So is it time for Terry Myerson to Go

I have been wondering for awhile if it was time the current head of Windows should spend more time with the family. Given the current state of Microsoft and the failure of phone and now with Cortana I think changing the guard should be seriously considered. I know this site’s namesake has been calling for various shifts and outside of Surface and Xbox Windows is a no issue and maybe the Windows team needs someone who reflects it. Or maybe what is needed is someone who understands the consumer market and would be more aggressive in responding to this market.

Conversation 28 comments

  • Jules Wombat

    11 January, 2018 - 11:54 am

    <p>Yep he should do a Joe Belfoiore and take his family on a year long sabatical, because that rally helped the Windows Phone cause a lot :)</p><p><br></p><p>n.b. Microsoft Windows Sales and Services are doing very well in Enterprise and Business, which is where the real money is. Microsoft stock is doing pretty well you know. So Stop bleating about Consumer stuff, move on to a different ecosystem if you are so invested that domain. </p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    11 January, 2018 - 12:50 pm

    <p>Just so this part is clear, Terry Myerson is not responsible for Cortana.</p><p><br></p><p>Also, I happen to like Terry quite a bit. I can't think of anyone who would care this much about not just keeping Windows going, but making it better.</p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    11 January, 2018 - 2:18 pm

    <p>This is the same answer I give to people who say whoever coach for whatever sports team should be fired. My response is who are you going to replace him/her with?</p>

  • longhorn

    11 January, 2018 - 6:28 pm

    <p>Windows 10 is good on a technical level, but everything else about this platform is alienating users (individuals and businesses) at a rapid pace. Anyone who doesn't realize this is the wrong man/woman to lead Windows. Lack of competition doesn't mean Windows 10 will become a success. It will slowly grow and maybe surpass Windows 7 in 2019. Windows 10 will be a headache for users and Microsoft until someone within Microsoft sees the light and realizes that Windows as a service is not a good idea.</p><p><br></p><p>Maybe Julie Larson-Green could have reconnected users with Windows, but MS lost her. There doesn't seem to be any real humans at the top of Microsoft. Satya Nadella is supersoft and supersmart, but he's living in a completely different world. Of course the same thing could be said about Tim Cook. Both Apple and Microsoft have completely lost touch with users.</p>

    • Jules Wombat

      12 January, 2018 - 7:27 am

      <blockquote><a href="#236969"><em>In reply to longhorn:</em></a></blockquote><p>Satya is living in the world where Microsoft Cloud services and Enterprise are doing really well. What users are you talking about ? Consumers that contrbute very little to Microsoft revenue or real business users that do ? </p>

      • gregsedwards

        Premium Member
        12 January, 2018 - 10:34 am

        <blockquote><a href="#237017"><em>In reply to Jules_Wombat:</em></a></blockquote><p>I agree about business being the real revenue driver, but it's a holistic philosophy that's needed. Most people want to use at work what they use at home, and keeping Microsoft as a relevant consumer brand is an important step in fostering their continued relevance in business.</p>

        • longhorn

          12 January, 2018 - 2:59 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#237063"><em>In reply to gregsedwards:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yep, it was consumers who brought the iPhone to the workplace. In the beginning it sucked compared to Windows Mobile 6 for productivity. In hindsight it's easy to say that not bringing Windows Mobile 6 forward was a huge mistake. If Microsoft had promised continuity for the WinMo ecosystem the switch to iPhones would not have happened so easily in the workplace. WinMo 6 had native and third party touch-UIs even though its roots were as a pen enabled PDA OS. Most people miss Windows Phone. I miss the WinMo 6 era.</p>

      • Tony Barrett

        12 January, 2018 - 10:44 am

        <blockquote><a href="#237017"><em>In reply to Jules_Wombat:</em></a></blockquote><p>Nothing to say that cash cow won't wake up and smell the roses at some point. Very few enterprises like Microsoft, it's just better the devil you know, and it's often too awkward/painful/expensive to change, but, with the wholesale move to web, there will come a time when Windows just isn't needed anymore, and once that happens, enterprises will drop that bloated, difficult to manage, slow, buggy mess of an OS called Win10 faster than you can say 'all we wanted was a modernized version of Windows 7'. That's what MS are really scared about, and it's not Apple that should concern them, it's Google.</p>

