It is no surprise that Microsoft has been pushing the Xbox, Windows Phone, and Windows PC divisions closer together within the Windows unit. Today, AllThingsD has reported a new leadership structure within the unit that showcases a collection of new posts for longtime Microsoft employees.
The first name to go around is Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Phone lead, Terry Myerson, who will handle reports for various departments including development, test, and program management, along with those individuals heading Phone/Tablet/PC, Xbox, Services, and other “future projects”.
Head of development will be a fellow colleague who worked alongside Terry Myerson within the Windows Phone division - Henry Sanders. Popular Windows Phone manager, Joe Belfiore, will lead a team focused on phones, tablets, and PCs, which is a surprising move. Marc Whitten will head up the company’s Xbox team. And finally, Chris Jones will continue to head his division, services.
Longtime Microsoft employees stepping into the leadership ring for the first time include Grant George, Antoine Leblond, and Jon DeVaan. It is currently unknown what leadership roles the three employees will land within the company.
The company’s restructuring aims to unify software development and creation within the Windows Core division. In addition, Joe Belfiore heading up phones, tablets, and PCs not only shows a unification of hardware development within the company, but also solidifies the company’s standpoint on becoming a multinational technology company focused on hardware and software.
Lastly, Julie Larson-Green, will collect reports in regards to the ever growing hardware division. Microsoft’s latest acquisition of parts of Nokia shows promise that the company’s hardware unit will be a large part of the company’s future moving forward. It is expected that Stephen Elop will take control of the new expanded hardware division or will become the next Chief Executive Officer of the company.
A memo detailing the reorganization of Microsoft is expected to be released later today and we will follow up once we have more information.
Source: AllThingsD
Reader comments
Belfiore will lead a team focused on phones, tablets, and PCs as Microsoft's reorganization becomes clearer
MASSIVE DISSAPOINT.
Under Joe, WP has suffered.
1) rebooted the platform half way. badly hurting is already bad reputation as a platform from MSFT that can't be trusted. screwed nokia lumia 900/800 owners and made a joke of their "beta test" campaign.
2) this is the guy that said: "windows phone will not compete on specs" Then HTC bailed out of creating a large phone (possiby HTC one) because of Joe. Nokia had to wait until now for the 1520 which they had ready to go and can't ship due to Joe.
3) after 3 years, a platform reboot, millions spend, what does joe (and his boss) have to show for? 3% marketshare.
4) nearly a year after 8.0, windows phone still lacks basic features such as:
-calendar with week view. hasn't been updated since 2011.
-notification center
-VPN
-directory based management on pair with what MSFT offers to manage iOS and android on the enterprise.
5) shipped windows phone 8 with a bug that eats storage, upwards of 1 gig per month in some cases. Fix is not being shipped until now, nearly a year later. Forced OEM to deploy emergency apps to clean up Joe's mess such as nokia storage check which should be called "patching Joe's OS".
6) utterly failed to help developers. keep the WP8 under wraps and delivered essentially the same OS that was not incompatible with the new devices. devs couldn't make WP8 apps. could not test. nobody even knows what will be in WP8.1 or WP9 API wise. I understand there is a reason for secrecy when you're apple or google. When you're nobody, which is what WP is, secrets only hurt the best fans.
7) the windows client team shipped an OS update faster than Joe could and they have 1 billion PC configurations to deal with. Joe can't even ship 8.1 until 2014. his last major OS update was 2012. Google is out innovating this guy almost 2:1 or faster, apple ships yearly and major features get added, unlike Joe.
So explain to me why, probably the WORSE developer manager and his boss are in charge of just about everything? Man I hope Elop takes over and inmediately sends these guys packing. They have damanaged, maybe fatally the MSFT mobile chances. Ballmer, Joe and Terry need to go.
