Top Windows Phone news of the week: Phones staying, fast Edge browser, one store
This week in the world of Windows Phone saw impressive benchmark results for Edge, news that Windows RT devices will get partially refreshed late year, and confirmation that Windows Phones are not going away.
In a late build for Windows 10, Microsoft's replacement for Internet Explorer beats Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari in several areas. Benchmarking Edge against Chrome and Safari showed that Edge is getting ready to take on the big boy browsers.
Edge showed it handled JavaScript markedly better than Chrome.
Surface RT to get stripped down Windows 10 in September
The nearly abandoned Surface RT will not be invited to the Windows 10 party. It will instead get an update with some of the features, but not until later this year.
Microsoft has pretty much stepped away from the Surface RT and Surface 2 due to poor reception by the buying public since launch.
In an interview with ZDNet, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella affirmed that the company isn't going to get rid of Windows Phones. Instead, the company is going to be more selective about hardware. He stated Microsoft will make premium Lumia devices.
In the general discussion about hardware plans, he made an interesting assertion that if OEMs don't make a particular kind of device that is important, Microsoft will do so.
Microsoft opens one app store for phones, tablets, PCs
Just as it's moving everything to Windows 10, Microsoft has opened an app store for PCs, tablets, and phones. The new store can be browsed for PC apps and phone apps, but not the Universal apps coming with Windows 10.
The new app store is a solid example of Microsoft's intention to make Windows 10 the core of the company's offerings.
