Bloomberg: Ballmer may name Windows boss as new head of hardware / Xbox

ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
*Raises hand* Wouldnt be good to have an engineer head up the hardware division? Doesnt that mean she would push for the most powerful hardware available?


Or is this woman purely on the software side of things?
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It might have been a worthwhile move a couple of years ago, not much use now

I'm just gonna leave this little fact here: her favourite tech is Tivo
 
jcm said:
She's a programmer by background. She's also really, really smart, for whatever that's worth.
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How do you know shes smart? She pushed for ribbons on Office and colored squares on Windows. For all we know she doesn't have any clue about ergonomic.
 
"Non-game" people will head these divisions now because in the long-term, games are not a priority to them. Advertisers are.
 
Myansie said:
Interesting choice. Has there ever been a woman in charge of one the console manufacturers? Women are such an untapped market as far as video games are concerned. She'd have a big influence on the types of games being made and for obvious reasons will be more interested in games that appeal to women.
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I don't know if those details would percolate up that high. I'd guess she'd be far more interested in broader strategic directions. Although she might plonk down an "appeal to a broader audience" achievement for the XBoner team to get, it really depends on how hands on an exec she is, she might just want quarterly profits etc and not give a shit about how they get the mulah.
 
I think this is less of an Xbox 'demotion' and more about Microsoft wanting to homogenize their full customer experience - and Ballmer feels the best way to do this is to get all the hardware guys reporting to a single person (that's not him).

They want people to live the "Microsoft life" in the same way some people live the "Apple Life", to build that critical mass where software such as Airplay ends up feeling like magic to the average consumer because it works so seamlessly across all of their hardware.

If that's the case, I really respect their vision, but I just don't think they have the skill and relevance to pull it off, as all their recent consumer-facing products and decisions have been absolute trash.
 
tino said:
How do you know shes smart? She pushed for ribbons on Office and colored squares on Windows. For all we know she doesn't have any clue about ergonomic.
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Because my buddy used to work for her. He's really smart, and he tells me she's really smart. I don't have any idea whether she has a "clue about ergonomic", though.

Honestly, all of the MS execs are really smart, even the incompetent ones. I'm told she's pretty competent, though, in addition to being smart.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
Death spiral? I mean, I think you could at least wait until the One sales show up to call it that. Being that, you know, the 360 sold gangbusters.
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Well... Office post ribbon and windows 8 are not a commercial failure.... but they are terrible products.

And that Windows Serv 2012 and its draconian licensing.
 
Gaspode_T said:
Having been part of the Windows team before I am a little bit the wrong person to comment fairly about it, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Windows org and collective power behind it is far more capable and veteran than the Xbox org. It is just a reality that lots of people in Windows have been there a LONG time and have made enough mistakes to smell one a mile away, they have been pushed hard by Apple and mobile to adapt and adapted so fast that consumers couldn't handle that much change at once. It is pretty easy to argue that Windows 8 is even from a objective perspective clearly better than Windows 7...it is more stable, has an application publishing platform that is easier for devs to sell their homebrew/indie games on (to potentially hundreds of millions of users if they actually fix the Storefront to be nice), performance is better, some power user tools are better, etc. I personally think the good outweighs the bad. Hopefully Windows 8.1 turns the perception around.

Terry hasn't been able to ship Windows Phone 8 in Japan so I am not very happy with that situation. Windows 8 team is actually doing pretty damn well in Japan right now believe it or not...against tougher and tougher competition.

Then there are other capable execs like Qi Lu who is like the Enter the Dragon dominate the entire team the second he enters the room level of bad ass.

