Is Microsoft dropping support for the Win 8.1 apps News, Sports, Money, Weather?

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Poster BobbyB had problems with his Win8.1 machine this morning: Seems the Writings already on the wall for UWP or Metro Apps on Windows 8.1, just for
[See the full post at: Is Microsoft dropping support for the Win 8.1 apps News, Sports, Money, Weather?]

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Lori, Elly

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I say! If there’s one useful app there, it’s the Weather app. Irony abounds!

And yes, I was blessed with exactly the same notice week or so ago – on my VAIO laptop with Windows 8.1 Home onboard.

(separately but perhaps related: Store was non-performing in the last week or two [not that I use it, was merely curious when I accidentally found out about it and kept checking daily since – myriad of 0X-type of errors were thrown that kept changing] and suddenly started working today. Obviously I’ve not done anything that may have prevented Store from both: operating, and then not-fixing itself. So go figure!)

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I’m mystified by reports – I’ve seen several of them – that the Store is no longer accessible in 8.1.

What on earth are they thinking?

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Store, Weather, News are working on my Win8.1 – not that I use them, but they open without notices or warnings.

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Is the Windows Store different between 8.1 and 10? If so, I’m surprised MS haven’t tried to bridge the gap; and if not why would MS be targeting 8.1 for discontinuing these and what does it mean for the same apps in the future for Windows 10?

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The Store is still accessible, although not tried to download any “Freebies” out of there. When you enter WSREST it brings up a blank page, no “You’re Up to Date” or any updates. No “EOL” Message with the Store either.
Win 8.1 Apps or more correctly Metro Apps have always been Haphazard at downloading updates at the best of times. Unlike Win10 UWP Apps, M$ seems to leave them alone, which is good as they’re more reliable than Win10’s Apps.
Music, Maps, Mail & Calendar still work fine, as does XBOX music or Zune what ever they call it.
With new Installs over the years the other Apps Health, Travel, Games and one or two of the “Fluff” Apps that I normally uninstall have all gradually stopped working. The Travel Metro App stopped working\pulled support for it at least a couple of years ago and around that time it too was uninstalled.
Tested this on my Win 8.1 Pro Laptop and Win 8.1 Core Home Machine and both the same.
Ah well still Microsoft’s best little Secretly reliable OS.

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Karlston

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My laptop needs a new battery, so I’m protected from Windows Update until I get one. Will have to catch up via Group B, however. I was a big fan of the MSN apps (Weather, Sports, News, Money) & even some discontinued ones (Travel, Food & Drink). Signing in to msn.com with my Microsoft account will probably perpetuate the dream. However, here’s my Main question: Will the Core 4 MSN apps still be supported on Windows 10? If so, it’s an obvious ploy to push migration. If Not, why did Micro$oft develop these apps in the First Place?! Probably to deliver ads… again, msn.com provides everything on their site.

Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...

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After over 2 months, I finally purchased a new battery for my ASUS laptop; picked it up at Best Buy yesterday. Tried to run the MSN News app & it said “buh-bye”. Weather, Sports & Money still functioned as usual. Today, the other 3 MSN apps said “smell ya later”. I uninstalled all of them off my Start screen. Mail & Calendar are still on Start, but I pinned them to the taskbar on my Desktop as well. The news from M$ shows that they are alive & well on Win 10 whatever & other device platforms. Since I sign in to Win 8.1 on my Micro$oft Account, my specific choices for Weather & Sports are alive & well on msn.com. Will eventually set my laptop to boot to the Desktop instead of the Start screen. Can still use the Windows icon on the taskbar to go to Start for games or Office if I want. As I guessed earlier, M$ wants to urge 8.1 users to “upgrade” to Win 10. Unless my confidence in updates & having some control is “upgraded”, I’m in no hurry. 3 years & 7 months (more or less) to switch to Linux…

Bought a refurbished Windows 10 64-bit, currently updated to 22H2. Have broke the AC adapter cord going to the 8.1 machine, but before that, coaxed it into charging. Need to buy new adapter if wish to continue using it.
Wild Bill Rides Again...

