Nokia refuses to provide XP drivers

By Andrew Colley
16 May 2002 05:20 PM
Tags: pc, nokia, mobile phone, wilson, product, windows xp, driver
Nokia has angered its customers again, as the mobile manufacturer refuses to provide Windows XP drivers for its PC compatible products.

Without the drivers Nokia products containing devices designed to work with PCs such as in-built GSM modems and hardware associated with its PIM synchronisation software suite, won't work with Windows XP.

For now Nokia's existing customers have been given a low priority in the company's product support policy.

"The priority is being focused on the future products," said Nokia Australia spokesperson Antony Wilson.

"Windows XP wasn't around when they were being developed, so the drivers aren't available for current products," he added.

Once Nokia's software engineers have managed to make future platforms compatible with Windows XP, said Wilson, the company will "look at" making drivers available for existing products "where they can".

Nokia won't guarantee that it will be possible to provide Windows XP drivers for its current products.

"[Driver support] will vary from phone-to-phone as the compatibility issues are worked through," Wilson said.

For now, customers who own Nokia's PC 'compatible' products shouldn't feel abandoned, according to Wilson. Nokia is asking them to sit tight and wait.

"I appreciate that these things are frustrating but these processes take time," he said.

Talkback 8 comments

    This is obviously one in a ser ...The esynrg.com Team -- 17/05/02

    This is obviously one in a series of problems with Nokia phones that will see Business customers looking for a different handset manufacturer, if they are not with one already. The lack of XP Driver support, along with screen issues in models like the 5110 and 8210 will obviously cost the company market share.

    Next time Nokia, do it properly.

    I work in Tech Support for a l ...Anonymous -- 17/05/02

    I work in Tech Support for a large printer company. Not all of our products have WinXP drivers, our reasoning the same as Nokia's...the hardware came before the OS, so the latest drivers are "under development". Something like MacOSX is proving a thorn (not only for us), because marketing materials says "Supported on MacOS 8.6 and above" (for example), yet MacOSX is such a vastly different kernel that many products aren't being supported.

    Nokia arent the only ones.... ...justgeoff -- 17/05/02

    Nokia arent the only ones....
    I bought a Samsung MP3 phone last year just before the Windows XP release. The XP beta had been out for quite some time. So imagine my surprise when I rang Samsung to be told a flat NO to support for XP..So that left me with a MP3 phone that I could not use. Luckily enough a VERY helpful support person who worked there had developed his own version of the software and kindly emailed it to me. It has bugs but at least now I can use my phone.

    Glad I've always been an Erics ...Anonymous -- 17/05/02

    Glad I've always been an Ericsson owner. No display problems, no compatibility problems and now with Ericsson's partnership with Sony, some really cool phones on the horizon.

    gee i got some 19ince wheel no ...joe gong -- 17/05/02

    gee i got some 19ince wheel now my 18inch tyres wont fit, and the whell maker wont pay for new tyres,,,GROW UP you whining idiots

    XP detected my (new last week) ...Anonymous -- 20/05/02

    XP detected my (new last week) Nokia 8250 phone/modem and I am able to use it as a modem. But the lack of an XP-compatible PC Suite for the 8250 is very frustrating. Whilst XP has been in the public arena for a relatively short time, it's coming was well known to developers for a whole lot longer.

    C'mon Nokia, please keep up.

    Its time Nokia management stop ...Paul Cope -- 21/05/02

    Its time Nokia management stopped gum flapping about customer service and spent some time on the front line with their customers. I've just taken delivery of my new 9210, after putting up with a less than satisfactory 9110 for the last two years. I thought (mistakenly) that they might have got it right this time! Not only do they send out NEW phones with the wrong software, V3.6 instead of V4.?, then they matter-of-factly inform you that you must go to a service centre to have it upgraded, after you have backed up your databases. But guess what? You can't back up the databases because the software doesn't work with XP!!!! So Fred the Customer Service(sic) guy at Nokia copped my broadside for a good ten minutes. It made me feel better, but I still have a faulty phone (failing screen brightness, turns itself off, etc etc). Well, sad to say I have to go up to Queensland on business for a week, so have borrowed my son's Siemens because IT WORKS!
    If the MD or GM of Nokia wants to call me for a polite discussion on customer service, please do so on (02) 9905 5800. PS, Matt at Vodaphone, Warringah Mall has done a great job in trying to appease me, but at the end of the day Nokia have let Vodaphone down as well!

    I've got my 8250 running happi ...Anonymous -- 15/01/03

    I've got my 8250 running happily under XP including PC Suite. However, I can't get more than 9.6K out of it and they are supposedly meant to run at 14.4. Any clues?

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