        • skane2600

          12 January, 2018 - 12:27 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#237068"><em>In reply to ghostrider:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think the web had become as sophisticated as it was ever going to be years ago. Now development is just diddling over frameworks and the like. It's unlikely that they'll be more reasons to drop Windows in five years as there was to drop it five years ago.</p>

      • longhorn

        12 January, 2018 - 4:09 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#237017"><em>In reply to Jules_Wombat:</em></a></blockquote><p>"Satya is living in the world where Microsoft Cloud services and Enterprise are doing really well. What users are you talking about ? Consumers that contrbute very little to Microsoft revenue or real business users that do ?"</p><p><br></p><p>Of course he is. Why worry about Windows? It was never part of his "Mobile first, Cloud first" strategy anyway (Windows Phone was, not the desktop). I'm talking about ALL Windows users and that's really the problem with Windows 10. Name one group of users that can embrace this OS without strong reservations. Windows 7 received a big round of applause when released and also in the years following the release. Windows 10 was met with strong reservations and rightly so I think. It will be interesting to see how the Windows 10 migration pans out. I think we'll see a reduction of Windows machines among consumers AND business users.</p>

  • illuminated

    12 January, 2018 - 12:25 pm

    <p>Consumer desktop market is pretty bad. Anecdotal experience but I have not seen many people complaining about $500-$1000 phones and their $100+ monthly fees. When it comes to PCs people tend to complain about "expensive" $800 PC that has no monthly fees and that they keep for years. </p>

    • skane2600

      12 January, 2018 - 4:22 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#237127"><em>In reply to illuminated:</em></a></blockquote><p>Perhaps they're not complaining about $500-$1000 phones because, like me, they've never owned a phone that expensive and have no intention of doing so in the future. Expensive phones are a status symbol and you can't put a price on ego.</p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    12 January, 2018 - 4:32 pm

    <p>Yeah…</p><p><br></p><p>I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. Microsoft understands that outside of corporate desktops, there are two core and profitable demographics that not only need, but want Windows: Gamers and devs. </p><p><br></p><p>Gamers want the catalog of games, the hardware devices for them, and the support/store experiences (like Steam and GOG) that supply the games. A lot of gamer-friendly features have been added to show their dedication to that market. Game Mode, integration with streaming, Game DVR. All of these are features meant to keep Windows on top for PC gaming. I mean… what will people do otherwise? Game on a Mac? LOL</p><p><br></p><p>Devs quite simply want Visual Studio. MS still makes the best dev tools, bar none. Not a single person with knowledge of the tools will defend Android Studio or Xcode as being anywhere near as good. One key feature added for devs is the Windows Subsystem for Linux. WSL was created so that cross-platform and web developers don’t need a second Linux box. </p><p><br></p><p>Does Windows 10 have its problems? Sure! Can all of them be solved? Not sure. But do the people who are running the show get what they’re doing? Yep.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • Jules Wombat

      14 January, 2018 - 9:23 am

      <blockquote><a href="#237232"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Developers don't need Windows. </p><p>They may really like Visual Studio as I do, and love .NET development. But Developers have moved to the relevant platforms which is Web, Android and iOS. There have been no significant new Windows Apps developed in the last ten years. Visual Studio is not particularly useful for python development, and lags other tools for web/JavaScript. I have to use to use Spyder and Pycharm as Visual Studio is too clumsy for python and doesn't support interactive python. </p>

    • shameermulji

      18 January, 2018 - 3:03 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#237232"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>You forgot another demographic important to Windows: creative professionals (audio, video, photo editing, CAD, etc.)</p>

      • jimchamplin

        Premium Member
        22 January, 2018 - 9:10 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#238838"><em>In reply to shameermulji:</em></a></blockquote><p>Very good point! Does Autodesk maintain a version of AutoCAD for Macintosh?</p><p><br></p><p>Even if they do, I know a lot of ACAD addons, especially for civil and survey only run on ACAD for Windows. </p>

        • robincapper

          22 January, 2018 - 9:34 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#239663"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Actually they do native AutoCAD Mac but it has less features than the Windows version (including ability to customise). Anyway, Autodesk is on it's own journey from desktop to cloud to the point where OS probably won't matter greatly. Look at Autodesk Forge cloud dev platform forge.autodesk.com</p>

  • PurpleDisciple

    18 January, 2018 - 2:56 pm

    <p>Since I don't think we've seen his final form yet, it would be a shame if he went. </p><p><br></p><p>I look forward to Ripped Myerson. </p>

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