VPN coming to Windows Phone

Microsoft has increased its support lifecycle from 18 months to 36 months for Windows Phone devices, and announced the release of an "enterprise pack" which will include VPN.

Early next year the company will release an "enterprise feature pack" which will introduce improved mobile device management policies to lockdown apps, S/MIME to sign and encrypt email and "app aware, auto-triggered VPN" to access corporate resources behind the firewall.

"This feature pack will provide IT departments with more control over Windows Phones and give their employees a fuller productivity experience," the company said in a statement.

Additionally, updates will kick off with Windows Phone 8 which will have incremental security updates for 36 months. 

But distribution of the updates will be at the mercy of phone operators and manufacturers which could slow the process.

Users commenting on the news vented frustration at tardy carriers which had not released existing updates.

"Agreeing to push out updates does little good if AT&T and Verizon choose not to push the updates to our devices," user Typoon87 said.

"Tis a pity that the carriers continue to be the logjam of progress," user dalydose said.

Microsoft Windows Phone vice president Tony Mestres said the updates were designed to appease enterprise security concerns.

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