Microsoft will stop supporting Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7.8 by September 2014. The information is available on Microsoft's website and was initially discovered by Engadget who discovered that Microsoft is now only providing 18 months of mainstream support for its mobile operating systems.

Windows Phone 8 can currently be found on Nokia's Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X both of which will no doubt have replacements by the middle of next year.

As yet there has been no word on what the next version of Windows Phone will be with the company focusing more on bringing Windows 8 to consumers following its official launch last year.

While Windows 8 looks to be a success on desktops and laptops Microsoft is reportedly struggling to promote the operating system on tablets after it was revealed that the company had apparently only shipped 1.5 million Surface tablets in the last quarter of 2013.

Windows 8 RT is the tablet-optimised version of Windows 8 which offers a more streamlined experience but at the cost of being able to run full Windows 8 applications.

Source: Engadget