So anyway, whatever happens there are two key things 1) Is the person at top a gamer, 2) If not, do they have kids that are gamers. If either two of these things are true then we will be fine (if the kids are Gaffers then it is even better) If it is Qi Lu, he is definitely more on the brainiac side of the bunch so more like a Bill Gates type guy.
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yep, you are the wrong person!!

the windows team can smell a mistake a mile away? in tech terms this may well hold true. but the proof on the consumer side is that they never had a sense of smell and are fucking blind and deaf too. whoever thought forcing a tablet OS onto desktop users was a good idea needs to be fired. months ago. preferably before win 8 was released. the internet is overrun with posts that basically run to "Win8, what the fuck is this shit?"

adapt to apple? OSX looks nothing like IOS. strange that. Apple worked out that their PC OS and their mobile OS were different things. Microsoft appear to have NFI about this concept (see Win 8)

from objective POV, ie the consumers of that OS, Win8 is a clusterfuck and it has nothing to do with the tech parts of it. it may well be better and more stable than 7, but if people are so pissed with it that they don't want to use it, who fucking cares.

i know you worked there, and probably really enjoyed some of the people and respect their tech skills which i'm sure are peerless. but. tech skills are not enough.

if this chick is put in charge, i give up. the ribbon is the most universally hated product "enhancement" i have ever had to support. people still hate it.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
Death spiral? I mean, I think you could at least wait until the One sales show up to call it that. Being that, you know, the 360 sold gangbusters.
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AllenShrz said:
Well... Office post ribbon and windows 8 are not a commercial failure.... but they are terrible products.

And that Windows Serv 2012 and its draconian licensing.
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Anyone who says the Ribbon is a failure doesn't work with Office every day. It's a huge improvement to speed and functionality. It's was just decried at first because it was a completely new way of working. Which, as we know, people hate being pushed on them.
 
jcm said:
Because my buddy used to work for her. He's really smart, and he tells me she's really smart. I don't have any idea whether she has a "clue about ergonomic", though.

Honestly, all of the MS execs are really smart, even the incompetent ones. I'm told she's pretty competent, though, in addition to being smart.
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So kinda like Carmack smart though no experience in game market type of smarts?
 
I'm okay with this.
If she's mostly to blame for Windows 8, then I'm totally okay with this.

Xbox doesn't interest me in the slightest, Windows on the other hand I can't live without. So if she's off Windows and onto Xbox, then I'm happy (assuming they replace her with someone better for Windows).
 
watership said:
Anyone who says the Ribbon is a failure doesn't work with Office every day. It's a huge improvement to speed and functionality. It's was just decried at first because it was a completely new way of working. Which, as we know, people hate being pushed on them.
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Seriously, I can't go back to earlier versions of Office.

Unfortunately, Word on my laptop has a bug which crashes the program every time it tries to save autorecovery information, and from my googling on the subject it's very difficult to fix.

So no auto-save functionality for me :(
 
Jac_Solar said:
Having a single organization where the divisions compete with each other is a very, very bad idea. Friendly competition is good, where the "opposing" division would be proud if the other division did well, of course -- as in, all the divisions know they are divisions, but feel like they are part of the company, not the divisions; if a division gets respect, the company gets respect, and all the divisions get respect, and the work of one division feeds into the works of the other divisions. But it doesn't sound like that is what you meant, and I don't know if this is possible with a company like Microsoft.
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The divisions don't 'compete' where the hell did you hear that? The restructuring is designed to stremline the development process so the software and hardware have more synergy. Remember this all a rumour at this stage, but it's almost certain with Mattricks move.
 
watership said:
Anyone who says the Ribbon is a failure doesn't work with Office every day. It's a huge improvement to speed and functionality. It's was just decried at first because it was a completely new way of working. Which, as we know, people hate being pushed on them.
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The ribbon cost businesses around the world billions of dollars.. No wonder why people are still pissed, they had spent decades building knowledge and programming muscle memory around a specific interface.

I'm a certified MOUS myself, and I had full control over anything Office related to the extent that I was one of the go-to experts in my department. But when the ribbon was introduced, it "felt like" all my knowledge suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. My whole department was rolling their eyes banging their heads against their desk, some still do.. It was a disaster, especially because there was no option turn the original menus back on.

The ribbon may be fine for those new to Office though..

But I digress, sorry..
 
