Microsoft reiterates NoDo due late March

Microsoft Customer Experience Engineering GM Eric Hautala in an update on Thursday night gave some reasoning behind the decision to delay the WP7 NoDo update to late March. He had decided to spend "some extra time" verifying the update process in the wake of the flawed February update that pushed it back by the extra weeks. It shouldn't have an effect on the timeframe of the Mango update shown at Mobile World Congress last month, Hautala promised.

He also noted that, despite claims, carriers couldn't block updates altogether. They had to test updates and could forgo them arriving as soon as they were pushed out, but they could only either postpone it or ask for it to be tied to another update. Any phones that weren't updated with the February patch would still get it in tandem with NoDo.

The "overwhelming majority" of users got the initial update smoothly, the GM said, but he admitted Microsoft wasn't happy with the problems that had occurred. He further rebuffed criticism by Windows expert Paul Thurrott that Microsoft was unnecessarily letting the update languish. Different carriers and devices meant updates wouldn't necessarily arrive at the same time.

"This carrier testing is a common industry practice that all of our competitors must also undergo," Hautala said. "No exceptions."

While true, Microsoft's approach is uneven compared to other platforms, such as the iPhone and webOS. Both Apple and HP usually coordinate releases such that all or most devices get the upgrade at the same time, regardless of the carrier, and can still update more regularly.

The NoDo update is relatively modest and adds copy-and-paste text along with speed-ups in the Windows Phone Marketplace, along with the CDMA support needed for phones like the HTC Arrive for Sprint.

By Electronista Staff

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