I'm fully onboard with WP8, myself my wife and two kids all have Lumias. However, I went through a 3-month nightmare with WPsupport to get an issue resolved which turned out to be a problem with my MSA that they couldn't fix and forced me to create a new and start over. Your average user would have easily left WP for Apple or Android. Support needs to be able to fix problems at the front end. The escalation team is a joke and showed no concern whatsoever that I had a problem. Very disappointing support.
Phone releases and software upgrades that take 3-6 months to reach global markets? Unacceptable.
Add the complexity of a customer that has a WP phone with Office365, the 2 units have no linkage and can't even transfer you over to the right support people.
Been a Windows user in IT since day one. I'm all in (also having a Surface Pro), but I'm not yet convinced this will all come together.
I don't know about a 40 year old with a Japanese teenager's haircut.
He looks like he either just came back from a Dragon Ball Z convention or a The Cure concert.
so basically I shouldnt be expecting a awesome phone from MS until this time next year?
What brings you to that assumption?
Joe can't even ship a storage bug fix after half a year. what makes you think he's going to ship anything ever again?
Looks like he is trapped in a massive game of connect 4....
Joe is probably reading this article... So in order to get him to write wpcentral... They chose this pic. Now when he contacts them... wpcentral can say... "hey, while we got you... here are some questions" impromptu interview for the win. :)
Mr. Elop has proven himself as CEO at Nokia. He is probably fit to sit on MS's throne.
ELOP FTW
"I will, one day, take his job and do it better than him!!"
--An angry Windows Phone 8 user left featureless
I really love your hairdo, yeah.
I'm glad you like mine too,
See we're looking pretty cool
Awesome, Belifore is a good guy.
Awesome, I like Joe. He's a nice guy and seems to really connect with end users. I also think he's probably the most "hip" person at Microsoft. If he can help unify their devices department, that will be a big success.
I hope he does well. For those complaining about slowness, that's probably out of his control at the moment.
I've really liked the vibe that Joe gives off during product demos, etc.
Plus, he could conquer the world with that fabulous hair...
+1
the last time I saw Joe demo something was WP8. it was under wraps for months and devs were on a riot. we all thought, surely, this OS will have some many features it will be awesome.
Joe goes on to have his family show kids corner and realizable tiles. keep his kids out of the stage please.
https://twitter.com/clubdirthill/status/377053596723859456
Best news of the past 5 years for Windows...
WP7/WP8 - brilliant design, great implementation, well received by users.
Windows 8 - ok design, flawed implementation, not well received by users
I am a strong proponent of Windows 8, but the WinRT decisions were strange and diverged too much from WP concepts. The implemenation of Microsoft's flagship/included Apps were poorly implemented, not even offer the base functionality of their WP equivalents.
Additionally, some WP8 features were curtailed by the Windows team that did not understand the platform or important of features.
This should bring the integration of the frameworks and UI consistency. Which is already been happening with Windows 8.1. (The ... menu is just one example that is appearing in the 8.1 Apps.)
I don't think anyone told the Windows RT team about Windows Phone. It must have been awkward the first time they bumped into each other at the cafeteria.
I don't get it. Joe Belfiore will head up a team focused on "phones, tablets and PC's". Wouldn't that be a hardware position? But then you say "Julie Larson Green will collect reports in the ever-growing hardware division". But Stephen Elop is also going to be in charge of the hardware division at minimum. I hope Microsoft has come up with a clearer plan than what you are suggesting in this post.
"Dude, you're getting a Windows Phone."
Poor Julie. She's getting reports and coffee for everyone now?
He looks like a turtle from Finding Nemo... Grab shell dude!
Man.. Joe Belfiore is a brilliant man, but he and his team need to be FASTER.
I agree, but his team has had their hands tied behind their back by the Windows, and XBox services teams.
WP7 moved fast at first, basically a one year project for an entire new UI model and framework. It was the move to WP8 and waiting on the Windows kernel team that slowed down things.
That sounds about right. WP7's pace was great up until Mango, then... not... much... happened... for... the... next... two... years.
