AppleInsider StaffMary-Jo Foley of CNet revealed this week that MacBU is moving from Microsoft's Specialized Devices and Applications team — where it currently exists with the Embedded, Auto, Surface and Hardware operations. Those teams will remain under the watch of Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft, until his departure this fall.
MacBU is behind the development of Office 2011, the update to its industry standard suite of software. The new version will feature the return of Outlook, built from the ground up in Cocoa for Mac OS X. Office 2011 for Mac is currently in beta, and is due out later this year.
Microsoft this week revealed that both Bach and J Allard, the company's chief experience officer, are leaving the company. In addition to the MacBU team, the major organizational changes will also affect the Windows Phone and Zune products, which compete with Apple's iPhone and iPod.
Microsoft's changes were attributed this week to "bruising competition" from both Apple and Google by The Wall Street Journal. It was also alleged that Allard's departure is related to Microsoft opting to abandon its dual screen Courier concept, a touchscreen tablet project that he spearheaded.
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
21 Comments
I don't think this will help the MacBU team, or the development of Mac Office at all...
I didn't know office 2011 was in cocoa
I'm (almost) sorry MS, your a spent 'giant'.
You are no longer the business juggernaut, nor the most valuable tech company in the world.
A quote from Bloomberg (last 20 mins)
1). "APPL officially passed MSFT's value, by any measure, market cap and enterprise value"
2). " Unearned revenue, a measure of multiyear contracts, also fell short of some estimates, a sign business demand may not be picking up as quickly as some analysts had predicted."
"Business just isn't what it used to be"
The Ballmer era has officially begun. The Gates era has passed.
I'm (almost) sorry MS, your a spent 'giant'.
You are no longer the business juggernaut, nor the most valuable tech company in the world.
A quote from Bloomberg (last 20 mins)
1). "APPL officially passed MSFT's value, by any measure, market cap and enterprise value"
2). " Unearned revenue, a measure of multiyear contracts, also fell short of some estimates, a sign business demand may not be picking up as quickly as some analysts had predicted."
"Business just isn't what it used to be"
Since Windows PCs still dominate the business world by an enormous majority, yes, they are still the business juggernaut. Just because they may not be as valuable on paper, they still dominate the business world.