Dear Microsoft, your loyalists have a bone to pick with you ...

To say the relationship has been tumultuous would be an understatement. As with any relationship, there are two sides to this story.

Chime in: After what happened with Windows Mobile, should Microsoft ditch CEO Nadella?

A matter of perspective

In addition to my exciting position as a writer for the largest Microsoft-focused community, I've been an ordained minister for over two decades, an educator and an advocate for individuals with disabilities. Mediation is a common theme between all these positions. Mediators must understand both sides of an issue to help involved parties understand, not necessarily agree with, each other's perspectives.

Additionally, Windows Central is a forum-focused community where users, developers, and even Microsoft representatives, can communicate. Loyalists, embracing this platform, have passionately shared concerns regarding Microsoft's commitments, or lack therefore. We've published articles echoing some of those concerns. We've also articulated Microsoft's position on topics ranging from mobile to canceling consumer products.

And, Microsoft, loyalists would like a word with you.

A phone in hand or one that's planned?

First, a word to loyalists

Microsoft's "platform company," provision-of-tools and cross-platform missions have been counter-balanced with cryptic and confusing messaging about mobile and an increasing abandonment of consumer products. Thus, writers are challenged to communicate Microsoft's goals to a disenchanted core audience starving for mobile and consumer-focused news, who are generally disinterested in other topics that provide much-needed context.

If Microsoft's the platform for everything does it need a phone?

Furthermore, many readers mistake an articulation of Microsoft's strategies as endorsements of expected success rather than provisions of perspective by a mediating party. A writer's role, particularly for a disgruntled audience, entails communicating the unpopular perspective of what is increasingly perceived as a hostile opposing entity. We're not necessarily trying to persuade readers to like what we believe Microsoft's doing, we're trying to help you understand it.

Loyalists must also understand our vocal community can easily become an echo chamber of ever-escalating, though legitimate, frustrations. My unbridled addition to that cacophony of voices via rants, as a long-time and disappointed Windows phone user, would be a waste of my opportunity to provide useful context. This is sometimes misinterpreted as misunderstanding our common plight. Using my position to rant rather than presenting both sides of this relationship could act as a barrier to productive mediation, however.

Loyalists should try to understand Microsoft's position

Barring Xbox, Microsoft isn't really in the consumer products business. CEO Satya Nadella recently stressed that point:

We are very different companies [from Apple and Google] ...We are a tool creator ... not a luxury good manufacturer. We are about creating technologies so that others can build. [With] Surface, we created a premium product ... every OEM should create a lower-priced model. We want to democratize things.

Loyalists must brace themselves for Microsoft's continued focus on being the platform of platforms.

Microsoft and Qualcomm: architects of an always-connected computing future

Microsoft will continue pushing augmented and virtual reality, primarily through OEMs, via Windows Mixed Reality. It will further integrate iOS and Android into its ecosystem via Microsoft Graph, Cortana, Azure and cross-platform apps. It will incorporate a plethora of devices and platforms into an all-encompassing web of ambient computing through intelligent edge computing and IoT. Its first-party, Project Andromeda Core OS mobile device will be enterprise-focused, niche and aspirational.

Microsoft must understand loyalist's position

What loyalists find confusing and infuriating is that amidst all of this platform-, tools- and enterprise-focused talk, Microsoft has launched consumer-focused products and services that fans have embraced and the company has failed to support.

Microsoft has everything it needs to succeed with consumers except follow-through

Consumers have invested time, money and energy in Microsoft's ecosystem. Losing the convenience and familiarity of Groove Music is frustrating. Watching developers leave a mobile platform Microsoft could have better supported, while developing its next-generation approach, is disheartening. Docs.com's demise makes our organizing comprehensive portfolios of content (opens in new tab) a waste of time. Microsoft Band, Zune, Kinect, and more, expand the tale of abandoned consumer-facing products. So you kind of have to wonder if Movies and TV is next.

Nadella's candor about repeatedly abandoning committed consumers is a refreshing level of honesty regarding Microsoft's mistakes. Level-headed loyalists welcome that type of honesty and further open dialogue at this "virtual table."

Dear Satya ...

As our favorite products are severed from the ecosystem, we legitimately question how you value our commitment. How can we have the promised "best on Windows" Microsoft experience when Microsoft's best efforts are on iOS and Android?

Microsoft enticed us with consumer products.

We understand Microsoft's a platform company. But it's you, Microsoft, that enticed us with compelling consumer products. Your messaging and actions are conflicting.

Given our longstanding relationship, loyalists would appreciate clarity. Carefully crafted PR messages promising personal computing nirvana as you cut first-party products and direct us to competing platforms won't do. Unorthodox candor and honesty is a fitting balance for the unorthodox handling of your loyal base.

Given your humility in admitting past mistakes, Mr. Nadella, we hope this invitation to our virtual table may be honored.

Jason Ward

Jason L Ward is a columnist at Windows Central. He provides unique big picture analysis of the complex world of Microsoft. Jason takes the small clues and gives you an insightful big picture perspective through storytelling that you won't find *anywhere* else. Seriously, this dude thinks outside the box. Follow him on Twitter at @JLTechWord. He's doing the "write" thing!