The crazy thing is that they rewrote WP8 from scratch without fixing or improving any of the built-in apps! I can't believe someone had to rewrite the calendar app including the goofy tiny greeked text on the month view.
Am I the only one that thinks that guy looks like Richie Sambora?
No, I had the same thought too!
Julie is hot.
+925
Yea, but if you're going to hire a woman based only on her looks, then Yahoo won that battle.
Obviously, they didn't hire Julie for her communication or speaking skill... she seems befuddle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihcIlg37QKU
Elop for CEO! As a long time Nokia fan, I must say that I like the guy!
IDK. Joe has been a little disappointing. WP team has been very slow compared with Windows team and he wasted time with gimmicks like Kids Corner and Rooms ( although it was a great idea but lacked cross platform support). I hope he can do better now that he's the head of a much bigger division.
Kids corner is not a gimmick. If you are a dad, like I am, it's a blessing when you have two hiper active 5 & 6 yr olds who want to use your phone. I can now do it in total peace. Best thing on a phone.
VPN > kids corner. and the market bought android/iOS because of Joe's missplaced priorities over his kids. did you see the demo? this guy just doesn't get users. it's like WP is his own toy.
Joe a unified update system please! Windows Phone has to get away from this system where some get updates and some don't or just very delayed.
Well, As long as he works under ELOP it is fine.. I think the Windows phone division is the one with the least sucess, you can call it failure that it brought Nokia to its knees and got sold. I dont know why they would put more things under him. He needs to show that windows phone devices are successful before other things are put under him..
Now that Nokia devices is under MS lets see how the growth is.
off with his head under elop. he shouldn't reward the flunks of windows phone.
Oh boy...
One-year delay compared to competition, now on PCs too. Brought to you by Joe Belfiore.
WP didn't slow down until they were forced to work with the Windows 8 team that had authority over WP8.
I have Windows Phones since the launch of WP7, and let's be honest, the only "true" update this OS had was Mango. When I mean "true" update, I am talking about updates that brings useful features for the end-user, and not these under-the-hood updates we are getting since then. And even these updates are kinda slow compared to Windows and even Xbox 360 updates.
this is the guy that shipped an OS without copy/paste, still can't attach a file from the mail app that is not some picture, and his calendar doesn't have week view....in 2013 nor in 2011. really?
Don't forget, apps are important..
Congrats Joe! That means that MS's device business is in good hands. Joe's a rockstar.
Now that Joe is in charge, we are sure to get updates to Tower Run in a timely manor. smh
Nice. I approve of this change
I'll approve twice if he brings back Zune.
That would be backwards. The brand is Xbox music. It would be great however if they brought back all Zune features
+928
I really like this guy. He seems to really love working on Windows Phone. Glad to see he is getting a chance to be high up on the chain.
Ditto
Why Joe? Is he really that good? I would seen Panos as that guy...
JB's position seems to be the first real sign of MS actually executing a unified strategy rather than just talking about it. And as one of the few people who actually seems to have used a WP at Microsoft this should lead to some meaningful integration between the phone and desktop OS's.
Clear as mud
Well WPcentral is running overtime i saw 3+ articles coming about in the last 10 minutes :]
Sounds good. Looking forward to belfiore leading.
Indeed - are we finally going to start getting proper unification between the devices?
Agreed
Awesome. Joe deserves it, seems a nice guy. Anxious for the improvements.
sadly NICE never got windows phone more than 3% marketshare thanks to Joe's inability to ship and rebooting the platform half way already.
Whats Joe been smoking?
That picture isnt very flattering
Sadly I have to agree he looks stupid...
What are you talking about, it's a great picture! Look at his face! He's all like "And... like you can instantly tell that this weed is of a higher quality, I mean... just look at how high I am now!"
Yeah, thats some good stuff he's smoking.
I guess Amsterdam weed
Nahhh. Probably from Colorado. Rocky Mountain High!!!!