Falcs00 said:
I'm okay with this.
If she's mostly to blame for Windows 8, then I'm totally okay with this.

Xbox doesn't interest me in the slightest, Windows on the other hand I can't live without. So if she's off Windows and onto Xbox, then I'm happy (assuming they replace her with someone better for Windows).
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If you had to blame somebody, I'd say that woud be Steven Sinofsky, who's now left the company. She was promoted to the head of Windows immediately after he left. Her first major product is Windows 8.1, which is very good. But then again I liked Windows 8 so what do I know.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
Death spiral? I mean, I think you could at least wait until the One sales show up to call it that. Being that, you know, the 360 sold gangbusters.
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I wish I could save some of these quotes for next year, so much hyperbole. I really appreciate you guys are passionate for Sony to succeed (as do I) but expecting MS to bomb the Xbox One and fail rapidly is ridiculous. It ain't going to happen. Core gamers won't be only ones buying the console, the camera will appeal to many families. The price is the only aspect I can see slowing sales down. It's stunning how narrow minded we are, core gamers don't represent the entire demographic, even Sony recognises this and has investments in things like Move and Eye.
 
hydrophilic attack said:
Seriously, I can't go back to earlier versions of Office.

Unfortunately, Word on my laptop has a bug which crashes the program every time it tries to save autorecovery information, and from my googling on the subject it's very difficult to fix.

So no auto-save functionality for me :(
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try open office, its free.
 
JoeTheBlow said:
Makes sense if they're trying to push Windows 8 into the living room via the Xbone's appstore and Win8 codebase.
Its part of the whole plan, now that desktops are a dying market and they still have fuck-all in mobile. Its their only chance to cock-block Apple.
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wha-wha-what?

"cock block"?

the problem is that computing isn't moving to a desktop alternative (i.e. STB). It IS moving to mobile. The future of computing isn't STB, but mobile directly to TV. All mobile pretty much supports HDMI right now (or some variation). So the goal would then be to go wireless.. of which apple is already leading in that space (ios-mobile to apple tv)

If the plan you suggest is true... yeah... goodbye xbox brand. It will get eaten by PS4 on gaming AND iOS/Android on "it's true goal".

Ushae said:
I wish I could save some of these quotes for next year, so much hyperbole. I really appreciate you guys are passionate for Sony to succeed (as do I) but expecting MS to bomb the Xbox One and fail rapidly is ridiculous. It ain't going to happen. Core gamers won't be only ones buying the console, the camera will appeal to many families. The price is the only aspect I can see slowing sales down. It's stunning how narrow minded we are, core gamers don't represent the entire demographic, even Sony recognises this and has investments in things like Move and Eye.
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problem is among most of the group you are talking about.. the competition isn't PS4 but mobile (iOS and Android). The "family" demographic cares 1000 times more about mobile computing than they EVER will about Sony/MS/Nintendo.
 
hydrophilic attack said:
Yeah, I'm tempted because of this shit.
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the other thing I would mention, if you have iOS (and especially an iPad) is iWorks.. The mobile apps are universal (native iPhone and iPad) and are only $10 each. My daughter has been doing all of her papers for school on Pages on her iPad for about two years now and it works perfectly.
 
bj00rn_ said:
The ribbon cost businesses around the world billions of dollars.. No wonder why a lot of people are still pissed. People had spent decades building knowledge and programming muscle memory around a specific interface..

I'm a certified MOUS myself, and I had full control over anything Office related to the extent that I was one of the go-to experts in my department. But when the ribbon was introduced, it "felt like" all my knowledge suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. My whole department was rolling their eyes banging their heads against their desk, some still do.. It was a disaster, especially because there was no option turn the original menus back on.

The ribbon may be fine for those new to Office though..

But I digress, sorry..
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boo hoo I had to learn a new thing in a constantly changing industry.

and before you claim I have no idea what I'm talking about, I was in charge of our office 2010 rollout. Our staff, who are not particularly computer savvy or young all got back up to speed in a week or two.

if we did a poll on going back, I bet you office 2010 would beat out 2003 easily.
 
