It"s the end of an era for Microsoft"s older Windows Mobile operating system. WPCentral.com is reporting that Microsoft is sending emails to owners of Windows Mobile smartphones, alerting them to the fact that the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace will shut down its operations on Wednesday, May 9. That means that Windows Mobile users will no longer be able to download or update any of their smartphone"s applications from that online store after that date.
Microsoft is recommending that Windows Mobile users check their previously downloaded apps for any updates before May 9. Users of those devices are also advised to download any additional apps they may want to access from the Marketplace service before that date.
Obviously, Microsoft is moving away from supporting Windows Mobile. The company decided to revamp their smartphone OS when it launched Windows Phone 7 in 2010. While reviews of Windows Phone devices have been much better than Windows Mobile products, so far Microsoft has yet to make much of an impact in the smartphone marketplace.
It"s hoped that Nokia"s Lumia devices will help Microsoft"s efforts in this area. Microsoft is also working on the next major Windows Phone update, code-named Apollo, that"s due to be launched sometime before the end of 2012.