Unless you follow technology, you may not realize how much Microsoft has changed since Steve Balmer stepped down and Satya Nadella became the new CEO. Under Steve Balmer, Microsoft pursued a unified product strategy of protecting the core platform, Windows, to the detriment of other product offerings. The biggest exception to this has been Xbox.
Satya Nadella , who led Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group, appears to have completely changed the Microsoft culture in about a year. Really, I have no idea what’s changed internally at Microsoft and how much of the change can be credited to Nadella. But changes, good changes, are coming, as evidenced by what the developer community has witnessed in the last year.
From a developer’s perspective, Microsoft’s attitude has pulled a 180 degree turn. Where development was locked down and only on Windows, we see new tools and support. Visual Studio Code runs on Mac and Linux and integrates with gulp, grunt and Node. It’s getting rave reviews from tech leaders and pundits in the developer community. Microsoft apps are being released on iOS and Android. Their .Net framework has been ported to Linux and Mac. No one knew what to think of TypeScript when it first came out, critically acclaimed but no tools or adoption; now it will be integrated with ECMA Script 6 (aka JavaScript), helping developers create better, cleaner and more stable code for the web regardless of your preferred development platform.
Windows 10 is coming this summer, and there will be praise, gnashing of teeth and probably some flaw or bug early on. The press and naysayers will be happy to crow about any early issues.
Before anyone accuses me of being a fanboy, I am brand ambivalent. Sure I don't like some of the corporate monkey business (HP killing webOS) or the personalities (Steve Jobs) but I respect the tech. I wrote a post a while back in Feb 2013 asking "Why is Windows Still a Thing?"
Satya Nadella , who led Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group, appears to have completely changed the Microsoft culture in about a year. Really, I have no idea what’s changed internally at Microsoft and how much of the change can be credited to Nadella. But changes, good changes, are coming, as evidenced by what the developer community has witnessed in the last year.
From a developer’s perspective, Microsoft’s attitude has pulled a 180 degree turn. Where development was locked down and only on Windows, we see new tools and support. Visual Studio Code runs on Mac and Linux and integrates with gulp, grunt and Node. It’s getting rave reviews from tech leaders and pundits in the developer community. Microsoft apps are being released on iOS and Android. Their .Net framework has been ported to Linux and Mac. No one knew what to think of TypeScript when it first came out, critically acclaimed but no tools or adoption; now it will be integrated with ECMA Script 6 (aka JavaScript), helping developers create better, cleaner and more stable code for the web regardless of your preferred development platform.
Windows 10 is coming this summer, and there will be praise, gnashing of teeth and probably some flaw or bug early on. The press and naysayers will be happy to crow about any early issues.
Before anyone accuses me of being a fanboy, I am brand ambivalent. Sure I don't like some of the corporate monkey business (HP killing webOS) or the personalities (Steve Jobs) but I respect the tech. I wrote a post a while back in Feb 2013 asking "Why is Windows Still a Thing?"