Microsoft recently confirmed that Windows Phone 8 will be supported through July 8, 2014 and Windows Phone 7.8 through Sep. 9, 2014.

The news from Microsoft will be welcomed by many Windows Phone handset owners as they will continue to get support from Microsoft till at least 2014. However, the announcement from Microsoft does not say if Windows Phone-powered handset users will also get software upgrades.

"Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System on your phone, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the lifecycle start date. Distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities," says Microsoft.

Microsoft rolled out the Windows Phone 7.8 software update to its Windows Phone 7.5 handset owners. The Windows Phone 7.8 is expected to bridge the gap between Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8. The key new feature in Windows Phone 7.8 is the updated Start screen, with support for three resizable tiles. In addition, the number of accent colors has been doubled to 20.

The update also allows the lock screen of a device to offer support for automatically using the Bing picture of the day as the background. The Windows 7.8 update also enabled lockscreen support for a PIN/password to aid better pocket- and child-lockscreen security.

The idea of the update was to make Windows Phone 7.5 users feel their handset is new and fresh. The update would have also kept current Windows Phone handset users from switching to another mobile OS once their current contract expires.

Windows Phone 8 smartphones released in November 2012 and since then only one update has been rolled out.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft brings additional features, enhancements and bug fixes to the Windows Phone 8 devices within the support period.