Microsoft confirms that the company will start rolling out the Windows 10 Mobile operating system (OS) to its Windows Phone devices in December this year.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Microsoft announced the next-generation Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL and the Lumia 550. All of these latest smartphones will run on Windows 10 Mobile straight out of the box.
The new OS will also make its way to some select Lumia devices in the near term. However, the company did not reveal a release date of Windows 10 Mobile for existing Lumia devices.
Subhadeep Das, a smartphone enthusiast, asked Microsoft via Facebook when the new Windows OS for Lumia smartphones such as the Lumia 640 and the Lumia 640 XL would be released. Microsoft swiftly responded to the query.
"Windows 10 is available on PCs and tablets now, and while Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL ship with Windows 10 for phones, broad availability of Windows 10 on other devices, including mobile phones, will begin rolling out in December," replied Microsoft.
According to a Microsoft support page, the company's "ambition" is to make the latest OS upgrade available to the majority of Lumia handsets that are running on Windows Phone 8.1. However, Microsoft also notes that not all the features of Windows 10 Mobile will be available on all Lumia smartphones.
Windows 10 Mobile needs 8GB of internal storage in devices, which means devices such as the Lumia 530 will be left out.
Although Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 Mobile will be released to Lumia devices in December, it does not mean all Lumia smartphones will get the software upgrade in that month.
In the United States and some other countries, a software upgrade is released by individual carriers. Some carriers may roll out a software update immediately, while some may take months before releasing Windows 10 Mobile to their version of the Lumia handset.
Lumia device owners will now have to wait for their carriers to confirm the release dates of the latest Windows operating system for individual smartphones.