246 Comments

In one article I see Dan/Zac saying these are exciting times. In your article it's either "I'm tempted by Android" or "Nadella you owe us!" I think you are going back and forth between the 1st and 7th stages of grief.
Read it again. I actually make my position known to be that of a mediator. I clearly articulate Microsoft's perspective. I then clearly articulate the position of what MANY people in comments, our forums, and social media have been saying.
The problem with mediation is that you've misunderstood the fans' side of this. People were and are happy with third party devices, such as the various companies making the Windows Mixed Reality headsets and the lovely Nokia Lumias. It's when MS muscles in and destroys these great products (very aggressively in the case of Nokia) that we are left hoping MS can fill the void. Then comes the disappointment. If MS would just leave these companies to sell us their great products instead of pulling the rug out from under them and grinding the devices under their heels they might not be in the place they are today. That being the consumer's enemy. I'm quite surprised you didn't pick up on that feeling at the time MS was dismantling Nokia. Lots of people were posting about it on here. I wish HP was making the Surface line and the coming Surface not-Phone, but after what MS did to them over the previous Windows Phones they are going to be very wary. That's why MS must make devices and Windows fans must risk buying them. Because MS have messed everyone about so much.
Agreed! MS bought Nokia then failed to make much of it. I think they would have been better off partnering with Nokia and working with them. What was MS thinking? Asia is a big growing market and Nokia was known there. Why not KEEP the Nokia name and manufacturing product people were familiar with? Skype - what have the done with Skpe? What are they doing with LinkedIn? Groove? Consumer facing....but succeeding? WINDOWS!!!! XBOX !!!! All consumer facing!! And successful!!!! So they can play this game. Yes they are going to build up some consumer loyalty. Then to toss it away? Was MS losing money in all these areas? Could they make money in the future? I keep hoping HP will be able to buy W10m and still want to be an OEM manufacturer for Windows on ARM.... Here is to hoping Nadella has been good to shareholders - can't fault him there.....
I don't disagree, but I find it REALLY STRANGE that the things your post and several others are 'angry' with Microsoft about are things that go back to Ballmer and specifically why he was fired. Microsoft does sound 'tone deaf' right now, but focusing on things that happened before Nadella which he and Gates specifically tried to 'rescue' will just make him and Microsoft disregard what you and we are saying.
Actually Windows Mobile was doing great with Ballmer. All fell to pieces when Nadella wrote off the Nokia buy without giving it time to do anything. Nadella might be good to share holders but not being one but just a consumer he's not been good to me... I just couldn't find an OS I like more to move away...
Gates maybe was trying to rescue what was left. Nadella though has from the start been focused on dismantling anything windows mobile. That's why we've turned on them. They had a viable way out but instead chose to burn it all down. It seems they thought they could start fresh and no one would notice. M$ here's a clue we all did and we're abandoning you too. It's not like this hasn't happened before. WinM 7 then 8 with no upgrade path. The loyal fan base is saying enough. We're done. I get that they're trying to bring something different with whatever the new product is. That said though we needed something in the here and now. So when this tablet esq device is shown off. The only ones cheering will be the paid shills no one is going to listen to. This whole failure has been caused by Satya. There's no one else to blame. He and M$ as a whole rightly deserve all the anger and indifference they've encoured.
The problem MS had with Nokia (apart from purchasing the phone business) was the constant need to flood the market with low-end or mediocre mid-range phones. Out of all the phones they made, they produced three "good" flagship phones; the 920 (pretty meh but it wasn't too bad), the 950 XL (what the 920 should have been), and the 1520. Everything else was bland and didn't do MS any favours. Had they concentrated on the flasghips only, and left the low-end and mid-range to the OEMs, things could have been different. It may have even spurred companies like HTC to innovate in their flagships. Instead, what we got was an oversaturated market, and fans that weren't overly happy with the phone choices. Then, just to top things off, MS didn't do enough pushing of the phones outside of the US (I saw maybe one or two Windows Phone ads on TV here in Australia, and the phone stores had an extremely small display of the phones, with everything else being Android or Apple. Plus, the app situation, which didn't help matters (for all the people who stated that apps didn't matter, there was severl hundred more who cared about the lack of apps, and thus didn't care about Windows Phone). The apps created a massive catch-22 that MS didn't appear to want to fix (or couldn't in the case of Snapchat and Google). Don't get me wrong. I love my 950XL. I just can't stand the haphazard way that MS has gone about the whole mobile thing.
How about Lumia 1020?
It's funny you should say that. I believe the US was one of the worst, if not the worst market for Windows Phone.
https://www.onmsft.com/news/windows-phone-market-shares-around-world
Everywhere else in the World it was doing just fine. Launching an OS so late reaching market share well above 10% is a huge thing. Nadella "hit refresh" during playing the game, not after getting the blue screen of death. That's the problem. And MS was insisting to provide all of its services for US only, why the phone and mobile was a thing everywhere, but the US.
Yes, he has been good to shareholders, too good and it's horrible for many others (like us) and even partly bad for MS themselves. Many of the shareholders are just old farts who care about their money too much and don't want to take a big risk that could actually them more money and paint a good picture of MS. Screw those shareholders, they are dumb and don't have MS's best interest in mind. Only their own greedy interest.
My guess is that HP are well aware of where MS are heading with their 'not a phone mobile device' and are busy developing their own, so no more interest in W10M. I have been an HP user since 1972 and they have a history of going into new areas as a leadr, think Deskjet, for example'
Lot of people posting here? This site lacks push notification to bind comment writers and readers as it should in Disqus
Works just fine here.
Hi Andy,you state "The problem with mediation is that you misunderstand the fan side of this" I'm not sure that anything I wrote conflicts with with you follow up stating about fan love of, and Microsoft'skilling of Nokia Lumias.
My overall presentation expresses Microsoft's side and the perspective of loyalists which includes, broadly, Microsoft's failure in mobile. You mention a specific area or one factor contributing to that failure whereas I broadly mention it among other consumer failures that contribute to consumer dissatisfaction, not just phone. I think, if I went into every detail of every failure this would have been a VERY long piece.😉
I think there a deep misunderstanding of Microsoft. Indeed, their name says it all. As I have always said, they are first and foremost a software company. Nadella is simply focussing them on their core strengths. The purchase of Nokia was a strategy to enter big time into the mobile sector. Nadella turned it around and scrapped the plan, probably surmising that the core ethos of Microsoft was not being helped by having Nokia phones running a Windows OS. This is derived from what Apple has done with iOS and MacOS - build your own devices and optimise it with software. They failed, initially, in this copy cat scenario but are still trying with the Surface line of products. And we can see that having set the bench mark, their OEMS are following suit in producing great devices, especially in the two-in-one hybrid category. Microsoft also realises that convergence in ecosystems that enable cross platform and form factor functionality is the future and accordingly, has opted for the CoreOs strategy. Reset. The much speculated tablet-***-phone is their bet on the future and I believe that this will be their vindication, or not, as the case may well be. The "app gap", come this tablet/phone device, will not so much matter this time around because apps will scale to whichever form factor it is loaded on. The Windows 10 market is too big for developers to ignore and with the slow phase out of Win32 software, the next generation will be 64 bit apps. In life it is always best to play to one's strengths than weaknesses. Microsoft is trying to do that, and incurring a lot of anger from it's fan base but this is short lived and skin deep. If it weren't so, why are people talking about loading Android or iOS phones with Microsoft software? They would wholesale reject anything Microsoft and jump ship to other platforms and their offerings. Understanding Microsoft's direction better will inevitably lead to careful thought when it comes to buying their device offerings. For me, I consider having a smartphone for two years to be ample usage. My L950 is now that old. I have enjoyed it. I wish Microsoft will hurry up with Core OS and their new phone/tablet device before the time comes for me to retire my L950 as my main driver. Should that time come before, the L950 will be relegated to my secondary device and either an iPhone or an Android device being my new daily driver. The 950 will still be there but I wouldn't particularly give a toss about what Microsoft were doing or not doing. It really is as simple as that. My productivity and voice calling will not, in any way, be affected.
Besides having provided a counter-argument right after your argument in regards to Microsoft being a software company rather than hardware company, which makes the first half of your comment quite non-sense to me, you also say, that the "app-gap" will not be a problem for the new device. One question though. How many apps are there in the Microsoft Store for desktop that serve an exclusive mobile purpose? None. If I were to buy the most modern phone with all the best hardware features that may come served with Windows 10 on ARM running all the fancy apps from Microsoft Store without its abandoned and closed mobile line, I would be given nothing that is useful as a mobile user. I would not have a WhatsApp client, nor website, I would not have Swarm, nor a website, I would not have my apps for banks and local payment services, I would almost have nothing. I'd be given an 'app gap' even worse than what the phone and mobile had before. So I don't see the future that bright.
I think there a deep misunderstanding of Microsoft. Indeed, their name says it all. As I have always said, they are first and foremost a software company. Nadella is simply focussing them on their core strengths. The purchase of Nokia was a strategy to enter big time into the mobile sector. Nadella turned it around and scrapped the plan, probably surmising that the core ethos of Microsoft was not being helped by having Nokia phones running a Windows OS. This is derived from what Apple has done with iOS and MacOS - build your own devices and optimise it with software. They failed, initially, in this copy cat scenario but are still trying with the Surface line of products. And we can see that having set the bench mark, their OEMS are following suit in producing great devices, especially in the two-in-one hybrid category. Microsoft also realises that convergence in ecosystems that enable cross platform and form factor functionality is the future and accordingly, has opted for the CoreOs strategy. Reset. The much speculated tablet-***-phone is their bet on the future and I believe that this will be their vindication, or not, as the case may well be. The "app gap", come this tablet/phone device, will not so much matter this time around because apps will scale to whichever form factor it is loaded on. The Windows 10 market is too big for developers to ignore and with the slow phase out of Win32 software, the next generation will be 64 bit apps. In life it is always best to play to one's strengths than weaknesses. Microsoft is trying to do that, and incurring a lot of anger from it's fan base but this is short lived and skin deep. If it weren't so, why are people talking about loading Android or iOS phones with Microsoft software? They would wholesale reject anything Microsoft and jump ship to other platforms and their offerings. Understanding Microsoft's direction better will inevitably lead to careful thought when it comes to buying their device offerings. For me, I consider having a smartphone for two years to be ample usage. My L950 is now that old. I have enjoyed it. I wish Microsoft will hurry up with Core OS and their new phone/tablet device before the time comes for me to retire my L950 as my main driver. Should that time come before, the L950 will be relegated to my secondary device and either an iPhone or an Android device being my new daily driver. The 950 will still be there but I wouldn't particularly give a toss about what Microsoft were doing or not doing. It really is as simple as that. My productivity and voice calling will not, in any way, be affected.
I totally understands your points Jason! What I learnerd is that MS is falling on software side and shinning on hardware side. Windows mobile, zune and groove music failed due to poor improvements in respective softwares. Microsoft's hardware were always comparable to the market competition but softwares lack everytime. MS can fail again in software side due to poor implementation of Mixed Reality Viewer and photos app remix feature! Those two things were the biggest points of fall creators update but are not working as were depicted in the event! MS is doing great with mixed reality and there mild approach towards Hololens through enterprise and then XBOX one x is doing great! They are a gaint in cloud and offers better cloud apps then AWS. Microsoft is more a jack of all and king of none for now! To become king they have to sacrifice something, and I think you know what Satya sacrificed for it. There is definitely a curve ahead in mobile technology and Satya is focused on it rather than performing in the today's mobile world environment! With Andromeda, cshell, one core and windows on ARM Satya puts all his chances on them! Though the one thing which still remains is the end user apps and stuff, and which i mentioned above like photos app and mixed reality viewer are the next things to take a big hit soon;")
As someone who used to be once of the biggest, loudest cheerleaders for Microsoft, I absolutely disagree with the assertion that they will ever be "king" of anything as long as Satya Nadella is there. And the things they sacrificed were all the WRONG things. One it was clear they were abandoning the consumer, in favor of more passive connections, they gave up the game.
Again, I find it strange that the damage Ballmer did for over 10 years is making people angry with Nadella. There are things Nadella needs to listen to from their users/fans, but placing the blame on him after doing a good job of cleaning up a lot of Ballmer's mess seems misplaced.
yes, what Jason doesnt understand is that this guy(Nadella) isnt a risk taker, they can continue to make money for yrs supporting stuff which is growing and popular(cloud) and where the big money is(enterprise), He is just making safe bets, he isnt the one to make bold moves or bring paradign shifting changes, Jason picthes himself as a mediator, but more often than not comes ahead as an MS apologist. The article has been twisted to make it seems like consumers are demanding first party hardware and failt to see MS as a tools creator, that is absolutely incorrect, OEMs which wanted to make 3rd party mobile devices, were backstabbed, HP clearly expressed their frustration n quit.
No, I'm very clear in stating Microsoft's failure to remain committing to multiple consumer-facing products and services including mobile which required 3rd party support to succeed. As you will notice this piece is FULL in-line links to MULTIPLE articles supporting those and other points. Some of those article include pieces from my four part series: "WINDOWS MOBILE AND THE ENTERPRISE" In that series I hold MS accountable for and lay out the negative affects of publically announcing thier focusing of its MOBILE 📱 OS on the enterprise and not consumers. I talk about in that series how that affects takes away incentives for
OEM's to build devices , DEVELOPERS to build apps
CONSUMERS to buy what few phones were available and more. So, yes I get it, I've written a host if articles about it and linked them in the piece. Heres that whole series in one place: https://doc.co/NZrUD5
You're always very defensive to constructive criticisms to your comments. It's great that you are active in your articles, and that you feel the need to be clear in your defenses, but maybe take a step back and absorb some of the constructive feedback, rather than always getting so defensive. Dude, you're fine: no need to feel insecure: just say thanks for your point, I'll take that under consideration. Have a thicker skin when writing online with a comments section. #imho #unsolicitedAdvice
I don't think misrepresenting what Jason said can be considered "constructive criticism". That's a totally different thing.
