4 ms·

Satya Nadella Seriously, this guy is amazing. So glad to have him as our CEO. Runs laps around Larry Page and the others I've experienced.

setquk 8y ago
Yes he really delivers for the shareholders. Customers however I’m not so sure. Time will tell.
- partiallypro 8y ago
  I'm a very happy Microsoft customer, both personally and in business. I have issues with some of their stuff, but I've had issues with my Apple and Google devices/services...so it's just part of it. I think the big issue has been since he shifted focus off Windows the QA has fallen off. Thinking "Windows insiders" would uncover bugs that their former internal teams would have normally done...I think, just doesn't work as they planned. Supposedly this is being addressed. And despite Microsoft canning some projects their support for those things are well beyond what Apple or Google would do. But things like Azure Sphere, Hololens etc are very exciting. Their demos for industrial usage at Build/Ignite always amaze me. AWS/GCS seem to be media/consumption driven, while Azure is driven by makers/producers.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    As a customer, I'm very much not happy with Microsoft, specifically concerning Windows. Their QA is in the toilet, they've become increasingly hostile to the concept of users being in control of their own systems, and have just generally made a giant mess of everything above the new driver model. For the business, we're sadly stuck with Windows for the foreseeable future regardless (assuredly Microsoft realizes this and that's why they don't give a damn about complaints), but for me personally moving to Linux Desktop, as much as I loathe it, is increasingly looking like the lesser hell.
    - setquk 8y ago
      Also as a Microsoft customer since 1989, I agree. QA is definitely in the toilet. Every release is increasingly detrimental to the customer.
    - richliss 8y ago
      I'm a long-term Windows user and if it wasn't for the negative responses about the current MacBook Pro keyboards I'd have quit Windows about a month ago. The update data loss problems, insane updates (let's change the Start Menu again, 3D Printing?!?) and Stasi-like Telemetry just feel like a company that doesn't respect their home customers. If someone would write a fantastic file manager like XYPlorer or Directory Opus for Linux then I'd probably never look back and just buy Crossover.
- kickopotomus 8y ago
  MS is really starting to get my attention back as a developer. ~6-10 years ago, Apple took over a large share of the dev community because of combination of iOS plus Unix but as of late they have not been delivering reasons to stay around. MS on the other hand has been working to get developers back. They have been getting out of the way and making it easier to get stuff done.
tyu1000 8y ago
I'm a NBA fan, it's been funny to see Steve Ballmer portrayed as a business titan using his know-how to turn around the Clippers rather than as a college buddy of Bill Gates who might have been the worst tech CEO of the late 1990's.
- KaoruAoiShiho 8y ago
  Did he really do that bad or was he stymied by anti-trust concerns. Major miss in terms of executing on Windows Phone a few years too late but in other ways he really could not use the strength of Windows too much for fear of the government.
- Delmania 8y ago
  The stock price remained stagnant, but under Ballmer, both revenue and net income doubled. He may have sucked at the PR game, but he was far from the worst CEO of the 90s.
- vallsurf 8y ago
  Well, as a Clippers fan, Ballmer is such a step up (albeit such a low bar from Sterling). Being an NBA owner is a lot easier than running one of the world's largest companies: Be willing to pay for a few smart/modern execs, splurge on a few players, and the rest kind of runs itself. Oh, and be in the second largest media market in the country.
- cududa 8y ago
  Ballmer wasn’t CEO in the 90’s. He also essentially created their enterprise dominance which is why they are where they are today.
- manigandham 8y ago
  Ballmer was a great CEO. The company made record profits, completely dominated the enterprise market, started getting into cloud services before anyone else, and managed to break into the living room and the giant gaming market with the Xbox. He even invested in Facebook. He fumbled the mobile phone fight with Nokia against Apple and got pushed out for it, but overall the company did incredibly well through his tenure.
GordonS 8y ago
As a developer and architect, the move to embrace cross-platform has been truly wonderful - I no longer feel like a 2nd class citizen! I think this change has been driven by 3 things: 1. The cloud: Azure isn't going to make money with Windows alone 2. "Developers, Developers, Developers": the focus on the needs of developers means a cross-platform story - .NET Core, VSCode, Visual Studio for MacOS... 3. Satya's good sense of timing that the time was right for 1 & 2
- selimthegrim 8y ago
  Now can they make a real VS for Mac that isn’t a rebranded Xamarin?
cleandreams 8y ago
I'm a new MS employee (through acquisition) and I am impressed with Satya. The more I know, the more impressed.

