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No, seriously: Android fans now have a reason to envy Windows Phone users

Published May 18th, 2015 2:07PM EDT
Android Vs. Windows Phone Updates
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Windows Phone users haven’t had a lot to brag about lately, but they’re about to get something that will make Android users positively jealous. ZDNet reports that Microsoft is taking over the update process for Windows Phones from carriers starting with Windows 10 this fall, which means Windows Phone users will no longer have to wait for months on end to get the newest software.

RELATED: Let’s get real – there’s no reason to hate Microsoft anymore

“If your phone is running Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft says, it will get all updates, with Microsoft making the final call on when to push the update button,” writes ZDNet. “Input from carriers will be a significant factor that Microsoft will use to decide when an update is ready to go out to all devices. But those updates will be delivered simultaneously, to all devices on all carriers, meaning much less opportunity for fragmentation.”

How much better is this than what Android users have to put up with?

It’s been more than half a year since the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop and roughly 90% of Android users are still waiting for the new software. While there will always be more fragmentation on Android than on iOS thanks to the huge variety of Android devices from different OEMs, surely Google could at least do something similar to what Microsoft is doing to at least streamline the process when it comes to carriers approving updates and thus get new software out to users more quickly than it is right now.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.