Also techiez, you say I come off as a Microsoft apologist more often than not. As I stress in the piece adding to the echo chamber of rants would be a waste of an opportunity to provide pieces that add additional perspective. But because I hear the mistaken perception you've voiced here I wrote the opening section of this piece First, a word to loyalists I even included a line stating because of my presenting Microsoft's perspective I am often misunderstood as to not understanding our common plight. Here are 34 articles that you may have missed or forgotten about where I hold Microsoft accountable for decisions or action taken or not taken: Microsoft CEO admits repeatedly abandoning consumers was a mistake Is Microsoft passionate about its mobile strategy? Windows 10 Mobile and the enterprise PART I: Out of sight out of mind Windows 10 Mobile and the enterprise PART II: Mobile, the key to ecosystem success Windows 10 Mobile and the enterprise PART III:A phone in the band or one that is planned? Windows 10 Mobile and the enterprise PART IV:Microsoft, smartphones are personal Should Microsoft begin marketing Windows10 Mobile to the masses Microsoft has everything it needs to succeed consumers with except follow-trough Microsoft already has all the tools it needs to address Windows app gap Does Microsoft's CEO hate the things you love or just inefficiency in his business Will jilted Windows phone fans buy into Microsofts mobile vision Without phone Microsoft's AR efforts may be worthless Hey Windows phone fans - ignore the haters, use what you love A media focused HoloLens could help Microsoft bring AR to consumers Microsoft's Surface phone should include AR glasses a pen and exclusive apps Microsoft must launch a Surface phone and get it right the first time Even without a consumer-focused Hololens Microsoft must market AR sooner than later Ambient computing - Will Microsoft' lack of consumer focus hurt its future Can Microsoft keep up with Apple in the race for AR/VR supremacy Effective marketing will be the key to Microsoft's Mixed Reality success If 3D is for everyone, wwhy isn't Microsoft marketing 3D to anyone Microsoft must passionately market Surface Laptop to compete with MacBook Without cool factor Microsoft may never see true consumer success Developers don't love Windows. Can Microsoft mend the relationship? Why Android is a serious problem for Microsoft Is the Windows phone fan community imploding With Surface phone will Microsoft learn from its past marketing mistakes Does Microsoft still care about Windows phone loyalists? If Microsoft doesn't kill at BUILD 2017, the Surface phone may be dead on arrival Is early 2018 to soon for a Surface phone](https://www.windowscentral.com/game-changer-part-i-2017-or-even-early-2018-too-soon-surface-phone) Will Samsung beat Microsoft to market with an ultimate mobile device This is what has to happen first in order for Surface phone to succeed Is Quantum computing a genie we will wish we kept in a bottle? Apple may be building augmented reality glasses, should Microsoft worry
Ok what does this paragraph of your article state?: Loyalists should try to understand Microsoft's position ........... You made it seem like Fans are only demanding first party hardware which is not true, if MS wants to build tools for OEMs, if MS wants to build platforms or build platform for platforms, it would never kill W10M and no CoreOS or Andromeda isnt replacing W10M, the surface foldable is a new class of devices but MS stll doesnt have anything that can power a regular smartphone. OEM such as HP have clearly expressed frustration, I cant under if MS is secretive to consumers but they cant be to OEMs, which Means Fans are right to be frustrated and there's no side of MS that is justifiable, I can pick of any of the articles above and you may quote specific sections where u criticize MS but summary comes off all the same, leaning towards MS and giving them a free pass they dont deserve.
Please re-read the articles.. Your summation that they contain just condemning sections with giving MS a free pass is incorrect. Also I set this piece up so that readers could clearly see that I was presenting Microsoft's side as a mediator that understands and as I explicitly state (DON'T HAVE TO AGREE WITH) the other side. I clearly convey that its about communicate what each side is saying - not justifying MS side. Please revisit the piece, it's there,😉 As note the section after the one you chose to mention highlights that fans are infuriated by Microsoft's behavior and even made a pont of putting the responsibility on MS for making consumer products that enticed users that they didn't support. Despite thier professions about being a platform company and tool maker. I even made that statement a bold visible block quote so that it wouldn't be missed. Microsoft's failures have been not supporting thier own products some of which like Band and phone were positioned to inspire OEM support. As I state, in-line links to other pieces, like the Windows 10 Mobile and the enterprise pieces, stress that point.
Yes, yes, yes. I hate the way Microsoft tried to dodge the answer regarding questions of future Windows phones. Microsoft is dishonest to the consumers.
There is a lot of fog what we do not see what Ms is planning. Soo there all speculations. By the way its wrong for speculations because people see it of its true. Lets just see what Ms is bringing for 2018!!!
Whatever dude. Bottom line, Microsoft is failing big time. Their "one platform" is on fire because they have no mobile mindshare. Consumers are leaving the Microsoft ecosystem for Google and Apple and aren't coming back.
Microsoft as a consumer brand is dying. It's as simple as that. Yes, they still have a few great consumer products--the Surface and Xbox--both that came of age under Ballmer... BUT... without a presence in mobile, its days as a consumer brand are numbered.
right that's why it went from tne top to the bottom under Balmer.. seriously.. Microsoft became irrelevant under Balmer.. They tried Nokia andwe all know how many bought 950s.. Jesus it was a flop.. Supporting a first world company making no money made no sense.. Windows mobile should have just developed under 8.1.. 10 wasn't needed at all. They wasted a lot of time rewriting the OS. I know the amount of people quiting the mobile platform started way before the 950s were launched.. Everybody's got amnesia here!!
There was some genuine excitement around the 950 and 950 XL due to them getting Continuum, even from places that wouldn't normally bat an eye-lid at Microsoft releasing a new phone. The 950 and 950 XL were let down by beta-grade software unfortunately. They did need to release some new phones, and could have done well but didn't capitalise. If the 950 XL was actually the HP Elite X3 w/ the 950XL camera and W10M in it's current form then I think it would have done better, unfortunately it launched as a buggy mess w/ hardware that many found uninspiring (I quite liked the phone, and the removeable battery was worth it for having a less premium design for me)
The 950's were launched before Windows 10 Mobile was even officially launched. That was one of the complaints people had with them is that they were essentially running insider builds. So people could not have been leaving the W10M platform before the 950's launched, unless you mean they were leaving the Windows mobile platform, in which case, yes that is correct, but that doesn't change the fact that W10M was supposed to be something to entice people to stay or come back, or switch. They didn't even give W10M a full year before abandoning it. And releasing their best software on iOS and Android didn't help. There's a reason why Nintendo doesn't sell Mario games on XBox and Playstation.
Nadella is a Financial dude., he has no technical vision. His sole focus is on the Stock price and his pocket book. Microsoft used to have great software and a vision of the future., Today, they seem to outsource the software to the lowest bidder and fix if after with low paid green card engineers. No vision for the future. Very sad indeed.
Does this even reach Nadella? I mean, what's the point of this article if no one at Microsoft either reads it or cares one bit about it?
Not sure about latey, but many Microsoft empoyess used to be pretty active here.
They are now super active on the iMore & AndroidCentral sites! :)
Well no. They are on Reddit. Like in the MR section on Reddit.
Microsoft is a Corporation. It's objective is to make money. Everything they cancelled were failed projects. Even if this reached Nadella, nothing would change. Microsoft is not in the business of being your friend, they're in the business of trying to take as much money out of consumers as possible while spending as little as possible. That's what businesses do ;)
Not exactly... Microsoft is a corporation and Ballmer tried to run it as a 'make money only' and scrap long-term investments and R&D. However, prior to Ballmer taking control, Microsoft was about new technologies and getting them into the hands of everyday computer users cheaper and faster, even by giving away the technology to the industry. The younger generation doesn't remember, but prior to Microsoft getting 'big' enough to have an impact is when EVERYTHING in the computing industry changed. They were the 'rebel' company that was giving away access to their SDKs, creating standards, giving away standards and hardware technologies. Before Microsoft, complex operating systems cost a lot of money and the entry price just to 'develop software' cost thousands of dollars for even the entry level student. Microsoft changed all this. They were the 'cheap' 'better' technology company that created the 90s PC boom, before the Internet hit. It wasn't until Microsoft had some power with Windows 3.0 taking off before they could do this, Apple and IBM were the big companies, billion dollar companies, and Microsoft was tiny. The 'reason' Microsoft wanted to change things was because of Gates' and his vision of computing going back to when he was younger and knowing that it was insane that only people with money could access the university computers and he wanted Microsoft to not only create new technologies to make things easier, he wanted to get them in the hands of users for fraction of the cost. He was the first 'beyond Woz' that wanted to 'democratize' computing. So Microsoft is a corporation, but when I see them spend money to create new hardware and software technologies and give most of them away to the entire industry, they are not trying to just create money directly from their work, but instead, trying to raise the quality of technology everywhere and make money from their specific products that then go on to use the technology. Nadella is the guy Gates' picked, as Nadella also support's Gates' vision of democratizing computing, and instead of making $$ by gimmick and hurting consumers, they would give the industry technology, even if Microsoft doesn't directly profit from it immediately. This is also what a technology and platform company does, as they are long term and there to support the concepts behind the platforms. This is also why WM10 is a problem, as it looks like they are abandoning a platform, even if they technically are not as Windows and WM were to converge anyway.
But hey, at least Ballmer did save Xbox - AFAIK Bill Gates wasn't keen on it. Glad they stuck with it and have produced the awesome Xbox One X!
It's better than a kick in the a$$. It might....trickly up the grapevine....
It's more than a bone. It's the whole carcass. Maybe the new CEO doesn't see Microsoft as a consumer company but I do. Because if they weren't they wouldn't have a store. They wouldn't have any stores; no on-line or brick and mortar outlets. They seem to be trying to sell the public stuff so to me they are in fact in the consumer market sphere.
Just in US, where I live there is no support for Surface hardware and Lumina marketing was very poor, the only consumer device Microsoft sells here where I live is Xbox stuff
Oh Gabriel.. I live near San Francisco and the Lumia marketing was non-existent here, too... Its not just outside the US that MS struggles to sell its consumer devices.
It's the crux of Microsoft's issues. Develop great products then don't advertise or market it at all. Then claim nobody is buying our stuff.
This scenario was very different in central Europe. In my county I saw a lot of windows phone and people were like it. Most of them still like it. Two years ago I was in a conference where the attendees gathered across Europe (mostly central Europe) and guess what! I saw more windows phone than iPhone. Every third or fourth had one. There were no official Microsoft advertisement, there were (and still aren't) any Microsoft Stores. I've never seen an official Microsoft advertisement in TV in my own language. So only carriers and other stores advertised Wp and it was still a thing. I couldn't get the phone I wanted from my carrier 2 years ago, because it was sold out so quickly. I know, Wp never had the popularity that the iphone or Android have/had (as I see, most of the people use android because it's cheap and common and an iPhone do not fit in their budget), but imagine what a little bit marketing or support could be done. That's why im sad. Because this product was not that popular as an iPhone, but wasn't unpopular at all. It was in the us, I accept it. It have to be stated: it's not the whole world. It's only a small market compared to the total of Europe (or Central Europe), China and India. They should stop focus on a market that do not interested in their product and concentrate their efforts where it could matter.
Germany and Japan are the two big fans of WP but they have abandoned in the last two years 😒
In SF Lumia wasn't 'trendy' and even Microsoft expats working in SF would show up with iPhones. Hipster/trendy in the entire US is just too strong. However, the Lumia outside the US did rather well, even surpassing the iPhone marketshare in a few European countries. The 'nail' for Windows Phone was the appearance of not doing well, and thus developers rejected it. The security lockdown of WP7 also didn't help. But even as that was changed in WP8, Microsoft could not even pay the 'big' names to produce Apps. Facebook, Youtube, SnapChat, Instragram, and on and on... So this made WP look like it had no major App support, and also is why Microsoft developed Facebook and tried to help or pay to develop these other Apps, which were rejected, especially by SnapChat as the founders HATE Microsoft. With Win10, a lot of these Apps came to WM through the WIn10 versions (something that Ballmer and Sinofisky screwed up with Win8 - as it should have had App parity as that is how the design was set out.) Howeve, even with Win10, it was too late for WM, and the final nail was all the entry level software titles that stopped support Windows - so quickly put together conference and meeting software required the attendees to have Android or iPhone. The App developers didn't care about the Win10 tablet users, as they would assume they still were using an Andorid or iPhone and could just use their phone. Ironically, it was the US that WP 'appeared' to be not doing well.
I think Chevrolet marketed the Lumina internationally, but it's been discontinued. So your point is lost on me.
@unmorphed I'm going to take it you're being sarcastic. LOL! I know the Chevy Lumina well and nothing was going to save that vehicle. But to your point. GM shut down shop for all Pontiacs, Saturns, and Hummers. Those vehicles were marketed and failed. There's a difference to actually attempting to market rather than giving a half hearted attempt.
I had a Saturn SL2 for 12 years and I really liked that little car.
Was a very reliable ride and great in the snow. It was a let down when GM axed Saturn. Do any of you remember when GM built Frigidaire appliances originally ? Specifically the washers with the up and down agitators ?
The problem is that without a decent Consumer product offering, people won't really care about Microsoft. I appreciate the Surface - it showed PC/Tablet/Hybrid makers what was possible and gave a little encouragement to them to do something better/different. That seems to have largely worked. However, if MS doesn't keep a push for Consumer deices, people won't care if they have to use device XYZ for work, they'll want to use what they own and use already. That drives them more into the Google/Apple camp with their integrations. It's great that MS offers their software for those platforms, but doesn't really give a way to lock them in to MS products/usage. I think most of us have seen what happens when MS makes devices "for the enterprise". They might be adopted in small numbers, but largely won't make it to the people or reach any sort of critical mass. They're priced out of what a normal person can/will pay and thus don't get support that will drive further adoption. I can appreciate the bigger picture. I work w/ Azure and SQL regularly and see the returns on what MS has been doing there. I just don't think this bigger picture is going to work well to keep people around in the "MS is for the people" camp, which does tend to lead to people looking for alternatives.
pashcott ^this. Drifting away from MS for my personal use, even though I use it at work. My wife uses her work-issued iPad Pro at home... MS can only lose with this trend. She raves about the keyboard. iPhone people really trust and want to use Apple products. Google is catching up - Samsung is vulnerable... Great hardware but no traction with there own software.
I have a bone to.. Well actually 2 cause one is in my pants. Jk :P The other bone is Windows phone but im on a point to swap to the razer phone. I will still use win10 mobile for work purposes only. Its just that i do not see anything high end mobile wise coming from Microsoft anymore. Focus is clearly on android and iOS and i get why. I would swap my focus too if my own product reached the death wall.
I'll take what Microsoft provides and when what they provide doesn't meet my needs I will turn to the alternatives. Many of the alternatives have already become my tools to achieve my goals. In my world "Microsoft loyalists" no longer applies. Instead of being used by any company I choose to use them.
Loved your article. Mediation is tough.
I would love to speak with Nadella about this indeed. I mean he really promised us "devices fans will love" and we got squat. We got the 950/XL and it was without a doubt the worst windows phone i've ever had. I had a HTC Surround, HTC HD7(a longtime favorite), Lumia 620, Lumia 920 (alltime favorite), Lumia 640, and Lumia 950XL. My 950 XL was so bad that the MS store i bought it from offered a replacement Samsung GS8+ and I pretty much hate it. Sure there are apps, but the whole frickin' ecosystem is buggy, laggy, and messy. For the first time ever i now wish to be part of the Apple camp which i used to laugh at. But really, at least they have a damn consumer vision.
Sorry to say but Ms10 mobile for me is the most safe way to use a platform. Android and Ois are great targets for maleware invections. Its not a safe way. If you are using money transfer on your account the changes are great for fishing ed. Less apps but more things you can do with edge and continuum. Lots and lots of software are buggy on android. But this is my experience.
How is iOS a major target for malware infections? Nokia conducted a study in March that showed that iOS represented 4 percent of all mobile device malware infections versus 81 percent for Android. 4 percent. Nokia didn't say how many of those were jailbroken or from people explicitly trying to download from unofficial sources, either. Stick to the App Store, don't jailbreak and you'll very likely be fine. Also, keep in mind that we don't actually know Windows 10 Mobile's practical security rate because its user base is small. Right now it sounds like you're basing your views on gut feelings rather than data (because there really isn't any). And security through obscurity isn't a viable defense against intruders.
