Windows Phone 7.5 update sped up, hits 50% of devices
updated 06:05 pm EDT, Mon October 3, 2011
Windows Phone Mango update rate accelerates
Microsoft's Eric Hautala in a follow-up promised a much faster upgrade track for Windows Phone 7.5 updates. The successful updates "look so good" that the company has immediately updated the number of devices that qualify from just 10 percent to 50 percent. The eligibility should take effect immediately.
All of the remaining half are waiting only because Microsoft is still checking data to keep the update rolling out smoothly, Hautala said.
Microsoft also explained that, unlike last year, the 7.5 updates were going out randomly. The strategy helped it track real-world experiences rather than confine the experience to one carrier or phone model.
Hautala wouldn't say how quickly the remainder would get their upgrades, although Microsoft had only promised the first expansion of upgrades for this week.
The company has been helped both by a larger, more experienced user base well as lessons from its NoDo rollout. Early this year, it had to freeze some updates, both out of a technical problem with some Samsung phones as well as over-eager users who hacked installs and ended up being locked out of the official update track. Updating as many as possible at once, including in the previously neglected US, helps discourage users from trying bootleg installs.
