Satya Nadella Named Microsoft CEO 293
Nerval's Lobster writes "As widely expected after last week's rumors, Satya Nadella has been named the new CEO of Microsoft. Nadella is Microsoft's third CEO, after co-founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He's been with the company for more than twenty years, eventually becoming executive vice president of its Cloud and Enterprise division; Nadella and his team were responsible for the creation of 'Cloud OS,' the platform that powers Microsoft's large-scale cloud services such as SkyDrive, Azure, and Office 365. Under his guidance, Microsoft's revenue from cloud services has grown by several billion dollars over the past few years. In his email to employees, Nadella said that he was 'humbled' by his appointment, and that he had asked Bill Gates to act as a close adviser in the months and years ahead." He devoted much of the rest of the email "to explaining his philosophy of technology, and how that will ultimately influence his leadership. 'The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past for a mobile and cloud-first world, and do new things,' he added. 'We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization.' A lot of tech companies would disagree the assertion that Microsoft is the 'only' company capable of merging hardware and software into forms that businesses and consumers find appealing, but Nadella must do his best to reassert his company's position as a technology leader. Nadella indicated near the end of his email that he would follow through on the 'One Microsoft' strategy formulated under Ballmer, which includes a massive reorganization currently underway." Reader rjmarvin notes that "Nadella will take over as CEO immediately, allowing Steve Ballmer to retire early," and reader SmartAboutThings says that "John Thompson, a lead independent director for the Board of Directors, will take over the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors that Gates held."
Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, after being responsible for Office 365, what could possibly go wrong?
Doomed (Score:4, Insightful)
Hate Ballmer all you want but that dude knew how to make money.
In other words ... (Score:5, Insightful)
In other words, Microsoft is going to proceed with a vision which may or may not be of interest to consumers, and once again tell us what we want instead of listening to us.
So now the same idiot who was in charge of XBox being an always on-line nuisance is going to ram this philosophy through the rest of the product lines.
They might find this to their detriment.
Re:Doomed (Score:5, Insightful)
At the same time they poisoned their own corporate environment and created a ton of churn in their lower ranks, bleeding young new talent to rivals and startups.
Re:Doomed (Score:3, Insightful)
Hate Ballmer all you want but that dude knew how to make money.
I would rather state that Microsoft was profitable, despite Ballmer was at the helm.
Re:Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
Because storing your private/confidential information in a cloud is a stupid idea, because you don't really have control over your data.
Anything you store in Microsoft's cloud is subject to the PATRIOT Act and can be demanded with a secret warrant.
And, as much as Microsoft likes to talk about Scroogling, you can bet your ass they are doing the exact same thing, and if they say otherwise they're lying to you.
Lots of people love heroin too, that doesn't make it good for you.
Re:In other words ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Cloud services is one of the few parts of MS that is both making money and growing. I'd say that's a pretty strong signal about who their customers actually are, and what those customers actually want.
You want MS to be Sony, Nintendo, or Apple. Unfortunately the dream of that MS died when the skunk works team behind the original Xbox were squeezed out. Better they become a productive business company than continue as a half-assed consumer one.
Re:Doomed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
Because storing your private/confidential information in a cloud is a stupid idea, because you don't really have control over your data.
In a lot of cases, yes. That doesn't mean that this particular implementation of a cloud office system is a poor one, nor reflect badly on it's exec, who was doing the job asked.
Re:"humbled"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, did you really need that explained to you, or were you just running your mouth?
Let the hatred commence... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been on Slashdot long enough to know that unless Linus accepted the CEO spot, whoever got it was going to get a lot of hate here.
The only thing I can say is that Microsoft is in dire need of engineering, and they promoted an engineer to the top spot. I think that's refreshing. What happens from here on out depends on what the roadmap looks like, but if the Surface Pro 2 is any indication, they are actually going down a good path on the hardware end of things. Time will tell on the software end.
Re:In other words ... (Score:5, Insightful)
don't see Steve's Apple doing much listening either
Steve Jobs, also, told us what we want. The difference: he was right in what he chose to offer.
Your tinfoil hat is on too tight (Score:5, Insightful)
Because storing your private/confidential information in a cloud is a stupid idea, because you don't really have control over your data.
I think your tinfoil hat is on too tight. There are plenty of cases where the data isn't all that confidential. It's not really all that hard to store confidential things locally or offline while using cloud storage for less sensitive items. We use Google Drive in our company to store work instructions and forms. If someone at NSA want's to look at those then they can go right ahead. It's nothing that requires deep levels of secrecy but it does require efficient controlled distribution and multiple person access.
Re:Let the hatred commence... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been on Slashdot long enough to know that unless Linus accepted the CEO spot, whoever got it was going to get a lot of hate here.
If Linus did become CEO of Microsoft I suspect you would see more hate than ever before!
Re:Doomed (Score:5, Insightful)
You are 100% bang on when you say " Let's try this! No, this! No, that! " -- Microsoft is running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
It is because MS doen't have a freaking clue about *good* User Interface or User Experience. To understand UI you need to understand TWO things:
1. S/N and
2. Flow.
Here is the perfect example of Microsoft being total fucktards: google: visual studio 2012 menu all caps
https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]
We use uppercase and lowercase in books to make it EASIER to read. Reading off a screen is already harder on the eyes why the hell would you make it even more so?!?! Oh, and let's get rid of those underlines so people can actually *see* and *learn* the hotkeys / keyboard accelerators. Let's dumb the UI down to full retard mode because how dare anyone suggest you can design a UI for novices and the power user!
Microsoft will never understand that you need to take advantage of the strengths AND be aware of the weaknesses of the hardware to massage the Software + Hardware + User Experience. Microsoft has all the arrogance of Apple without understanding why Apple makes some of its changes. (Apple is by no means a saint, but they tend to have a more consistent User Experience.)