He made no 'promises' so don't feel jilted and angry. I do not know what was wrong with your Lumia 950XL but must have been a dud which got through quality control.
Same here. My Lumia 950 is the worst phone I've ever owned, but I still refuse to give a penny to Google or Apple.
Does (or should) MSFT even care who a 'loyalist' is? A dollar is a dollar, regardless of who it comes from.
Loyalist dollar is consistent.
Especially on an Office 365 subscription...
Been meaning to talk to my wife about cancelling Office... Thank you for the reminder. We really don't need it at home, do we?
I have the 5 license Office 365 subscription with 4 installations, but my needs have reduced a lot since I retired so I am going tyo investigate the on line version. May be enough for me now but I have not tried it yet.
"Keep hope alive" for surface WoA cShell folding pocket pc with telephony!
if Surface WoA was intended for mobiles then HP wouldnt have to abandon their mobile efforts. MS would have kept them informed.
Windows on Arm will run on mobile devices with telephony, not smatphones. I am pretty sure that HP will be working on their own small mobile computer with telephony. It would fit into HPs long term philisophy of being first and smart. (HP user since 1972).
Couldn't agree more. Thanks for the article! And btw....I STILL love Microsoft! And always will. :)
Great there is stil trust and love for a great company like Microsoft. I do too. I own a Microsoft Lumia 950 and works great. No problems. For work as private. I used till Microsoft launches another peace of hardware. No phones but hardware with telephony enebled. I wonder what that is..
Jason, IMO this is one of your best articles. I think Nadella underestimates how much Microsoft's consumer mindshare impacts adoption in the enterprise and professional space. As new professionals enter the workforce they increasingly see Microsoft technologies and platforms as a voyage into alien territory, and this lack of familiarity is absolutely seen as an additional cost. I still see a lot of Microsoft tools and technologies being used, but generally only because they are already entrenched in the org or the infrastructure. New projects that have a choice of technologies don't choose MS, and a lot of that comes down to familiarity, mindshare, and perception. Plenty of non-consumer Microsoft products have failed or are dwindling because of this.
^yep
1. Microsoft's position is wrong. It will be the end of them. It is the reason they are having to reinvent themselves. They dug their own grave and by leaving mobile and consumer in general, have ensured they will be irrelevant sinner rather than later. 2. It is interesting to see how this software company can't make any reliable software anymore and that's actually where their weakness lies at this point. 3. There is no relationship left. They because of Nadella do not care at all about their fans let alone general consumers. He is in this for the short term. Get in, stay 5 years, raise the stock price temporarily, get a nice bonus and get out. 4. They don't deserve any loyalty or success at this point. 5. I'm at work or I could go on and on.
If you look to other os like Android or Ois they suck too. If you use a pixelbook software for android bugs very much kust like Ois. Windows core is way more stable. Of you use a Surface device amd you will run mobile apps or other they run fine. Soo point 1 till 5 doesnt compete with the reality. Microsoft is safe to use and still the bigger and best by providing great software and hardware.
Microsoft is safe to use. What exactly do you mean by safety?
Probably that it is very safe to use a platform for which no software is being made and has so little market share that the cost of making a virus for it overshadows any possible revenue it could make...
W10M has very little sofyware being made for it. W10 has plenty of software and a very good anti-malware, anti-virus programme in Windows Defender, and its market share and revemue is rather large.
@Awhispers echo. This is all wrong because you are angry at being jilted by Nadella. He did not promise you anything, if you bought MS products that was a retail transaction. MS are not reinventing their business, they are developing it into profitable areas and if they continue to do this theywill continue their groweth and profitability. I do agree that Nadella does not care at all about their fans, MS is a business, not a pop group.
awhispersecho ^yep, this
Also Media Center. Is there a reason that Media Center should not be in windows 10? Is there a reason that Media Center Extenders should not be every tablet or even raspberry Pi I have? Even today it is the DOMINATE SUPERIOR product for over the air tv, and growing space today. But By leaving MCE in the past with windows 8 only, and not bringing it to Windows 10, you have not only kept me from upgrading, but you have encouraged me to invest my money into technologies that DONT EVEN INCLUDE a computer any more.
I understand that WMC was a great experience with live TV and has great DVR capabilities but everything else about it sucked. It just gets in the way. Home theater PCs have been my only TV experience for over a decade because I am not interested in live TV or DVR. If I was, then the cable company I am trying to get away from has those features bundled. What is the point of rolling your own? A HTPC is a better experience with a small keyboard and touchpad (we use the K400). Anyone can pick it up and know how to pull up Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. It is a quick and easy experience with full access to anything. WMC just gets in the way and is frustrating with a keyboard and mouse let alone one of those dumb remotes.
If you don't use cable and stick to OTA digital TV then it was really great. The remote is still excellent, if only the W10 support for it wasn't so poor. So I can select a tile but not launch it? Nice one MS. I loved MC. Nothing has come close to replacing it so far.
The one to blame is not CEO Satya Nadella but the custumers because the lack of sails. The core of Microsoft lovers and team of Microsoft as well Satya Nadella are the victims. They planned a large scale of products with Windows 10 as platform as its core. Did didnt happen. So they created another strategy. I love Microsoft Os on pc as on mobile. I have too to shift my os for phone elsewhere. If there is an oppertunity to stay with Microsoft its Os. If I turn to Android than the launcher with its software is also Microsoft. An Androidphone with Windows😘😘. Its not a Windowsphone but a phone with Windows. Maybe the future has wonderfull things to come from Microsoft. They work for a solution. Trust them. I do!
Sorry, you're a bit delusional. MS has all but abandoned the consumer space. The lone holdouts are Surface, XBox, and Office. As more and more kids grow up using Chromebooks at school, Office is going to eventually go the way of Word Perfect. This also eventually becomes an issue for PCs. As the new work force comes in expecting to use Google docs and sheets, the need for PCs in Enterprise dwindles. MS basically has one play since they abandoned mobile, and that's Azure. If MS is still around in 20 years, it will be as a cloud service primarily. Enterprise isn't ready to move to the cloud wholesale yet, but it's coming.
With Win10 MS had a chance to hit mobile hard and make something out of it, even if it was something small, but it didn't. To me that was their biggest misstep. The world of computing is moving to phones. Maybe that will change in 5 years, maybe sooner, but if you are out of the current mind share, it's almost impossible to get back in it. It will be easier for an unknown upstart to bring in the next wave, than a company everyone has forgot about. Even at Apple's lowest, they still were everywhere in education and niche industries. People still thought of Apple as a computer company. If the current trend continues, MS will only be looked at like IBM. A company we used to know, but now does something that nobody is really sure of.
Himay333, I agree. I work for a US K-12 school system and so many US schools are moving away from Microsoft by replacing computers with Chromebooks, iPads and Android tablets. They are also replacing MS Office with Google Docs. I think Microsoft is wrong if they think people will still use Office 365 and other MS software even if they use Apple or Google devices as seen with schools moving to Google Docs/G-Suite. If Microsoft is not focused on consumers then they will eventually make themselves irreverent. For example we do BYOD at our high school and guess what 99.9% of the devices students use for BYOD is iPhones or Android phones. I can count the number of Windows devices students use for BYOD on one hand. As kids grow up in a non Microsoft world to them then they will expect to be using Apple and Google devices and software/services at work. So companies will probably start to drop Microsoft and move to Apple and Google also since that is what the employees are familiar with. Microsoft really needs to wake up and pay attention to the consumer and education market.
When the youngster get a job, it will be in a company with an established MS based system and Office software. They will learn to use it. The business will not care what a few kids want when they have invested in a system which works. As for IBM, what they are doing is profitably providing hardware and services to Big Business, e.g. your bank. They don't care what you know about them, Big Business knows.
Businesses require more than MS Offices.
Its not just a few kids but instead the companies entire future workforce as schools continue to move away from the Microsoft ecosystem. Also when new businesses and companies get started/created they will be by those students that grew up without Microsoft. So they will probably invest in Apple and Google for devices (Mac, iPad, Chromebook, iPhone, Android) and Docs and cloud services (Google Docs, GMail, Google Drive, G-suite, or AWS, ect.) for their business since that's what they know.
OldMan88 You are completely missing the point. Those 'youngsters' are the future entrepreneurs. Therefore, in a future not so far from now, they will be the ones deciding which OS is being used. And the reality being that Microsoft is absent from every other aspect of their lives, I seriously doubt they will choose MS for their businesses. By abandoning the current consumer' needs, Microsoft is abandoning their future. And that is a huge problem.
Agree with everyting Trust is earned and I have been ising Microsoft since 1986. They do good stuff, which works, so I trust them. Iwas disappointed that they discontinued Lumia phones but that was business. I had bought a Lumia 950, but that was a retail transaction because I liked the phone, and still do. There was no MS 'promise' involved so I have not been jilted.
No point to the stores without consider focus. I'm sure they will close many of them despite surface, X box popularity.
I get the whole Microsoft Build it and then let other manufacturers pick up the task, but that’s not working out is it, for starters HP is discontinuing phones and that was the truly the only branch Microsoft had left with mobiles. And without mobile well the rest of the whole UWP is dead. and don’t think Xbox is safe, many people bought into the whole Xbox as the ultimate home entertainment unit. But not anymore, Google and Apple are now into the home entertainment (Cross devices I might add including mobile), and Apple has gone one step further and getting into producing content like Netflix does, so with competition like that and the example Microsoft has shown us in the past, Microsoft will kill off movies and TV, just like it did with music, and if we as end users buy music or movies we want to be able to access it on any of our devices. And to top it off, I had to go to the google store last week to get a movie I was after (Because it wasn’t in the Microsoft store) and do you think I could watch it on Xbox. That just reminded me of the whole death of Windows mobile app gap. So, we are now getting to the point that there are more than a few cracks in the Microsoft empire, Microsoft is about to collapse.
So you define 'collapse' ab en=ver increasing growth and profit? By the way, HP discontinuing phones was a malicious rumour. They may not be developing new ones, probably because they are developing their own version of Microsoft's 'not a smart phone' mobile device, (which would fit into HP; philosophy very well). (I am an HP user since 1972).
Strategy has to make business sense. Windows 10 is still relatively new and most businesses are still running Windows 7. If Windows 10 gobbles up the majority of market share over competitors, then more apps will come, and then more consumer oriented apps and devices will make business sense.
What competitors does Windows 10 have?
Businesses will switch from W7 to W10 because support forW7 will cease. The large multinational compny that I worked for hard started the process when I retired 6 months ago. As to the competition, maybe a few might consider Linux running MS software, but most need Windows to run their bisiness software. Android or iWhatever, never.
To be honest, I didn'r like your last few editorials on Microsoft's decisions very much, but this one is actually pretty decent.
Great attempt to mediate......problem is, in this situation there will only be losers. MIcrosoft obviously doesn't care. As previously stated, how much would it have cost the company to out source a few new phones until it launches the "ultimate mobile device"....if it ever does. And why pull W10M support when HP has stated that it was developing other Elite 3 products. I certainly don't know what they had planned, but it could easily be assumed a consumer focused version was in the works. NOT good when HP publically has an issue with Microsoft. Was Nadella only trying to get folks to purchase a 365 subscription when he stated that they would continue to make phones?
The key is what you mentioned cost. W10M support HAS NOT been pulled, it will be continued and even have some upgrades, for some time yet. My guess is that HP know where Microsoft are heading with mobile windows devices and are working on their own 'not a smart phine' device and don't need W10M in their future.
I gotcha Pastor Ward... I jumped in at Windows Moble 5.0 too when it was very unpopular. Seems like divorce is a ready solution these days...in many things in life. What happened to old adage "failure is not an option" mindset? Now, success is only measured by "show me the money." So, Corporate America follows the SEC ratings rather than consumer loyalism. Thank you for sharing Jason.
The business of business is, by law, to try to make profits. Customer loyalty is one consideration but may not be an important one in some circumstances.
Which law compels businesses to make a profit? What if they don't? Jail time?
"We are very different companies [from Apple and Google] ...We are a tool creator ... not a luxury good manufacturer. We are about creating technologies so that others can build" for mobiles for example Microsoft will wait for manufacturers to introduce new technologies and then develop apps for them so it is either no new technology will be investigated for mobiles or no plan to create technologies for mobiles by Microsoft. many new features were intorduced with Lumia 950XL which were ahead of other manufacturers plan. Why do you have surface line then??? why not waiting untill some oem create the device (may never do so) and then embrace the technology. for my part I will not trust Microsoft as leader in innovation anymore. just another software company.
No, Surface line and Xbox are hardware and profitable. Thet tried Windows phones but too little, too late, so iy was dropped.
Just for your knowledge XBOX is not that profitable as you imagine, they have very small profit margin on it. I beleive it is next on Nutella's list to refresh. And both Surface and XBOX are not tools. it is not profit or lost which is the factor here according to Nutella. He said we are tools creater not luxury goods manufacturer if you can read.
I'm still a fan of Microsoft Services, but I've lost hope that they will bring anything to the market that will grab consumers. In fact, I just switched over to Android and I still use all but a couple of Ms services. The two I don't use are Movies & TV and Photos, because they don't have apps for them. Although, I don't know why they don't have a Movies & TV app for Android and iOS. Many Xbox owners users and some of us that use or used Windows Mobile utilized the service. I've been a long time user, since the early days of Xbox 360. If Ms truly wants to be about services, then this is something that should be done. The sad thing is, I've used just about every consumer product of some form, except Zune HD and their new augmented reality headset. Oh well. I'm happy withy new Note 8.
A realistic approach. maybe those twp apps are a bit more difficult to convert, so taking longer.
I will use Windows 10 ( Steam) and Xbox for gaming... I have moved to Android for everything else... The UWP one platform vision is finished there's no way back for Microsoft in mobile now... Who will buy into their mixed reality vision...? No one... My drawers are filled with Surface RT tablets, Windows Phones, Band wearables, Kinect sensors etc... I've had it with Microsoft, I was their biggest fan but no more...
I never thought I'd say this but I'm sick of Bing on my Android device after upgrading from 5.0 to 6.0, lost Cortina and Bing support for home button, now I have no other alternative to give up on my privacy and start using Google's services, now I'm finding Now on Tap very useful feature, also Google Assistant is really good where I live, this is all Satya Nadella's fault, I hate to say this but if this does not change soon Microsoft is the next Oracle or IBM
Edge/Bing work just fine on my Note 8.
It has something to do with region permissions with Cortana that changed recently in Microsoft, I live in Mexico and was using Microsoft Apps to sideload Cortana this worked on Android 5.0 Lollipop but stopped working on 6.0 Marshmallow
Oracle and IBM are very successful and profitable companies who provide products and services to enterprise, and thence to many consumers who don't know it. Could be a good option for Microsoft but they will support consumers where it is profitable. Windows phones weren't.
I used to be interested in Microsoft products and services as a consumer. However, nowadays my interest in Microsoft products and services is only as an IT professional. Supporting these products and services is great for work, but there isn't really anything that excites me as a consumer outside of work.