At least Xbox and Xbox 360 (pre-Kinect) had fun gaming times!

*pats 360-S on the back for Radiant Silvergun HD, Guardian Heroes HD, Red Dead Redemption and Bayonetta*
 
watership said:
Anyone who says the Ribbon is a failure doesn't work with Office every day. It's a huge improvement to speed and functionality. It's was just decried at first because it was a completely new way of working. Which, as we know, people hate being pushed on them.
Click to expand...

It may be great if you work with it every day, but as someone who worked with office a lot in the past, but only occasionally now..ribbon is pure shit. EVERYTHING I have to do takes twice as long and involves drilling down to find things that used to be a one click function.
 
hydrophilic attack said:
Does Openoffice handle the newish Office Open XML features well now?
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Pages does.

It looks like Writer (OOo) from 3.0 and later does support docx, though the site specifically mentioned 2007.. Format should be the same for 2010 and 2012, but there may be things available in those that aren't covered(?)

plagiarize said:
I'd be shocked if it didn't given that the XML file formats are completely open.
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The problem originally wasn't openess. It was that MS' somewhat suspect open licensing agreement wasn't at all compatible with the GNU licensing agreement of OOo at the time.
 
tino said:
How do you know shes smart? She pushed for ribbons on Office and colored squares on Windows. For all we know she doesn't have any clue about ergonomic.
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WTH? Most programmers know little about ergonomics in the first place. That's why UI designers have become a necessary specialization to look out for.

Also ribbon is great for the most part.
 
As for this lady becoming leader of the xbox camp, it could work, As long as she sticks to what shes is good at, If she leaves decisions like what type of games to invest in, to people like Spencer and Harrison and she sticks to management it could work, an analogy i see it like is president obama probably knows jack about war and combat strategies so he will trust his generals and advisers to make the right choice, this windows lady should do the same.
 
Windows currently epitomizes MS's wayward design philosophies, lack of cohesive vision, and emphasis on style over substance. Obviously not all of that is on the Windows lead, but she's certainly a major part of it. To say nothing of the fact that it doesn't appear she has any practical connection to gaming, seeing someone currently in charge of what I think is a very poor product taking the lead on the Xbox seems truly upsetting.

If this occurs I can only see it as meaning one or more of a number of negative things: 1.) Ballmer has no respect for the Xbox division as it exists and wants to shift it into being more a part of the Windows ecosystem (The future would be more like an Apple TV than a gaming console), 2.) Ballmer has no idea what made the Xbox popular in the first place and therefore doesn't understand the importance of having someone gaming focused helming the division, and 3.) MS truly is phasing out the importance of game consoles in favor of Windows app distribution. Either way, such a move seems like it would spell serious problems for the Xbox division going forward. There's no victory here for anybody interested in gaming.
 
plagiarize said:
boo hoo I had to learn a new thing in a constantly changing industry.

and before you claim I have no idea what I'm talking about, I was in charge of our office 2010 rollout. Our staff, who are not particularly computer savvy or young all got back up to speed in a week or two.

if we did a poll on going back, I bet you office 2010 would beat out 2003 easily.
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What do you mean my claim? I have no idea who you are, so why that condescending attitude out of the blue?
 
My own personal feeling is that if MS wanted an Apple TV they would have built one. The Xbone is clearly not designed to be an Apple TV; they're in the same hardware ballpark as their 'gaming-only' competitor. It is clearly supposed to be a gaming console that does more than just gaming, not an Apple TV that also does gaming.
 
godelsmetric said:
My own personal feeling is that if MS wanted an Apple TV they would have built one. The Xbone is clearly not designed to be an Apple TV; they're in the same hardware ballpark as their 'gaming-only' competitor. It is clearly supposed to be a gaming console that does more than just gaming, not an Apple TV that also does gaming.
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Of course; good luck getting others to believe that though.
 
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