> they poisoned their own corporate environment
Yup! Stack Ranking has to be the dumbest move ever. As a company you want to motivate your employees; it is also import to not demotivate them.
Again, MS is clueless.
Re:Your tinfoil hat is on too tight (Score:5, Insightful)
But it doesn't work if it's not tight. :-P
I've worked in private industry, and I've done consultant work with government -- and any non-US government or large industry using Microsoft cloud services is opening themselves up for problems.
The entire world that isn't the US should avoid any of Microsoft's cloud services. So, if you're an American entity, go ahead and use them. If you're not, and you use them, you're an idiot and your data will be potentially used illegally with neither your knowledge or consent.
So the easiest solution is to not use the service at all.
Re:Never mind Nedalla, why is Gates stepping down? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Give him a chance (Score:5, Insightful)
They are a 300 billion dollar company and between the 4th and 6th largest company in world (depends on fluctuating stock prices). I realize you probably get all of your info from Slashdot comments, but in the real world they are doing quite well.
Re:NOOOOOOOOO (Score:5, Insightful)
We need Elop, not Nadella!
No worries - Elop will still be well rewarded for his efforts. Expect a new VP in MSFT soon.
(I only wish this were a conspiracy theory...)
Re:Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
OK before you even start kicking the cloud.
Talk about the idea of storing your information in a propitiatory format using a subscription based software that you do not own.
"Oh your millions of documents are all in our closed source format now? It would be a shame of our subscription service quadrupled in price... Then again the stand alone versions are even more expensive... That's OK however, you will only have to pay us monthly... for forever."
Once you get by that stupid part, then you can go on to the stupid part about cloud based services... Also note that 99.99% of all those services are hosted in the USA where the NSA and every other government agency will be helping themselves to all your private data for whatever purposes they deem fit,
SO yeah, very quickly 3 good reasons never to use, and that is before you even look at the actual price, software features, etc...
Re:In other words ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Basically what happened was Microsoft tried to take the same keyboard/mouse interface of Windows and shove it in a portable handheld form factor. Apple realized that the UIs must be different because interactions are different between a precise keyboard/mouse and an imprecise touchscreen - things that are easy with a mouse can be quite hard with a touchscreen (drags, for example), and vice versa.
Apple could've put OS X's UI on the iPad. They chose not to and went with a different UI because the two are different.
And the other mistake was confusing branding - Windows, Windows, Windows everywhere, people expect you can run Windows apps on handhelds, which you couldn't. Even if it was Windows CE on x86 - you couldn't run your regular full Windows app on that. And Microsoft did it again with Windows RT.
Apple decided to split it - Macintosh, and iPhone/iPad. One runs OSX, the other iPhoneOS/iOS. And Apple did get into a little confusion because the iPod Touch couldn't run iPod games. Enough so they killed iPod games.
No, Jobs wasn't right. He has several notable flops (Mac G4 Cube, anyone?). And he did get lucky - the iPod was sold just at the point where portable music was moving from cassettes and CDs to MP3s. A bit of clever viral marketing in white earbuds and boom.
Heck, iTunes Music Store wasn't something people "didn't know they wanted" - Jobs knew people wanted it, and he worked hard to get it. It was the music industry that was reluctant (where else can you claim the tiny marketshare of the Mac was a huge advantage? Where else would being able to sell to a market of sub-5% of computer users be a huge selling point over making it available to 90+% of Windows users?).
Jobs was right in people wanted designed computers rather than beige boxes, hence the fruity Bondi-blue iMac that was a hit. It was simple (one box!), looked different (less ugly!) and artsy enough for people to make it fit in their living room décor.
Re:Office 365 (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole concept of running a text processor on a remote server when you have a super computer from 20 years ago inside your pocket is just so stupid it prompts for decapitation. Also well deserved slavery.
WTF are you talking about? Office 365 is subscription office for individuals (with other perks like some cloud storage and Skype credits) as well as hosted server products for businesses.
Spoken like a true shill. In that you completely blew off the GP's point about the entire concept of running a text processor on a remote server being patently absurd and instead just drove straight on forward with the marketing spiel. Well-done, EvilSS! Your bonus will be signed by Mr. Nadella himself this month!
And again I find myself asking: WTF are you talking about? In what way does "running a text processor on a remote server" have ANYTHING to do with Office 365?
Re:Give him a chance (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, I think it's really a mixed bag. Microsoft is of course continuing to make money, and some of their recent products have shown noteworthy improvement. On the other hand, it's been clear that they've been floundering a bit for years. They've had several major blunders and screw-ups that would have buried any company that didn't start out with a monopoly in a lucrative market. That is, if they hadn't had a steady income from Windows/Office/Exchange, from customers who pretty well have to buy those products whether they like it or not, then they wouldn't be able to stay in business selling their other products. And even those products have been mishandled.
But you're right, yes, they continue to make massive amounts of money from those products in spite of the mishandling. But "doing quite well"? I would say that if they were doing quite well, they wouldn't have dropped Ballmer.
Ohboy Skype credits! (Score:4, Insightful)
Office 365 is subscription office for individuals (with other perks like some cloud storage and Skype credits)
Because that's just what I need when I'm typing a business letter. Videochat.
If Microsoft ran a restaurant each sandwich would come with a bowling ball.
Re:Office 365 (Score:3, Insightful)
"...but you know, $99/yr for the latest-and-greatest version on 5 PCs, which covers my whole family and my laptop (not to mention the ability to move licenses around very easily and the ability to temporarily run it somewhere else if needed) isn't a bad deal at all as it turns out."
It is a bad deal when compared to LibreOffice that doesn't have a limit on number of PCs, and doesn't require a subscription/year amount of money. Their updates are available anytime you want, too.