Don't forget the tossing of the Surface 3 under the bus either. There was and IS room for a sub-$500 Windows tablet with a foldout keyboard. Just don't give it a 2 cylinder motor. Glad to see the OEM's fill that gap NOT. Ignore me, I'll be holding onto this frustration until the day Skype notifications actually work properly, and my UWP apps stop crashing on launch into a little box in the upper left corner of my screen. "Hey Lucy! Wanna play football?"
If there was room, OEMs would fill it.
Surface line was discontinued because too limited in capability. Surface Pro line was vert successfully continued and did attract OEMs. I have Surface Pro 2 and 3. Didn't buy a Surface Pro 4 because Huawei Matebook was very attractive and price much lower. Keyboard not so good but I am not a touch typist.
Meh my first visit to this site months after I got an s8 plus. Amazed that articles like this are being regurgitated. I was a loyal customer until I just had enough of the false promises etc. Now happy with samsung dex instead of a buggy Elite x3 and considering ditching my Windows 10 laptop and getting an android tablet or Chromebook instead.
Did you return the diamond engagement ring?
People saying Microsoft wants to become next IBM is just dumb.
We are, but Microsoft is doing it anyway.
Agreed, but becoming the next IBM might be good for Microsoft and their enterprise customers, if not for consumers.
Becoming the next IBM is good for Microsoft? What are you smoking?
I loved and committed to close to a dozen products they dumped. I loved their vision. I loved their products.....I don't care to understand their current supposed position. Just like they did to developers time and again, MS is now burning consumer bridges, consumers who will be/are the captains of industry. I already see it. I work for a Fortune 200 corporation who was an all-MS house 10 years ago. That is changing fast. People want a one-stop shop platform and MS is nowhere on the radar. And while MS make record earnings on the backs of Azure they wont care. But that will only last a few more years and when Windows flatlines and Azure is matched by Amazon/Google services, then maybe they'll reflect and realize they are no longer relevant.
Can a Fortune 200 company operate its servers and business sofware, accounting, word processing eyc on Android or iWhatever?
No, but they can on Linux, especially on the servers and the enterprise portions.
I agree with everything you said in this article. it reflects our frustration. And I will add something else. The "good" part of all this for Microsoft is that they are doing something "great" for enterprises. But they apparently haven't realized that what killed consumer's interest on Microsoft ecosystem will kill the enterprises interest as well on Surface devices. If the companies can't use the modern mobile applications of these days on a Surface device, they will use a product that will do it. If you go to any store, manufacturing plant, big corporations, medical facilities, hospitals, any type of business, most of them use portable devices to handle everyday tasks. What do they use? Android or iOS devices. They can't use a Surface Pro, because they can't get the modern applications of these days unfortunately. I can see the Surface (maybe besides the Book) and any new device with Windows on ARM (including the system itself) going the same direction as the Windows Mobile devices because of that issue. If MS is not able to let Android apps run natively in Windows, then MS's future in this area will be a waste of time and resources. Even the rumored Surface Note will be sentenced before they announce it. Windows will be only on PCs and above. I am in the process of replacing my Lumia 950 with an Android device. And I noticed the superiority of Windows Mobile (and it would be even better with Windows on ARM) and the superiority of the Lumia/Surface devices, but it doesn't mean anything without a real apps ecosystem. Instead of taking MS apps to Android, why not to bring Android apps to Surface devices? I don't know what they are thinking. I can MS in a couple of years as the new IBM. And I know they will have the revenue to survive as a company, but it would be a lower and declining one than what it could be. Microsoft needs to communicate their plans in this mobile era (if they have any), not only to the "loyalists" but to the entire list of consumers and business clients. The clock is ticking.
Could be the 'new IBM' indeed, IBM sold off there consumer division because not profitable enough. Financial reports show that they are now the very successful and profitabe enterprise survice comany that few consumers realise exists, but whose products they probably use for banking etc.
Declining revenue for 21 consecutive quarters is "very successful and profitable"?
I wrote this same article 2 yrs ago. Though it was only five sentences, and was in the comment section of an article on this site. It also called him a ******* idiot no less than 10 times.
Because of blind fanboys.
In my opinion it is wrong to think that Microsoft makes the best out of its chances. Rather Nadella is actively defining the course of Microsoft according to his agenda, which does not care about the chances nor the risks. Nadella´s agenda is his personal view of what´s the right course. He *wants* Cloud and AI, and he *does not want* to care about consumers in general and the mobile market in particular. Why do I think this? Because Windows 10 Mobile never got the chance it deserved: With Continuum the smartphone would have become the next PC. But the development of Continuum was too slow - Microsoft cancelled any plans for Lumia without a successor before Continuum could have evolved into Windows on ARM with CShell on Smartphones. Even the development of Windows 10 Mobile was always second priority for Microsoft, with the first versions being not ready for the market at all. Of course, when Intel cancelled its plans for x86-Smartphone-CPUs, it was a major set-back. But if Microsoft would have continued investing into the development of Smartphones and Windows 10 Mobile long enough, then Windows 10 on ARM and CShell would have been ready in time. And Windows on Smartphones - which would have been a full replacement for PCs in most use-cases - could have continue to become more and more important. This was a chance for Microsoft - but Nadella just *didn´t wanted* to go for it. Because he was never interested in a third ecosystem, like he said himself. The thing that makes me - and I think many others, too - so angry is: Nadella did this all on purpose: He never tried, and he never wanted to try. Remember when he said that they would concentrate to position Windows 10 Mobile-Smartphones for the business market? By that time he reduced the division for marketing and support of Windows 10 Mobile substancially. Why? Because he never wanted the Smartphones to become successful in the business market. He didn´t accelerate the development of Windows 10 Mobile, he didn´t invest in the marketing, he destroyed everything that once Nokia was, he halted the development of Windows 10 Mobile and he decided to not make Windows 10 on ARM to run on Smartphones. Not because Microsoft would not have a chance, but because he just doesn´t want anything that he´s not interested in. And he´s only interested in Cloud. He always was and still is. Someone like that should be head of the Cloud division, but not CEO of the whole company. But he is, and I´m convinced that in long term this will be fatal for Microsoft.
'It will be fatal to Microsoft'. Don't think so, they don;t depend on you or any other of the Nadella broke my heart and now I hate him commenters for their increasing profits.
As others have explained already: 1. We live in a Smartphone-centric world. The whole everyday life is built around Smartphones. PC - and with it Windows - are losing their importance rapidly. 2. Kids grow up in a world with Chromebooks and iPads. And they are using Google Docs, iWork, Facetime etc. Many kids don´t use Office at all any more. How can you expect them to magically switch to Microsoft services when they become the ones in charge in a company? iOS already has a massive presence in companys, it´s only a matter of time when Apple will offer the same services as Azure - or don´t you see how aggressive Apple expands into the business sector? 3. In the end it´s all about the ecosystem. Apple ties its users to the Apple services, Google ties its users to the Google services, but - as the desktop OS keeps losing its importance and also in companys mobile devices get more and more important - there won´t be anything left that ties the users to Azure. Windows without a mobile branch won´t be strong enough that users will keep using Microsoft services. Not because Microsoft services are not good enough, but because the Windows ecosystem will lose its dominance - and the ecosystem of the rivals, most notably Apple and Google will get more and more important. If you don´t see these connections, if you don´t see the big picture, then you really should think about it. The future is most definitely not simply a projection of what the stock market sais nor of Microsofts quarterly results. But please, if you reject my argumentation then you are invited to explain how Microsoft will keep beeing successful in the future. Because with Azure and nothing else, I don´t see a reason to keep using Microsoft services instead of switching to another player.
Sadly I am one of those who has now gone over to iOS with an iPhone X. I loved my Nokia Lumia 930 and held out for an extra 12 months hoping for a “Surface” phone or even a sniff of one. It was not to be ☹️. Now I have a lovely device that has Qi wireless charging and an OLED screen just like my 930. At least I can use my existing Nokia charger with it. Bye bye MS, it was nice.
Microsoft's Mobile devices strenth is in the 2 in 1 devices like the 2017 Surface Pro Tablet's and the Surface book 2's and the new Surface Laptop which has sold very well on a world wide basis. MS CEO Naderlla is a Pragmatist since Windows smart phones were not selling well enough to him. He severilly cut back t on their development EXCEPT in the Windows insiders program but that will end by 2019. People who have a Windows 10 Mobile smart phone that can run the Windows 10 insider builds from time to time will get a few NEW FEATURES. These devices have 2 more years of use before they are no longer supported. lots of people use a smart phone that do not get updates until they are ready to Pay out another 500 to 1000 Dollars for NEW Flagship smart phones. Microsoft does need a smart phone that is specifically designed to work with Windows 10 desktop PC's and Windows 2 in 1 devices like the Surface Tablets and Surfaces books. the closest thing folks it looks like Microsoft will make That has a Cell phone in it's case is the 2 screen Mini Tablet Andromeda Windows 10 device they are testing in house. FOLKS the big question is does MS CEO Satya Nadella have the COURAGE to bring this device to the market place with a cell phone in it's case..It wont be a smart phone but it's better than NOTHING THAT HAS A VOICE CELL PHONE IN IT
Agreed, a rational comment.
The biggest problem is Nadella is trying to separate the business from the consumer forgetting businesses are run and by consumers. They are inseperable.
No, businesses are run by business managers. They are consumers in private life but when they get to the office it's about business needs and Microsoft provides.
Business needs? So do many many other companies provide them.
You claim that this article is balanced but it is not. It is a click bait article for the Nadella did not keep his promise to marry me and broke my heart so I will hate Microsoft forever Trolls.
I agree that Nadella is successful and the shareholders of Microsoft are very happy with his turn arround of profits to the coffers. Why else would they award him $20m. That being said the ball was dropped on the mobile strategy, but this didn't start in Nadella's court, it was further back but the hope of Nadella turning things around was there but became the worst case scenario. There are so many factors to how I feel as a loyalist it is too hard to encapsulate into a brief response to an OpEd. I started and before I knew it was six paragraphs into the response and only touched a quarter what I feel on the subject. Erased and stopped again after blowing out to another half dozen paragraphs. - Enterprise consists of consumers. Consumers drive and decide on what products to use in enterprise
- Why have stores worldwide if you aren't bothered with consumers??
- A mobile strategy is important otherwise MS wouldn't provide their apps to the other mobile devices (iOS/Android).
- To see MS give up on such an integral part of their first party ecosystem - dropping their smartphone solution while waiting for the mobile non-smartphone device to be a thing is perplexing.
- If a new mobile device is coming to supercede the smartphone, the analogy of a horse and cart comes to mind. The new engine is being built so take away the horse now to prepare for our new engine.
- Pushing their users to now invest their money in a different mobile store while getting MS apps free, they need to double purchase apps they have purchased through the Windows ecosystem and now again in another ecosystem
- In the article there was mentioned 'barring Xbox Microsoft isn't really in the consumer products business'. That may be true now, but they were very into mobile, zune, band, and many other things others have spoken of... but they have systematically removed themselves from consumers, which is a big mistake. In the same week XBox One X released there were already the same cryptic statements about bringnig first party games to other platforms (and consoles), so much rang the same bells as the first comments on the mobile exodus.
- All the things Nadella spoke of in his interviews on the mobile strategy of bringing new devices, and all the other flipant comments that are too many to remember and cite were all inconsequential.
- Trust in Microsoft strategies and their comments have deminished for me at least and I'd say a few others that have long been a part of the Microsoft journey. I listen to news with a skeptical ear now rather than a positive outlook which I don't like admitting. To summarise the way Nadella simply gave up because of two other competitors being ahead of MS is just lame. The whole 'enterprise' push almost sounds like an excuse for MS giving up the fight, which competition in business is all about. Why be in business at all if you shy away from competition. I may be wrong in some or most of my viewpoints but the waning of trust and confidence in a company that I've gelled with over the past 20yrs or so is real. I'm patient, and understand some business principles like keeping shareholders happy, but the CEO is there to balance that and ensuring growth, competition, and motivate and encourage staff the company to get over hurdles and not back away from competition fights.
At this point, it really doesn't matter. Microsoft can't catch up to Apple or Google on smartphones. It's truly a worthless battle.
Xbox & multiple accessories, games, multiple programs that are not strictly enterprise focused, mice, keyboard, Surface Pro - Book - Laptop - Studio, web cams, VR, AR, etc. Yeah, completely abandoned consumers.
The weekly Microsoft Mobile Click Bait Article.
MS apparently hasn't realized that what killed consumer's interest on Microsoft ecosystem will kill the enterprises interest as well on Surface devices. If the companies can't use the modern mobile applications of these days on a Surface device, they will use a product that will do so. Don't believe it? Notice in every single store, hospital, warehouses, any type of business, they all are using portable devices with Android or iOS, because of the app ecosystem. If MS is not able to let Android apps run natively in Windows, then all the resources MS is investing now in this area will be a waste. The Surface Pro will be declining to die and even the rumored Surface Note will be sentenced to DOA before they announce it. Windows will be only on PCs and above for a couple of more years. Then Azure will be the only source of revenue (not even Office will survive the chain reaction). That is avoidable if they want to.
I once considered myself a fan. I am now at the stage of ambivalence, with occasional disgust for Microsoft products. There was a time I would have jumped at the chance to have a Surface Pro, now I don't want to have anything to do with "The Microsoft Experience". I loved Windows Phone 7, 8, 8.1 (which was really more like 9), and I still love my Windows 10 mobile even as Microsoft continues to dismantle the infrastructure around it. Long before that though, I always preferred Windows over Mac up until XP, and then started to really become interested with Vista's looks and modernization. 7 made a fan out of me, and 8 truly led the way to cleaner graphics that were copied by every major OS, mobile or otherwise. Even 10 is a great return to form with the Start button back in its rightful place. But that is where it ends. Windows 10's updates are borderline hostile towards its users. It restarts my computer without any warning, repeatedly wakes it from sleep in the middle of the night, overrides and resets any settings I make to stop this, and refuses to hibernate or sometimes even turn off the screen. And since its debut more than two years ago, and despite the constant updates, very little of value has been added. Edge is a sick joke that only a company like Microsoft could think was anything but a public embarrassment. As the mobile platform collapses, so goes their "Microsoft Store." Microsoft doesn't support their own hardware and platform, why should it support its developers? No wonder they have split. And I have lost track of the technology, from facial recognition, to 3D scanning phones, to Hololens, to VR and AR, to AI assistants, to flexible screens, that Microsoft has rapidly sunk money into and promptly lost interest in only to get superseded by the competition. Let's tell it like it is: under Nadella, the consumer side of Microsoft is dead. Hardware is dead. Software is dead. They will rest on their laurels until the whole thing collapses inward and claim they were a commercial, server-based company all along. If they keep retreating from any market in which there is competition, they will soon have nothing at all. They give away mobile OS's for free, let you use Office online at no charge, have to pay people to use their search engine instead of improving it--they have no idea what they are doing. They try to sell Microsoft as some sort of ethereal "idea." Microsoft is "a mobile experience that transcends hardware and isn't about using software." In the end, they are just making up PR nonsense to explain away their lack of comprehension at their own incompetence. Please let someone else lead the consumer side instead of Nadella before it's too late.
