Microsoft will support WP8 until 2014, no sign of what happens after

Well. This is interesting. It looks like Windows Phone adherents (yes they do exist) are in for an anxious few months. Microsoft has announced that it will support Windows Phone 8 until July 2014.

At this point, you’re probably thinking that everything will be fine, because there’ll be an upgrade. There has to be, right? Well, this is where it starts to get a little bit worrying. Microsoft has made no promises when it comes to upgrading Windows Phone 8 devices.

Microsoft only promises that it will make updates available for WP8, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the lifecycle start date.

That’s not to say that there won’t be a Microsoft-built OS to replace WP8. Of course there will be. It’s just unclear whether, as a Windows Phone 8 user, you’ll be stuck in the limbo that Windows Phone 7.8 users currently find themselves in.

Given that Windows Phone 8 was a completely rebuilt platform however, it’s understandable that Microsoft decided not to upgrade its existing users. That’s unlikely to happen with whatever succeeds the OS, especially given Microsoft’s desire to completely integrate phones, tablets and desktops running Windows 8.

That said, whether a device receives an upgrade may well depend on manufacturers and carriers.

According to The Verge, the next mobile OS from Windows, code-named Blue, is set to launch towards the end of the year.

Until then, Microsoft will apparently keep rolling out smaller updates.