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Starting June 3, 2019, certain MSN apps for Windows 8.1 Desktop and Windows 8.1 Phone will be decommissioned. Data stored within those apps will no longer be available. If you wish to keep your data, follow the guidelines at the bottom of this notice before June 3, 2019.

The following Windows 8.1 Desktop apps will no longer be functional:

MSN Weather
MSN News
MSN Sports
MSN Money

The following Windows 8.1 Phone apps will no longer be functional:

MSN Money

All other Windows 8.1 Phone apps including the MSN News, MSN Weather, and MSN Sports will continue service without interruption. Furthermore, there is no impact to MSN apps for Windows 10, iOS, Android, or MSN.com.

How do I keep my data?
Good news: Your data is automatically carried over to MSN apps on other platforms or on MSN.com via your Microsoft account.

To ensure that the data is carried over, sign in to your Microsoft account on your Windows 8.1 Desktop MSN app or Windows 8.1 Phone MSN app.

You will be able to see the data carried over once you use the equivalent app and sign in with the same Microsoft account on Windows 10, iOS, and Android. You can also visit MSN.com and see the data in the applicable web section (News, Sports, Money, Weather) after you are signed in.

What data is at risk of being lost?
If action is not taken by June 3, 2019, all user-specific data to the decommissioned apps will no longer be available.

Data that will be decommissioned includes:

MSN Weather: Favorite Places
MSN News: Interests
MSN Sports: Favorite Sports Leagues and Teams
MSN Money: Watchlist

Last Updated: Apr 18, 2019

Important notice: MSN apps on Windows 8.1 Desktop and Windows 8.1 Phone

 

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WildBill, radosuaf, Microfix, Lori, Elly, abbodi86, woody, Sueska, satrow, BobbyB

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So there it is.

Thanks!

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b

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I uninstalled all of those apps long ago from both of my Windows 8.1  laptops  and  the new old stock Win 8.1 desktop I just purchased.

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Fred

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I got the same notification for the Weather App a few days ago. Great sadness – this is my favorite app for Windows 8.1. Don’t see a notification today.

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BobbyB, radosuaf

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Not that I’ve ever had any use for Apps myself, but should Microsoft really be allowed to stop an integral part of the operating system from working before the end of extended support date?

Since when is “support” synonymous to “continuing to work”?

This is not an insignificant thing!

-Noel

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Sessh, BobbyB, radosuaf

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Since when were news and weather apps an integral (i.e. essential) part of an operating system?

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Judging from this commercial, for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERPcJ1Fiexc

They were pretty much one of the main selling points, at least according to MS. I would assume that if I bought Win 8.1 because I liked the huge San Francisco weather tile in this ad, I will be able to have it on my screen until 2023…

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Sessh, BobbyB

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For those of you who have never been through this before, this is what the beginning of a fire sale [liquidation] looks like

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1615147/quotes/qt1983849

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Sessh, radosuaf

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b wrote:

Since when were news and weather apps an integral (i.e. essential) part of an operating system?

You’re finally starting to get it. Bravo.

But once sold as an integral part of an operating system, people have a right to expect them to continue to work. Why is it any different than if Microsoft said, “Oh, sorry, the bootloader is no longer supported, so you won’t be able to use it after 2019 (even though the extended support date is 2023).

-Noel

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WildBill

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I like the Weather app, and the Mail app, which I suppose will be the next to go. (My two favorites.) MS had already stopped NBC sports and other Win 8/8.1 apps, which are now exclusively for Win 10.

They took away the original Calendar app years ago; and forced me to Outlook.com calendar (to save my data). Recently, MS destroyed… I mean “upgraded”… the Outlook.com calendar.

Took away–without warning–some 10 year old calendars, lost my data, undid my notifications and re-set them to their choice, eliminated most of the personalization settings, and the format is awful. They put 1 year expiration dates on events, even those without end.

MS says the Android calendar app will now receive monthly updates. Large ones! One recent large update was simply to change the Calendar icon. It’s now eating space, doesn’t work, and is battery draining. And, MS wants me to update it monthly? This isn’t Windows update… or is it?

I’ve moved to Google Calendar, which has all the settings that Outlook’s calendar used to have. Shouldn’t surprise me they’re taking the Win 8 apps; yet it does. Why should we ever be left alone….

 

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