Eb110america. ^awesome. Seriously.
the problem is not Nadella. Its Microsoft's decision to make Windows Phone "different". Had they adopted the grid stype as boring as lame as it is...it works for most people. Like when people jump from ios to windows phone at least its familar. Windows phone was different in a way that it wants to consolidate services like photos in it and not promote facebook, instagram brands. And Kaboom! We can all pull the trigger on Satya,I did too but really its was all of Microsoft's fault. They knew iphone was coming and they still focused on Vista. Sometimes **** happens and **** happened to Microsoft.
What I don't understand is why MS didn't treat WM10 as it did Win 7: discontinued, yes, but desirable and still to be used by very many. Instead of saying, "Go get a bleeping Android," MS might better have said, "Heh, we've moved on but we know that many of you have not, so we're still supporting the product you love -- including to sell it as new. It won't have new features, but we will ensure security and ongoing stability." I'd go with that. I mean, I am, having just bought a remanufactured 950 from AT&T... just in case my two other 950s fail...
Great article I couldn't have articulated better myself! I hope MS ad Mr. Nadella Takes it into consideration!
Nadella saids "Bite Me".
Nothing that comes out of Nadella's mouth re. MS's plans is worth the waft of stale air it rode on. Therefore analyzing anything that Nadella says MS is planning is pretty much a waste of time. Or maybe it'll get to the point where one can predict MS's imminent retreat from 'X' based on Nadella's 'recent support' for 'X'. Anyone want to bet on Q1/18 "we are committed to our Surface products and our physical stores" Vs Q1/20 "our Surface line and our stores set the standard and pushed the OEMs to new heights, but they have served their purpose and it is time to write a new chapter in MS history..."
" We are a tool creator", " We want to democratize things". Where are tools to create a mobile experience, where the support to OEMs wanting to create mobiles? Why HP, Alcatel, Whartonbrooks were left abandoned/backstabbed.
Well, I will ask one thing? Why windows phone is dead? people are unhappy because of this only.... lets see what they can bring in phone.... either whole windows 10 pc version in phone.. its hard but not impossible...i.e run win 32 app in windows phone...till developer get ready to make app for phone....its my prediction otherwise future is google OS.. its hard but Microsoft still miss phone division..but google are innovating everywhere
one more thing Nadella is right about product...Microsoft is the people making product i.e making products which people can effort like google products....not apple...1000$ iPhoneX... a big dustbin....
Microsoft for the consumer is done. They are a business/enterprise company now. Say Nadella left, the guy coming in would be ordered just as nadella was, to continue on the path they are on now. It's a money maker for them why would they change now. The last holdouts here, I salute you but the end is near and its time to probably move on.
The problem is the enterprise will plataeu at one point, it's not question of if but when. Secondly enterprise users are consumers as well. Thirdly BYOD will keep growing YOY, because it's cheaper, efficient, ensures high moral and productivity. Because forcing people to use a seperate work phone on a platform doesn't really ensure productivity. Furthermore people are likely to be less careless with their personal devices due to emotional attachment thus lower risk of loss or forgetting it on the public transport. There are countless factors that people do not consider. Most importantly, windows phones at one point had much better integration but as developers and apps left, the companies who issued said phones due to better infrastructure integration, moved to ios and android. There are many high profile examples. The same thing happened with blackberry, but unlike Microsoft - Rim didn't have a diverse portfolio because they solely were enterprise focused.
Well I for one refuse to BYOD. I'm not letting my company remotely wipe my personal device. If they want me to be in touch 24/7/365, they can buck up and provide me with a device.
Hi all Since the release of 920 i was with Lumia - 920 then 640, 640 XL, 1020, and now 950 Dual. But not only me. I have convinced over the years many people to buy the 920 and 640. this is only with the phones. Coz of me MS has sold about 15 tables. Can i clame some profits :) :) :). But even i am looking into option to change now my 950. I dont want to but i am pushed to do it. And this is the biggest problem i am forced by the company which i love so much and the idea behind. I feel more like betrayed then anything else. This is my view. Since last year i am taking every single word coming from MS with a pinch of salt :( :( :L(
Jason, I'm sorry to say you're going to have a hard time simple because of peoples cognitive dissonance and unwillingness to see every single angle.
I totally understand where you're coming from, to resolve disputes one must see all angles and find a mutual footing so all parties can move forward. But not everyone is able to or willing to do that as it's way out of their comfort zone. It takes years or a lifetime or several lifetimes for most to develop + understand their cognitive processes and functions, rarely you will find anyone willing to learn and understand said processes and functions in order to confront their own bias. As until one does not, they will never be able to keep an open mind to be able to perceive and foresee objectively, subjectively, in first person and third person.
Never the less keep doing what your doing Jason, I for one like reading your articles : ).
Thanks I appreciate your support!!!😎
:) you're welcome Jason.
Microsoft can't do software anymore. There is no angle it can look nice at, no matter how fast you or Nadella spin.
I was a big Microsoft cheerleader circa 2012. I was so excited about the Metro UX and still feel those touch experiences on tablet and phone were incredible. The floundering of Zune and Windows Phone (and tablets, really. The W10 tablet experience is icky.) has really frustrated me with how Microsoft handles their products. It’s to the point where I’m done with Microsoft. I’m moving to use Linux as much as possible (ElementaryOS 👌), reserving Windows for playing games.
I dream of the day this CEO will go home in disgrace
Parasite company. Worse types Windows now. What's type of software company now Microsoft. Where six times canceled/ give up or left unfinished mobile OS😄. Now plan to destroy the android OS that's why they shown interest on android platforms. How creative you are Microsoft 😜.
Yeah, I bet they could kill off an open source OS.
Satya Nadella is slinging more BS than I can handle. What is this nonsense when he stated that the world didn't need a third mobile platform? Yes, it did, because Windows Phone was and continues to be a well-differentiated platform with features and advantages not present in the other mobile platforms. Primary among these features is better security. Maybe I'm missing something, but if someone would point out the incidents of Windows Phone exploits that render my HP Elite X3 a smoldering box of malware and identity theft vectors, I loved to see them. I trust my WM10 smartphone way more than I would trust any iPhone or Android device.
The world didn't need another laptop or tablet manufacturer either, Satya, but Microsoft stepped into that space with the Surface devices, and doesn't seem willing to cede that arena solely to other manufacturers. What was so different about Windows Phone? Are you actually telling us that Microsoft cannot compete in the smartphone world, that Microsoft cannot create a line of best-of-breed smartphones running Windows Mobile that not only showcase the features and security of such devices, but attract a segment of consumers who want what Windows Mobile can provide?
Are you too afraid to fund the research and development necessary to create a winning line of smartphones? Are you too focused on the next quarter's financial results that you are TOTALLY unable to create a long-term strategy to be a platform that Microsoft loyalists, like myself, can utilize on the full spectrum of devices that normal people use everyday to run their lives? Does EVERY effort of Microsoft, every calendar quarter, have to generate more and more profit or get thrown on Microsoft's ever-growing pile of discarded products and programs?
How many startups go for quarters and even years before they make a profit, but still succeed in the end because their vision and drive kept them headed in the right direction, and they were prepared to accept some poor financial results in the short term to achieve lasting profitable operations in the long term.
Is it so hateful for you to consider funding work on Microsoft-branded smartphones that might be unprofitable in the short term, but eventually break-even and make a profit in the long term. Must every division of Microsoft be a cash cow ALL the time?
You are forcing me to a decision that I do NOT want to make...To abandon Microsoft as a platform because you do not have faith in your own corporation's ability to triumph at ANY endeavor you want if you believe in it and know it's the right thing to do.
You have one last chance to prove you really care about your customers and want to support them, not just with applications, but also with high quality devices they can use in every aspect of their daily lives. One last chance, Satya...that's all you get.
I completely agree. Completely!
You know, I was not happy but still managing to be OK with MS pre-Nadella. I think the final straw for me was that he KILLED mobile AFTER stating that the company was committed to the OS. The strategy that was announced calling for release of new phones apparently did the job for him in selling some 950 and 950XLs. He then just did not follow through.... Can he be trusted? As a developer, I could understand his comment about making tools instead of consumer software. The problem is that those of us who believed in MS in the past have also now wasted tons of money on training and test hardware for all of their abandoned initiatives. I say abandoned instead of failed because it seems that the reason for failure was more that those products did not receive the support, be it marketing or needed enhancements, the was deserved. So, bottom line? I really could be brought back into the MS fold. It would take some convincing -- and not just lips moving. But, it will be far more difficult (if not impossible) when the leader of the company is someone who has shown himself to be untrustworthy.
All I did was buy a Mac, buy an iPhone and I've stopped using Windows and Windows Phone... simple, Apple are much better now. It saddens me as I used Windows since 3.1 as a kid, the first time I even touched a Mac was 2015... but it's just better than what Microsoft delivers these days, plus it seamlessly works with my iPhone. Any ways, Microsoft won't be around in 10 years, so you all better switch to Android or IOS as well.
No new win 10 phones? No support of win 10 mobile? Well jolly good, very well, carry on....
The fact that Microsoft is the only company that has pretty much every popular consumer product and still fails is astounding.
hello Mr.Ward. what i see in your latest articles is that you feel lost. a feeling that a consumer like me doesn't have. lets not make things complecated. you use words that i understand but i have to think alot and search my brain for them. please write simple and easily understandable words. you make too much tension. Microsoft is not putting too much effort in android and iOS. in fact i don't think they put any effort. top markets for micr
Thank you, for the frank and realistic article. We long time Microsoft consumers who have been using their products since the beginning would love to continue to use the tools and services MS provides. That is as long as we arent jilted at every corner, we understand some changes will always need to take place, but many of us are not so well off that we can afford to throw everything away every year or 2 and start over. We also understand that platform changes and learning new features is important as well, but completely revamping an OS so that the users feel completely lost is unwise especially if some users have already been contemplating switching to a new IOS or Android platform, no time like the present when you feel you must learn an OS all over again anyway right? Bottom line is we need to feel like we have some kind of synergy in our devices and a good symbiotic relationship with MS instead of feeling like we expendable sheep to be fleeced and kicked to the curb. Maybe we just need Microsoft to communicate better with us so that are info isnt coming from trolls and ios and android fanboys.
Hi Jason, Let me give you a short rant. Microsoft discontinued support for my Nokia 1520. It has stopped producing further new versions of W10M for my Lumia 950xl. It had cancelled the mobile platform on which I had developed two apps. Now I moved to Android. I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. I was an Android user before I switched to Nokia and I feel home again. Microsoft has wasted a lot of time of me while being on the mobile platform. Being a windows insider they have consumed hours and hours of my time trying and testing incomplete versions of W10M, while providing feedback... I was a W10M app developer and being in the program was the only way to keep up with all the changes and the additions. Now being on Android, I see a great platform, stable, finished, performant. Microsoft has misused my trust, never apologized for it, and just keeps on miscommunicating and deviating people and milking its cloud business... This will backfire one day to Microsoft. I will never consider buying anything from Microsoft again unless I cannot do without.
oh, I forgot to answer the question about canning the CEO... I have to say, a CEO or a leader of anything, must first of all be in tune with those they are trying to lead. It seems to me that there has been very little discernment at play in the recent developments. So keeping someone around who doesnt care about success is insane it would seem.
I can't help but think that Nadella isn't so much steering the company awry as coming to terms with the mistakes Ballmer made. It wasn't just that Ballmer missed the boat on mobile, and that some of the company's consumer-focused ideas have been half-baked. It's that the company had a bad habit of making a big splash with initial efforts, but quickly losing heart if it's anything less than a blockbuster hit. Zune isn't immediately putting the iPod on blast? Eh, we'll start skipping product years and putting out little more than mild capacity updates. Windows Phone had a huge media blitz when new, and then... it quickly grew silent. Ballmer and crew seemed to assume that merely having Microsoft's name attached to something guaranteed a Windows-style monopoly, and gave up when they realized it didn't. Here's why Apple and Google have done well in the consumer space: consistency and frequent iteration. They release significantly upgraded products every year. They treat every release as if it's the most important, because it is. They understand that they have to play a long game. Microsoft has done this: it's generally been good about developing the Surface line, and of course the Xbox gets lots of attention even if hardware is rare by necessity. But outside of those spaces, it's notorious for having a short attention span.
All I know is that I enjoyed my Lumia 925, miss it, and would go back to it in a hurry with proper motivation.
so, I guess Satya means royals should abandoning windows and go for other operating systems like Mac OS and Android and then install Cortana, OneDrive, office, etc on them. Because windows is not a tool, it is a platform that tools run on. It is sad Bill will like to build houses instead of saving his legacy....
As a share holder, I voted against him. All I could do.
When Nokia was independent, Windows Phone was risiing slowly but steadily. Nokia knew exaclty what it was going to take to make Windows Phone a key player. Windows Phone was becoming a thing in Europe and Microsoft should have threw more money at Nokia and concenrated on getting Windows Phone to reach crtial mass in Europe which would have bought lots of time to keep slowly expanding elsewhere. I felt I had the best smartphone in the world at the time when I had a Lumia 1020 and while it was't a great seller it sure genearted lots of mindshare and pushed a lot of sales for lower end devices. It was the only Windows Phone superphone ever made and marked the apex of Window Phone. Nokia couldn't afford to do another superphone and Microsoft didn't have the vision. But Micrsoft buying Nokia put them and Windows Phone on a track of slow death. Then Nadella came along and sped things up. I think it was a massive blunder and Nadella doens't even realize what it so bad about it. He is a timid cost cutter and Microsoft needs a bold visionary. There would be no xBox if Nadealla was the helm any time during its first 10 years, it wouldnt' suprise me at all if he tries to spin xBox off away from Microsoft. Now many Microsoft loyalists are at least partialling forced into a competitors ecosystem and which we will intergrate into in varying degrees. Some of us will only half intregrate some of us will slowly integrate fully. How I would love to have an independant Nokia and rocking a 4th generation Pureview Lumia right now.
The statements from Satya are just more of his CYA nebulous BS that he's using as an excuse for good products they've blundered and caused to fail at the expense of billions of dollars and loyal customers. "We are very different companies [from Apple and Google] ...We are a tool creator ... not a luxury good manufacturer. We are about creating technologies so that others can build. [With] Surface, we created a premium product ... every OEM should create a lower-priced model. We want to democratize things." BS! No company spends billions developing a premium product...then allows it to fail in order to 'democratize things'. Does Cadillac or Mercedes-Benz spend billions to develop premium autos with the intent to let them fail so that competitors can make lower-end copies in order to 'democratize things'? No. And interestingly, Satya's excuse of democratizing things doesn't apply to Surface, Xbox, Office, or other products that they haven't screwed up yet and are still making money for MS. It seems to only apply to the products & services they've handled poorly, like Win10 phones/mobile, Groove, and the other products listed in the article. Are we to believe Satya's excuses and assume that spending billions for Nokia...then utterly failing to market Windows phones properly and exiting the phone market was just MS 'democratizing things'? LOL. No. In truth, Satya doesn't know what he's doing, has never given straight answers to serious questions, and is only good at fumbling the ball. He's been a disaster for MS and its customers and should be replaced by someone more competent.
