Previous Windows Phone devices are not up for getting Windows Phone 8, which is well known. However, Windows Phone 7.8 is scheduled to hit these devices in early 2013, bringing a few of Windows Phone 8 features over to the old and dying platform.

However, that doesn't seem to be the end of it as another update could be forthcoming, one that goes above 7.8. It is definitely not Windows Phone 8, so the question remains, what is it and what should users of old and dying devices expect?

This information has come to light after a leaked Nokia slide hit the Web, which shows "Windows Phone 7.x," an update that is expected to make it to old Windows Phone devices after the Windows Phone 7.8 update. The leaked slide is slightly unusual and reads "Die Windows Phone" in German.

Unfortunately, the slide did not contain any form of information that give users an idea of what to expect in the 7.x update. A possibility exists that this update may just be bug fixes more than anything else and, therefore, users would be well advised to not harbor high hopes.

Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8 to many happy fans, then the company dropped the bombshell that the first and second generation Windows Phone handsets were not powerful enough to support a Windows Phone 8 update. The folks who felt the impact the most, were the ones who purchased a Nokia Lumia 900 not too long before the official Windows Phone 8 announcement.

Despite the fiasco, many fans seem to have forgiven Microsoft and plan to migrate over to the newest Windows Phone handset, rather than sit around moaning about their dying Windows Phone 7 smartphone.