Best shit comes from Amsterdam
Yeah. They couldn't find a better photo?!!!
Joe always looks like he want to say "duuuude check this out."
That was my thought exactly.
Dat hair!!!!
Dat nose!
No no no no!!!!
*sigh* whats is the problem now?
It think as long as he has the resources and freedom to move at a fast pace, he'll do great. What's the problem with Joe?
Just look at WP8.1 a year and a half for an mobile OS update??? That's unheard of. I just don't want the same slow development on other areas in Microsoft.
What...But it hasn't even been a year since WP8....lol. Mean while we've had Portico, getting GDR2 and supposedly having GDR3 with the showing of the new Lumia. Do you understand what "update" means? Maybe you are thinking of "overhaul", I mean, in the android camp they are still on Jellybean and on iphone they are still on 6 (yes they are getting actual 7 tmr). Both became available to public before WP8.
By the time its released it will be a year and a half. iOS comes once a year like clockwork. GDR2 and 3 bring NOTHING to the table. The same problems persist, easy ones like easy access to rotation lock, silent toggle in the volume bar, VPN support, making harder to accidently press the capacitive keys, allow apps to stay in the back with the resuming screen coming up when going back to it. Those are minor things that this dude should had been on top of.
Do you have some info we don't? release date?
Forget it, bro. Most people here are too defensive and loves Mr. Slowfiore's hair too much to see how slow WP development is and how they don't give a damn about what the users are asking for.
MS has never given a damn about the everyday user. If you were a corporation and had lots-o-money it was a different story. I hope with all of the receint changes things are different. We'll see!
I knew it! I knew it was Joe's hair that was slowing development down and told everyone but they wouldn't believe me...they never believe me.
Joe got great hair. Are you bald or something? He can make great product even if he moves to shampoos. He's fun and friendly in twitter too.
Hahahaha............ :D
GDR3 has a bunch of those features you tool
I have heard from some ATT reps that ios7 is a train wreck. If I here my wife dropping f-bombs tomorrow night, I'll know it to be true.
I think this is the only time it will be over a year... As Microsoft has said they are building up the devices able to use it first and then will come feature heavy updates... And i dont think people realise what gdr3 will do for windows phone.... At the moment reviews leave performance out of the discusion when compairing Android and WP because WP can't handle big processors but is buttery smooth and Android can handle big processors but needs them to run buttery smooth.... Imaging the power WP will have left over from a quad core snapdragon 800 with 2 - 4 gigs of ram...
What exactly do you mean by Android handling "big processors"
Until consumers need multi-core processors to break 8192-bit encryptions and perform real time modeling of atmospheric conditions, support of "big processors" are a marketing gimmick targeted at clueless consumers who only text, post on social networks, play Candy Crush, use GPS, and actually talk using the phone.
Ok so there is no difference in processor performance between a Snapdragon S4 and snapdragon 800 or even the Octacore from samsung (though that has the same problem as AMD's Octa, nothing writen to use it fully... I said big to keep things simple, i didn't mean just keep bolting on cores, thats just stupid... what i ment was WP is a generation behind and your an idiot if you think its a gimmick... You think the 1020 would have the camera lag with an SD800? not near as much at any rate.... Apps could be made prettier with more solid features without slowing the phone... Ok not all apps are writen for quad core but they are becoming very previlent in android meaning more apps will be writen with that in mind... not to mention the dual core 600 is better than an S4 as well... so yes bigger in terms of usable power are needed.... simple...
and yet both HTC and Nokia blasted MSFT for the wasted opportunity to create large screens 1080P devices. Another great decision by Joe who said "windows phone will not compete with hardware specs"
way to go joe. 3% marketshare is all you're going to get for MSFT.
Why?
Why not?
we want marketshare.
Maybe, in his native language, "no" means "yes" in English.
Do not despair, we might get more tile sizes!