This could be classified as a 'what came first, the chicken or the egg' situation. However in my opinion this all comes back to Nadella and his view that Nokia had to go. The Lumias were definitely number 3 worldwide, no question but they did well in most places outside the USA. MS is just too USA-centric and that just does not appear to be about to change. Android and Apple took a different path, market to the world whereas Nadella chose to look only at the US and the US' carrier driven telecomms system was something that he seems to never have attacked. So why so lazy and myopic Nadella?
Lets accept that Microsoft is first and foremost a tools company. Thus, developers should be thrilled ... but they are not. The consumer products that are released tease developers who quickly learn that their learning curve, investment in development software, and the time it takes to create a device specific application can likely be thrown away at any moment. So ... they decline the opportunity knowing that they can't afford to waste the time. Next look at the product line of "tools". Microsoft comes up with some great development tools, only to change the game, or discontinue them. Again, we invest a huge amount of time and endure a learning curve only to see MSFT drop the product or change direction. Now let's look at the productivity tools ( Office 365 ) they have developed. They supposedly want to embrace the Apple and Android worlds, but it appears to be primarily in the advertising media. I recently installed Office 365 on an iMac. I've used the Windows / DOS versions forever, but now I needed to use the Mac Version. Outlook for the Mac is advertised on the MSFT website as the same rich experience as on Windows. Don't we wish that were true. In fact, the current version is very similar to the 11 year old Mac version I installed on my wifes computer way back then. One feature long in the windows version ( the display pane on email that shows your ToDo list and Appointments ), is not present. Is it popular ? For over 2 years, nearly 4,000 people have specifically asked in one thread on the input forum to have this feature added. The request is ignored. Satya in his first statement after becoming CEO sent an email to all employees encouraging them to follow their creative ambitions, not do business as usual. This has led to an attitude that the consumer is unimportant. Ultimately, we are all consumers, whether making private or corporate investments in products, and we do have choices. The options are increasing, and MSFT may find a real need to rethink their behaviors. It's far more than Phones and Groove Why create excellent offerings only to dump them once people become interested ? I remember the predictions that the Apple Watch would fail. It had weaknesses, but Apple stuck with it, and now sales are outstanding. MSFT has made some superior offerings, but they don't stick with them, and instead they simply pull them from the market. Even the entire Surface line has problems they just ignore. This simply destroys customer loya;ty, even for those of us who have been with them for over 3 decades.
Dear saiya, You asked us (loyalist) to understand Microsoft position and aspiration but the fact even the Microsoft founder Bill Gates not using window phone anymore is upsetting. The relationship between loyalist and Microsoft should be both parties respecting each other.. Instead, you asked us to take care of your feeling only..What about us? How about our feeling? Doesn't it matters to you Microsoft? It's bother me when you (Microsoft) spend billion to buy Nokia and not using the full potential from technology acquired.. If you do not want to used it then why buy it? This is the last time I'm asking Microsoft to bring back 41mp camera tech back to the market.. Please listen to your supporter..
"This is the last time I'm asking Microsoft to bring back 41mp camera tech back to the market.. Please listen to your supporter.." Few people have any use for a 41 MP camera. They're much better off with a high quality 8 MP camera that can handle all sorts of light conditions than one that sucks up storage space with a few snapshots. It wouldn't be hard at all to bring that same camera to an Android and an iPhone yet you don't see companies falling over themselves to do it!
I am really disappointed in Microsoft for annoucing that windows phone is dead. It just gave an excuse for app vendors to start pulling the plug early. I have a windows phone now, I have to pay money out for a new phone because the apps I use on window phone platform are going away left and right. If Microsoft would get it together and do what they were committed to doing with allowing android apps to work on windows phone then problem would be gone and Market windows phone correctly. I tend to like the interface better than the other two platforms and have syncing all the time with my PC. I do not believe in not having a choice and the other two cost more for the features I want. Plus, I have used windows mobile since windows phone 5 in 2006, before Apple and Android hit the market.
A loyalist is a "person who remains loyal to the established ruler or government, especially in the face of a revolt". Microsoft is a for-profit company. A loyalist is going to remain blindly loyal to a for-profit company. Microsoft has wisely decided to read the tea-leaves and see that the consumer operating system side of things is a dwindling market. Because Microsoft was such a dominant force in the 1990's and 2000's--a position it sometimes attained through ILLEGAL MEANS--it created the necessary incentive for the emergence of open source operating systems. Two of those OSes, BSD and Linux, concidentally also closely related, now form the basis of the globe's two ascendant OSes. Because iOS and Android are free, the "sale" of the OS itself provides no revenue. iOS is used to drive Apple's hardware sales. Android drives Google's services income. A side-benefit of both OSes is that both companies take a cut of the apps and media sold through their respective stores. Windows is different. It doesn't drive Microsoft's hardware sales. It barely results in any income from app and media sales. And, because macOS, iOS and Android are free, it's become very difficult to actually SELL Windows. The one place Windows as an OS can still drive income is from the sale of Microsoft's OWN software as a service strategy. There's no point to pursuing markets that are mature. The mobile market is mature. Microsoft was unable to become the Apple of mobile because, in the 2000's its corporate culture simply didn't understand that "it just works" was the magic sauce that made Apple users so loyal (despite higher prices) compared to Windows users. Google's Android provided handset OEMs with a better deal (free and free from Microsoft's heavy hand) than Microsoft's Windows Mobile/Phone ever could*. So, back to the original defintion of loyalists. They are blindly loyal in the face of evidence to the contrary. Microsoft has become a really good company. They're focussing on things they do really well and they're cutting loose the things that they haven't traditionally done well in. They still have some of their anti-competitive streak in them that was so strong under Bill Gate's unethical leadership (or, was he not responsbile for condoning the browser wars, for example?). But, at least their OS is now much improved (as long as you stay away from UWP). *It's not like there was a profound difference between Windows Mobile, BlackBerry PlayBook and Android in the late 2000's so the company that offered OEMs the best deal would be successful as the alternative to Apple's iOS.
The Microsoft loyalist should look to Apple's macOS and iOS. That's where Microsoft will focus their efforts. Android will also benefit from it, but, Android hardware is so flakey and varied it'll be years before Microsoft on Android is as good as Microsoft on iOS. The writing is on the wall for Windows. Microsoft has been unsuccessful in its efforts to bring "apps" to Windows. UWP has stalled because there is no mobile presence. Desktop users use win32 apps. Mobile users use iOS or Android. I recently got to use macOS for a while. Apple isn't working particularly hard on macOS, but, it doesn't have to. It has iOS and that acts a great gateway drug to macOS. Windows doesn't have that, and, Microsoft has been trying to replicate Apple's success (Continuum :) without having the hardware presence to pull it off. I invest in Microsoft's stock with little concern. They still have major growth potential. I don't particularly invest much stock in Microsoft's operating system. It's at the end of the road. Windows dominated for two decades. But the age of the desktop is over. Linux distros are mature and userfriendly. macOS is mature. Windows is mature. Google has introduced a remarkably successful internet operating system in the form of ChromeBooks. Making Windows more userfriendly is too little, too late. Microsoft could've challenged Apple's position as a creator of premium products in the early 2000's by rethinking Windows when they went to XP, but, they doubled down on old technology while Apple had the courage to cut the apron strings and shift the entire operating system to an entirely unrelated technology (BSD Unix).
I was hoping MS would be strengthening the bond between Windows Mobile and Xbox/PC for years. They had it at their fingertips and they let it slide through. The closest they came was syncing messages to my PC. That was so awesome for a couple months. Then they tried shoehorning it into Skype. No thanks, that app is garbage. It was perfect when it was on Messages app on both Phone and PC.
windows phone people used to be, if there was a new update, if there was a new update Facebook, then the top mobile device could have been
I wish Bill Gates was CEO
The problem is when did MS discover that it is a tool cration company and not a luxury good manufacturer. Did MS know this prior to its acquisition of Nokia or after? If the answer is the former then what was point in acquiring Nokia at? Also if the answer is the former then what is the Surface Studio And the whole Surface line for that matter? The Surface Studio is clearly a "luxury good". To be clear MS entered into the mobile space too late and then tried to catch up by using shortcuts (Nokia acquisition) all the while claiming its fealty to consumers in the mobile space. Rather than acknowledge this prodigious mistake, the polically savvy Nadella offers an obfuscation of what really happened leaving many consumers in a terrible spot. So while the MS stock continues to rise Nadella's position is safe and the board won't care much about obfuscation unless the stock starts to be affected.
what a strange article. The idea that the 'loyalist' and Microsoft needs mediating is, I believe, misplaced. Microsoft isn't looking to court customers from the customers are better placed to have moved on to better supports operating systems. As Microsoft slowly extricates itself from the OS business to focus on more back bone tech stuff like cloud and server stuff and reap the rewards of it's patent catalogue it is not a good idea for them to have people who invest personally in their products. Microsoft will they, wont they relationship is bad for their image just as it's bad for the public to buy into it. I would say just let it go. Let us all go our separate ways. It's fine, move on. there is no need for mediation we really are better off going our separate ways.
If everyone moves on what will Jason have, to write about
I'll continue to write the range of topics that are easily observed in my portfolio of work here at WC😉: www.windows central.com/author/jason-ward Topics from AI, Quantum Computing, smart glasses, Microsoft and inclusion, Ambient computing, edge computing, Surface, marketing, Microsoft as a platform company and more.😉 Check out the link. You might be surprised at the range of topics I cover. 😉
I'm aware of your topics Jason and also the engagement on those topics ;)
Me too😉, But the question was "what will Jason write about?" The answer is, those and whatever other topics are relevant to Microsoft or tech. The low engagement on those type of topics hasn't changed the fact that I've been writing them since I started here in 2015, and continue to write them. It won't change going forward😉. What I will say is that, yes, you are aware of my variety of coverage, thank you for that, but perhaps some who have voiced a desire that I write about other things are not. They need to know what YOU know😉 I already write ✍🏾 other stuff!😃 As a matter of fact, I know this site was based on a phone-focused foundation. That's what brought me here as a reader (before becoming a writer) and most of you as well. But we have since broadened our coverage to include all things Microsoft (years ago). So I'd encourage the core audience to check out the other (non phone) work we're pouring into the site. Most of you guys I'm sure are tech enthusiasts like me. There are a lot of non-phone tech pieces on this site you may enjoy. I personally try to write about some broader topics such as the affects of tech on society, culture, children, the disabled, emerging tech etc. A lot of non-phone stuff, but things that interest tech enthusiasts and others. My articles (Warditorials😉):
www.windowscentral.com/author/jason-ward
Lol, techiez got tech-owned and tech-burned.
I guess us Microsoft fans just sit here wondering what the hell happened, while Apple and Google fanboys are having their time. Yes, I'm talking about phones in particular. If only the Lumia line had took off. If only.
Good article, Jason. I've been a long time Microsoft loyalst. Never have I been more ambivalent about Microsoft and what it is doing then now.
Same here Doctor_Who! For years I have been supporting Microsoft mentally, philosophically and financially of course, by buying, using and promoting their software and hardware. Now, I hear, no more of this and no more of that, we are enterprise focused, not consumer focused company! Then, why do they need all those brick and mortar stores? Enterprise probably does not need them. We, end users, so called consumers, need them for sure. Anyway, why suddenly this divison between enterprise and consumer world? Consumers bring their software and hardware preferences to enterprise and vice versa. We, consumers probably do not need Azure in every day use, but we need phones, music players, integration of our homes on the basis of platform we like and love to use. The last comment, Satya alone is probably not the ultimate word about where the Microsoft is heading. There is board of directors, scientific officers, finally shareholders, are they all totally confused about "consumers" role for the company of that impact on the whole World of consumers?
Nadella and his horde refuse to accept that consumer and business worlds are closer than ever and one can greatly influence the other. He is either to stupid or to ignorant to understand this.
That is the reason why companies offer cheap or free software or even hardware to schools so when they graduate and join the work force and have income they have tendency to buy that software again.
Thanks Doctor Who. It's difficult to know if investing in MS consumer products will pan out. I love Groove and Docs.com for instance. Both of which I invested in and both for which I must transfer content elsewhere this year. 😒
@Doctor_Who...couldnt have said it better.
Every time Microsoft has brought out something new it was different enough that people reacted in shock and dislike for it. Vista for instance with what it brought to the masses. Then Windows 8 was brought forth to the whines and dislikes by a great number of people. The same thing happened to Windows Phone as it was a very different phone than the other two copycats out there.
If they had put in only a few of the changes first and then as people adjusted to it they could have brought forth the extras like they are doing with 10. I know 10 is a work in progress as we go along and if they had done something like this along with a lot of information up front with phones it would have made a big difference in how it was received.
It appears that in the phone world it needed to be like the others at least initially to have gained traction in the market place. But that is the problem when you have a salesman with the wrong kind of knowledge trying to make it work. Satya has come in now as an engineer and they truly are doing things differently than before but there is still a lot of work to be done in that area.
With everything seeming to happen all at once it makes one wonder if maybe they are getting completely out of the hardware business and sticking only to the software side of it. That would be a mistake in this time as apps have replaced the traditional software in the eyes of many people. With the phone approach and it being somewhat adopted to the regular pcs it is evident that it is the future of computing.
People want to be able to simply touch an icon or tile to go immediately into whatever it is they are doing on their phone, tablet, pc without having to click on a folder and then selecting what they need. In this scenario Microsoft has the advantage because of the tiles. There is flexibility in the tiles in what they show or can show whereas a stagnant icon may give you something to let you know it needs attention a tile as MS uses shows you much more.
Because of the advantage Microsoft can get into the ballgame in a much bigger way earlier than either Apple or Google since they still use the static icon. They can not wait any longer to get it going though.
The biggest thing they can do as a company is to keep us informed on what is coming and maybe even some hints as to what the finished product will operate. I have never owned an Android or an iPhone including any other product Apple has simply because I do not like their model of operations. If I had wanted those things instead of Windows I would not even be here commenting. If I have to leave Windows to go to the others I will be going all in and completely leaving Windows. Microsoft needs to understand that from all of us who have been shortchanged in the process.
Hey Nadella, Please Go Away!
I guess Jason eat his own words 😂
?
