASUS.
I do genuinely think there might be room for a true Windows 11 PC phone, that has some kind of Xbox-like Full Screen Experience designed for small handsets. The versatility of Windows and openness could really challenge Android and iOS in perhaps some small niche use cases, in a universe where Arm devices are getting powerful enough to run full-bore Windows, and Windows Arm emulation is improving via Prism.
STILL, it's fun to dream. As long as Satya Nadella is CEO of Microsoft, something like this is almost certainly never going to happen. The ship has sailed far too long and hard into the azure blue.
The lack of a phone platform is why I firmly believe Microsoft will never win in AI. Perhaps someone with a time machine could go back and have Satya Nadella take the Nokia acquisition more seriously given what was coming. Alas ... for now, we can only think about "what could've been."
Do you think Microsoft should give its mobile OS a second chance, or is it better left in the past? Vote in the poll and let me know where you stand!
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