We knew it was coming.. But didn't expect this

[Techman]

STEVE BALLMER KILLS WINDOWS
CEO tears up products playbook in mega Microsoft reorg

Usually when this happens the next step for the boss is the step out the door.

They keep upsetting customers at every turn.

XBox Live users had their gran mall tantrums a while ago and now they are having another grand mall tantrum over the gaming software fiascos'
Sony PS4 is kicking their butts..
Windows Phone is falling apart.
Win 8 is a dead horse.
Skype is a hemorrhage.
Windows server 8 is upside down.


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has unveiled plans for a massive restructuring at Redmond. From today, the company’s product groups will be dissolved and resurrected as slimmed-down devices and services teams ready to take on Apple, Amazon, Google and others.

Microsoft’s chief executive today announced the death of the mighty five Microsoft business units: Windows; Server and Tools; Microsoft Business Division; Entertainment and Devices; and Online Services.
Ballmer has shuffled and regrouped Microsoft into four new divisions: Operating Systems Engineering; Devices and Studios; Applications and Services; and Cloud and Enterprise Engineering.

All work is now aligned around engineering rather than product, according to the Ballmer party line, with the specific focus on four particular engineering efforts: operating systems, applications, cloud and devices. This means the break-up of the Windows group and merger with elements of the entertainment and devices team who worked on Windows Phone and Xbox,,

and blah blah blah more on the link..


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/11/microsoft_reorg_kills_product_groups/

 

[choucove]

I believe that the restructure may actually be pretty beneficial for Microsoft in the future. However, in the short term, it may be a rocky start as basically the product designers, leaders, and everyone else tries to find new footing with how this restructure will work and how their departments are going to communicate.

This really is all about communication. One of the big reasons why Windows 8 saw such controversy supposedly started form the project manager (who no longer works for Microsoft) who seemed to be very particular in which departments and other designers he worked with on the actual development of Windows 8. Many areas, such as the business and productivity developers for Microsoft Office and the like were not in the loop near as much as other projects like XBox, which previously didn't communicate much. Because of the poor communication, some departments like actual product development were kind of left reacting to what others were coming up with and not having much if any input or control on product design that would heavily influence their own designs.

Hence the restructure. From every source I've read on this so far the big focus has been on communication. The new design allows for simplifying a department mess which has been growing more complex throughout time. People working on OS design for the XBox and Windows Phone were often not closely tied in with other OS designers in the actual Windows department. Now, the operating system design and engineering will be handled under a single department for all products, which makes communication much simpler. This will lead to more interoperable OS designs in the future I believe, which is something that Microsoft has been wanting to do and started down the preliminary road with the release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Same thing with the entertainment and multimedia teams. Teams can work together on building a more uniform media platform for the entire range of Microsoft products, and will have better communication and design capabilities with the OS department.

One area I think this may really help with is the Windows Server and other business enterprise design offerings. Microsoft lately has been investing and developing heavily into the cloud infrastructure and OS models and applications to accommodate this growing demand. However, it hasn't caught on as quickly or smoothly as Microsoft might have hoped, and I believe a lot of that honestly is there hasn't been enough integration with the "familiar and tested" areas of Windows. In other words, instead of making new cloud solutions become a stepping stone or gradual migration from the current Windows Server and other business products that are well known, tested, and trusted by business professionals, they came way out to left field with a whole different ball game and it's been hard for people to transition.

But the short term problems are definitely evident. Everyone will be wondering what this will mean for Microsoft's products, especially those that are still brand new or just about to release (Windows 8, XBox One, etc.) and with a major change-up in the middle of these projects, it's going to be possible that it may take a little bit til they have everything sorted out which means the possibility for another "flop" or some products that just don't quite catch on like Windows 8. In the end, a change had to be made. In many areas Microsoft was becoming reactive because their departments and communications became very complex, and it was costing them customer loyalty just like Windows 8. But honestly I feel this change has the potential to really help Microsoft in developing better solutions and, perhaps more likely, developing more uniform design products such as a universal OS for cross-platform computing.

 

[rjssigns]

Time will tell with MicroSoft. Until I went back to school our shop was all PC. Now I do all the design work on a Mac and use a PC for a RIP server, which still runs XP Pro.

IMO Microsoft should stop screwing around with all the bloatware and fluff. Would it be so terrible for them to make a stripped down and stable business only OS?

 

[Marlene]

IMO Microsoft should stop screwing around with all the bloatware and fluff. Would it be so terrible for them to make a stripped down and stable business only OS?

yes, stop trying to be my everything. I wish they would just put out an OS that was stable and worked. I'm still running XP pro on my work computer and home laptop as it seems to work most of the time.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

yes, stop trying to be my everything.

Unfortunately, I would say the majority of the computer consumer population wants a device that is "their everything". Just look at the devices out there that are being sold. You and/or I may not buy some (or all) of them, but the majority is.

I wish they would just put out an OS that was stable and worked. I'm still running XP pro on my work computer and home laptop as it seems to work most of the time.

Win 7 was their last stable release as far as I'm concerned. XP is stable, I just never liked it, even when it was new.