I live in the UK and it now feels like I have now been kicked in the teeth 4 times now and wasted £1,000's on their pocket computers, phones and apps, Years ago I started with an Ipaq with phone features, then used a couple of Symbian based Nokia mobiles until I purchased the Lumia 800, followed by the Lumia 925 and now the Lumia 950 and each time they promise the world and give you nothing. I really liked the Windows phone OS, the live tiles and the old version of the contact hub, where all information was available for contacts. They dumped this and roughly a year after each phone OS, they dumped it and the users for another version of the OS. My Lumia 800 worked fine, but by the time my 24 month contract was ended, over half the apps I used stopped getting updates and therefore didn't work fully. My Lumia 925 was classed as a flagship model and easily had the memory and features to install Windows mobile 10. Microsoft never really give a good reason for not allowing Window mobile 10 on these phones. I am happy to say the phone still works great for calls, texts and the fantastic camera, unlike my Lumia 950. After risking getting the Lumia 950 for all the features advertised, including a free dock when getting from Vodafone UK. I never received the free dock and neither Vodafone or Microsoft wanted to know, but what annoyed me more than anything was buying a phone featuring an FM radio and finding Microsoft disabled it fully in the UK and again with no excuse. I am disabled and quite often enjoy listening to our local FM station while out & about, instead of paying massive amounts of Mobile internet charges for listening to the same station online. I now find my Lumia 950 useless, because half the companies will not support the phone and again Microsoft don't care. Big businesses like, HSBC, Sky, Halifax, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, UltraViolet (UV) movie apps and more just either never bothered to create apps or just stopped supporting the OS. I have paid for quite a few apps on these phones and feel Microsoft have now stolen this money from me, by not supporting any of the phones they sold and I feel every person who has purchased a Windows phone or apps for it, should have compensation paid to them. Microsoft created this problem and left all the Windows Phone users and supporters in limbo each time and because of this should correct the problem via refunding money or by compensation. My Lumia 950 locks, restarts and crashes taking photos all the time now and therefore isnt fit for purpose. Microsoft's CEO's, managers and shareholders need to look and see how many dedicated & loyal phone users they have really annoyed and could lose in other ways. I don't like iPhones, but will be moving to Android knowing they provide updates to there phones for years and that means they care about the customers needs unlike Microsoft. I have even started looking at different computer operating systems, because I now feel if they done this to me through mobiles, will they do it also with our computer OS. The specs of the phones they sold were fantastic, it was Microsoft that could not create software or OS's for them, which is totlly disgusting for a company that was built on creating software and OS's. This can only leave one answer and that is they didn't care about us users, just the money they were sucking out off us. I feel guilty that I also talked my wife & daughter into also buying Windows phones and both can no longer use them for the reason they wanted, which was to talk to other family members through messenger, because Facebook stopped support for the Windows 8.1 phones. Sack them, with no bonus pay-off's and use the money to paid us owners back.
Jason, the most important thing here that hurts MS and will backfire 100 times is trust. Confidence in them as a company that commits, has been shattered! And if one thinks that MS monumental failures and zero commitment to several of the products you have mentioned, won't backfire to the enterprise zone, he is either a plain idiot or delusional! MS's failure in mobile has already made some scars in business trust too. Nadella's plan to ditch consumers with no care of their investments is a move that shows one cannot trust MS anymore, ever again! Users are moving their accounts and data to other platforms on a fast pace, and you know it. Why? Because they do not trust MS anymore even though some of the services are not likely gonna be killed off, but when you lose trust you ditch everything from a perticular provider. I have ditched onedrive, my o365 subscription, office. Never used Bing, never used Edge at work, never used windows 10 at home and never will because they suck from my point of view, my personal opinion. For me, these products suck because MS cares ZERO for quality control on their software, and I am not a fan of being a free beta tester for Nadella, and I am not talking about the insider guinea pig program, I am talking about public updates which are poorly tested, if not at all, because Nadella in his cost obsession, ditched the dedicated QA teams. Many companies may be using MS products because it is either not yet possible or very expensive to migrate to something else, not because they also like using MS products. MS not only is not cool anymore, they have lost something more important than $$: trust.
Trust is indeed very important. Agreed.
I invested a lot of energy in WPF. Invested a lot in ASP.NET (MVC). Not sure where it will go now. Steve Ballmer was a guy with a long Horizon. Nadella is a guy without Horizon. Just Ax it when it does not bring in any money is his slogan. He has a Clouded vision :-) thinks everything will run in the Cloud. He forgets the Cloud is something a lot of people don't see. People want to touch things, feel what they working with. I did a review on his roman "Hit Refresh". I don't hope thats the real future of Microsoft. He better should write a book "Make The Future Happen". He axed the Phone business. The 950/XL where phones far ahead of the Galaxies etc. He could have bring a Windows Phone with Galaxy 8 screen to marked very easily without to much costs. Microsoft should be very carefull moving ahead. Some investments don't bring in much money but creates a "Halo" effect. The surface hardware helped for Microsoft, but its something that can easily be lost. And then journlists that are a bit quiet now come back at full force and reiterate that Microsoft is a Company of "The Past".
Still using Lumia 950, and have a Lumia 1020 for a GPS tracker and a second lumia 950 as a spare phone/battery charger. They are so cheap to get hold of! I am happy to keep using them while the Android /W10 interface is developed to be as good as W10M/W10. Any missing apps can be replaced by a bookmark to a web app. Who ever used banking apps on a PC? I happily do banking using Edge, and is works fine for BBC iplayer youtube etc. And people ask me to take photos because they know my camera is still better than most iphones and androids. It will be a while until I decide to drop W10m, and when it happens Android and windows together will work just fine for me. I get a bit tired by all the bitter moaners on here. Just make the best of what you have or change phones and go and post on Android Central instead.
Try to use Expedia and Skype apps on your Windows phone compared to iPhone or Android phones then you will understand how bad Microsoft cheats their loyalists. Expedia and Skype are ones among divisions of Microsoft.
Oh yeah, there is several ways to look at it! Abandoned by parents. Let's take away you car maintenace, till something better comes along. Phil.
Sounds like "SKY-NET" is comming.
I don't know if I would associate the actions with Windows mobile ambitions or lack there of with MSFT's ultimate vision. At the end of the day in business it all comes down to money and who is willing to invest it in yours. I've been investing in MSFT for the past four years and I can personnal tell you, that more are investing in MSFT now than ever before. Their stock is at an all time hight of $83 a share. I started investing in them when their share was around $35. For the minute amount of discruntled mobile fans, MSFT has intrigued many more. Now this is a double edged sword for me because I'm completely invested in teh MSFT ecosystem and though I can get what I need from an iPhone or some rendition of Andriod, I've been using a Windows mobile platform for the past eight years and have no intention on changing anytime soon. So while I am disappointed about what MSFT is not doing for mobile, it's not an issue with the totality of the company because the company of MSFT is doing quite well, and like I've told myself, I have to keep an eye on the bigger picture, and it's there that I find not only is Satya improving the intrigue that others are having with MSFT, but he is extending their shelf life for years to come.
I agree that Windows Mobile is just a a part of who/what Microsoft and though I have some complaints about Microsoft's handling of some consumer products and relationship with consumers, I also see the benefits he's brought the company. The situation is not as polarized or black and white as some see it.
You make a fair point Pierre about share price but, the last time I was interested enough to look, Apple was somewhat higher. At the time Apple had top to bottom consumer computing and MS has chased business computing. Growth in MS I suspect has been no greater than the sector. Cutting mobile cuts off that computing entry point that google and apple have been chasing and businesses, at least here in Australia, have begun to migrate away from MS as their employees have moved into alternative platforms. In my opinion focus on share price is a little short term and Nadella's focus on business will inevitably have the rug pulled from under it. If I could go further, Jason's comment re black/white is also debatable on the same grounds. Exiting mobile phones is a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face - it might have short term benefits to share price Jason but puts the company's long term survival at risk. That's black with no shades of grey.
It has many negative effects, some that I believe are long-term as I lay out I'm my peices about a lack of a phone on Microsoft's ambient computing prospects and AR efforts among consumers as ARKit and ARCore put Apple's and Google's less impressive Aar efforts in the consumers minds. Bit what I mean by black amd white is that the company is not going to utterly fail because it doesn't have phone. Some comments I think take the impact of phone a little too far and don't see where Microsoft is strong in other areas. Check out my piece "If Microsoft is the platform for everything, does it really need a phone?" www.windowscentral.com/author/jason-ward
A little too far? You either don't want to, or simply fail to realize the impact all the failures and lies and ditch/runs have had. No, MS is not gonna fail over night and vanish, but they are going to lose customers more and more because who on earth can trust them even in business, that they suddenly don't kill off whatever product's been used because of Nadella's wet dreams?? Again, because a company is using MS's products does not mean it likes and wants to, but because it has no alternative at the moment! Fact which can change anytime. MS is done in terms of trust! Shareprice being high has little to matter to anyone but fanboys. I could give a damn about them having high stock price if I can't trust them to maintain and commit to their products, or to deliver decent quality.
Note mmgn I said some take the affects of MS failure in **mobile** too far when they leap to the company will fail because of mobile blunders. Your response encapsulates multiple areas of failure, which is not what my comment above addressed.
I agree that we will be no longer need a phone number but we will stick more with the small devices which have not worked well as functional laptops. Therefore, Microsoft should continue working on mobile platform. I can tell that Microsoft completely abandons when Skype, Expedia, MSN News, LinkedIn (all Microsoft products) work much better on iPhone and Android.
Microsoft wants to democratize things... Then dictates what data we share with them for software we buy... I call bullshit.
How long before the Cortana Speaker is abandoned?
not too long...
Satya is a spineless person. What he is doing is a conservative approach to cement Microsoft at positions where it already have a good stand. He is a coward who don't consider to take a fight but would cover in fear where company is in relative safety. He is so fearful to "misstep" so he rejects to take any steps and is avoiding any accountability. That's exact Microsoft "strategy" under Nadella - just to cover in fear and to avoid any competition. He was killed Windows 10 Mobile not because it was his plan, but because it's "always safe" (in a short-term) to cut costs and shut down underperforming directions. It's a kind of behavior of a manager who wants to avoid accountability and keep his chair for a long time with minimal risks to lost his position as long as stable divisions are working and there are profits. It would take rather a long time for Microsoft to stagnate and lost its positions everywhere. With minimum risks taken by a coward CEO it wouldn't fail soon, but it would slowly and painfully wither and fail later. But when Microsoft would finally show the obvious signs of fail, no one would be able to save Microsoft from demise. Satya named his "strategy" as "refresh", but it isn't refresh, but essentially making Microsoft a boring, old and dusty dinosaur that won't evolve, but is stuck at "safe" position forever, going into the past with its "safe space" as well when industry is going forward and far away from the Nadella's "safe space".
But when his strategy makes MS become stagnant and noncompetitive like Apple after firing Steve Jobs, this fool will be voted out. MS should've kept Balmer and Elop. Both would've heavily pushed WP.
It depends on shareholders sentiment. They value "healthy profits" (and shareholders certainly should value such things). Question is, would shareholders be able to realize the requirement to invest into the future to maintain such "healthy profits" in future? Anyway, Satya Nadella is a questionable figure who avoids competition (it's apparent from his behavior and his statements) and that kind of behavior is a "loser's strategy". Even if Nadella heavily invests into perspective AI and mixed reality directions, with his behavior to avoid any competition he would drop perspective products again when actual competition starts. And it would end with outright robbery of Microsoft ideas. Apple or Google (or them both) would make competitive mixed reality products and Satya would draw Microsoft out of competition again because of his cowardice.
What we want is actually just the OS. Windows Phone are fine. We only want apps. Why are they thinking too far? If Windows Phone has the same amount apps like Android then problem solved. Do they think they are shaman who can see the future?
What we want is actually just the OS. Windows Phone are fine. We only want apps. Why are they thinking too far? If Windows Phone has the same amount apps like Android then problem solved. Do they think they are shaman who can see the future?
just launch laptop in India...and sale laptop in Indian rupee...So that we can also purchase your products...Its of no use to sale products in stable market..instead launch products in India...but please fix price in Indian rupee atleast for few models of laptops..So that fluctuation in dollar-rupee...make things more affordable...
I hate it, but we have switched everything to Apple. I loved my windows phone, but they seem to be a bunch of quitters at MS.
I have designed and built Windows based enterprise systems for many years. I get where the money is... But.... to say that the Windows OS is not a consumer product is a bit far out!!! Further, not admitting that the core mobile user is part of the development and test base is to say we don't do consumer yet our very base for existence is the consumer operating system, mobile and pc.
If Microsoft could allow Android apps to work on Windows phone again...I would jump back into a windows phone imediately. Its the UI, Pin to start and live tiles, only thing missing is apps, its rediculous.
So nothing happens. Microsoft behaves as if Windows Phone/Mobile users aren't exists and as if Windows Phone never existed. Microsoft just dismissed people and completely ignores our existence. Well, we all going into the Orwell's memory hole, we are burned to oblivion.
Something that rarely ever gets mentioned when people say MS was right to abandon mobile, and that it's just as good for them to have Office on other devices since their job is to get software to people, is that by not having their own mobile platform, they are also missing out on their cut of app sales from the store. If MS managed to get a decent market share, they get their cut of every app sold. It's not just about getting their 1st party software to the customer, it's about getting 3rd party software sold on their platform so they can get money from that too. Apple and Google are making a killing on their app stores. Maybe the shareholders should think about that lost revenue stream. How much did Apple and Google make from their 30% cut of Mario Run alone?
I used to be an obsesive Microsoft supporter. After the way they treated me as a Windows Phone user and their Groove clients(not hardware no excuse Microsoft) I have decided to sever all ties with Microsoft related Products. Our development team has been told to find an alternative to visual studio, we will not use core or azure(since Microsoft do not care about its clients). We will be advising all our clients to NOT use Microsoft related products since they have no longterm viability We are even investigating alternatives to Office
I think the best way it would be to transfer the experience of windows10 mobile to windows 10 and make windows just like the universal apps it runs. In other words, the interface scales according to the screen size and core of windows can run on both Arm and 86x processors. This way they dont compromise too many resorces but they keep the platform relevant. I would also outsource the design of hand-held devices with windows 10 to third parties to create a diverse set of devices for different porpoises. For example cheaper devices can only run universal and the system in minimal. Premium devices have the ability to run full windows 10 with support for 32 bit app visualisation in continuum mode. This mean the mobile device can scale up to a normal windows 10 interface. I think Microsoft should not kill mobile platform if it really wants windows to be universal

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