setquk 8y ago

Yes he really delivers for the shareholders. Customers however I’m not so sure. Time will tell.

partiallypro 8y ago
I'm a very happy Microsoft customer, both personally and in business. I have issues with some of their stuff, but I've had issues with my Apple and Google devices/services...so it's just part of it. I think the big issue has been since he shifted focus off Windows the QA has fallen off. Thinking "Windows insiders" would uncover bugs that their former internal teams would have normally done...I think, just doesn't work as they planned. Supposedly this is being addressed. And despite Microsoft canning some projects their support for those things are well beyond what Apple or Google would do. But things like Azure Sphere, Hololens etc are very exciting. Their demos for industrial usage at Build/Ignite always amaze me. AWS/GCS seem to be media/consumption driven, while Azure is driven by makers/producers.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  As a customer, I'm very much not happy with Microsoft, specifically concerning Windows. Their QA is in the toilet, they've become increasingly hostile to the concept of users being in control of their own systems, and have just generally made a giant mess of everything above the new driver model. For the business, we're sadly stuck with Windows for the foreseeable future regardless (assuredly Microsoft realizes this and that's why they don't give a damn about complaints), but for me personally moving to Linux Desktop, as much as I loathe it, is increasingly looking like the lesser hell.
  - setquk 8y ago
    Also as a Microsoft customer since 1989, I agree. QA is definitely in the toilet. Every release is increasingly detrimental to the customer.
  - richliss 8y ago
    I'm a long-term Windows user and if it wasn't for the negative responses about the current MacBook Pro keyboards I'd have quit Windows about a month ago. The update data loss problems, insane updates (let's change the Start Menu again, 3D Printing?!?) and Stasi-like Telemetry just feel like a company that doesn't respect their home customers. If someone would write a fantastic file manager like XYPlorer or Directory Opus for Linux then I'd probably never look back and just buy Crossover.
kickopotomus 8y ago
MS is really starting to get my attention back as a developer. ~6-10 years ago, Apple took over a large share of the dev community because of combination of iOS plus Unix but as of late they have not been delivering reasons to stay around. MS on the other hand has been working to get developers back. They have been getting out of the way and making it easier to get stuff done.

tyu1000 8y ago

I'm a NBA fan, it's been funny to see Steve Ballmer portrayed as a business titan using his know-how to turn around the Clippers rather than as a college buddy of Bill Gates who might have been the worst tech CEO of the late 1990's.

KaoruAoiShiho 8y ago
Did he really do that bad or was he stymied by anti-trust concerns. Major miss in terms of executing on Windows Phone a few years too late but in other ways he really could not use the strength of Windows too much for fear of the government.
Delmania 8y ago
The stock price remained stagnant, but under Ballmer, both revenue and net income doubled. He may have sucked at the PR game, but he was far from the worst CEO of the 90s.
vallsurf 8y ago
Well, as a Clippers fan, Ballmer is such a step up (albeit such a low bar from Sterling). Being an NBA owner is a lot easier than running one of the world's largest companies: Be willing to pay for a few smart/modern execs, splurge on a few players, and the rest kind of runs itself. Oh, and be in the second largest media market in the country.
cududa 8y ago
Ballmer wasn’t CEO in the 90’s. He also essentially created their enterprise dominance which is why they are where they are today.
manigandham 8y ago
Ballmer was a great CEO. The company made record profits, completely dominated the enterprise market, started getting into cloud services before anyone else, and managed to break into the living room and the giant gaming market with the Xbox. He even invested in Facebook. He fumbled the mobile phone fight with Nokia against Apple and got pushed out for it, but overall the company did incredibly well through his tenure.

GordonS 8y ago

As a developer and architect, the move to embrace cross-platform has been truly wonderful - I no longer feel like a 2nd class citizen! I think this change has been driven by 3 things: 1. The cloud: Azure isn't going to make money with Windows alone 2. "Developers, Developers, Developers": the focus on the needs of developers means a cross-platform story - .NET Core, VSCode, Visual Studio for MacOS... 3. Satya's good sense of timing that the time was right for 1 & 2

selimthegrim 8y ago
Now can they make a real VS for Mac that isn’t a rebranded Xamarin?

cleandreams 8y ago

I'm a new MS employee (through acquisition) and I am impressed with Satya. The more I know, the more impressed.