Windows Phone 8.1 – A comment

Windows Phone 8.1   A comment

The much anticipated Windows Phone 8.1 is due in April, however Microsoft have released the SDK to some developers with the disclaimer the some of the items listed in the MUI, from which a list of function have been extracted, might not make it to the final release due to time and other pressures.

A couple of those developers have released this list on their blogs. One of them, Jeremy Sinclair, has given an extensive list.

Rather than reproduce the entire list here I have selected a few that, with the slow sinking of the good ship Blackberry, seem to show that Microsoft to want to try and take their place as the Phone OS of choice for IT departments. It’s what looks like an to attempt to secure Microsoft as the “Business Eco-system”.

  • Enterprise enrolled phones can have their password reset and remotely locked.
  • Office Lens, which will give you a lens to allow the camera to scan documents and whiteboards to then produce readable notes on your phone.
  • Encrypted and signed email support
  • Password protected Office documents
  • Quiet hours
  • Backups to include App data

Overall Windows 8.1 seems to be a bit more than just a “point” upgrade. If even half of my list make it to the final release it looks to me like the first step on the road to the goal of removing Windows RT from the OS portfolio.