If you were Microsoft's new CEO, what would you do?


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Now is a very interesting time for Microsoft. Some may say the empire may be crumbling, but I certainly have confidence that they will continue to succeed. But, with Ballmer leaving it should be very interesting to see what the future holds for the company. 

 

What would you do if you were the new CEO? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Work closely with Gates and Ballmer, and would work to fix what's broken. IE: Modernize Skype, Office, apps, and continue to work to modernize Windows.

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What would you do if you were the new CEO? 

 

Well being evil it probably comes as no surprise to you that I would divert large amounts of money into projects designed to make the Kinect and cloud servers self aware...I call it project "cloudnet" a modern derivation of....skynet! :devil:

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No surprise, I would at least make Metro optional, if not remove it entirely from desktops. I would also get in contact with Guinness's marketing department, they have consistently awesome adverts that could get anyone to buy their product.

I'm not really someone that comes up with the next big thing, so my focus would be on tweaking and improving the stuff that has already been released.

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Pack it all up, and call it a day?

 

:rofl:  :shifty:

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I would make Windows open source software and let "the community" fix whatever problems they have with Windows. If that doesn't work, I would just blame them and take my golden parachute to retirement.

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First I would solve the biggest problem I believe Microsoft has at the moment which is their "Identity"...

 

I would reposition Microsoft as the "Creative" Company.......

This will begin with 4 major acquisitions:

 

Large: Adobe

Medium: Wacom

Small: Vimeo & deviantART

 

Adobe: Adobe provides a large array of products that many artists and professionals swear by, and would be the perfect company to jumpstart this new creative mindset. This would also address another one of Microsoft's major weaknesses....necessity....Microsoft products are just no longer seen as being essential by the eyes of many consumers, outside of Office and their enterprise software of course. This acquisition will guarantee that Microsoft will be at the center of our "Creative" lives, and with the Creative Cloud, Adobe is already set to execute on Microsoft's current Cloud/Services centric strategy.

 

Anyone who purchases a Microsoft Surface device will receive a year of "Creative Cloud" on the house.

 

Wacom: Wacom is the industry leader of graphics tablets and related products. After this acquisition I would simplify their product line and bring it under the Surface brand. This will greatly expand the Surface family of products and repurpose the brand for "Creators" while also keeping all of the current functionality that appeals to professionals & consumers now.

 

Every Microsoft Surface device includes a premium "Pro Pen"

 

Vimeo: This video sharing website will be key to the rebranding of Microsoft and will aid in greatly improving public perception of the company. Vimeo is seen as an industry darling to many. This is not a YouTube competitor, this is a site that has historically focused on shorts, animation, and overall artists, under the new ownership of Microsoft it will continue as such. This acquisition is to provide "Creators" with a platform to publish their work.

 

Anyone who purchases a Microsoft Surface device will receive a year of "Vimeo Plus" on the house.

 

deviantART: is an online-community focused on showcasing various user-generated artwork. Much like the Vimeo acquisition this will provide "Creators" with a platform to publish their work as-well as inject a much needed "Youthful" appeal to the company.

 

Anyone who purchases a Microsoft Surface device will receive a year of "deviantART Premium" on the house.

 

Why this assortment of companies?

The combination of these companies will provide an end to end experience for Microsoft customers.

Scenario: You create your work on a (Wacom Powered) Microsoft Surface device using Microsoft tools (Creative Cloud) then publish and monetize through a Microsoft Network (Vimeo/deviantART)

 

Microsoft: "Everyone is a Creator"

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Add an option for a basic Start Menu to ease the transition, but continue to push Modern as the new standard. Maybe add a Modern/tiled version of the menu as an option in Windows 9 alongside the Start Screen. Try to compromise with those who prefer the classic UI without scrapping the new.

 

Push for better integration of the desktop and Modern sides. Encourage the development of robust Modern programs, especially in-house.

 

Offer a rebate for people who switch from Android and iPhone to Windows Phone 8.x. I'd have a similar offer for WP7 users to ease the pain of being "abandoned".

 

Include a quickstart guide in all retail copies of Windows 8.x, and require OEMs to include one with their systems. While I like Windows 8, it is very different in style, and more help should have been readily available. A guide to keep by your computer and reference as you learn your way around would have alleviated a lot of people's objections. Besides, nobody includes manuals anymore - this would help set MS apart in terms of user-friendliness.

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  • Pay attention to details,

Simplify the unification process and make sure it is marketed it in a way understood by customers

Put into production some of the concepts

Clean garbage from the past completely

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With all the half serious answers in this thread there exists a severe, yet fully expected problem, namely, that Microsoft != Windows. While it's a large and the most recognizable asset and a rope that sort of pulls it all together - and I'm just as unhappy about several things about it - one just can't obsess oneself with Windows, Metro, Surface, Xbone and all the rest of this community members' little pet peeves.

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I would Go thermonuclear on everybody. C'mon now ! I am the CEO. I have to take my company to new heights. So
*Buy Photoshop (Adobe) and stop supporting it for mac version.

*Sue Android *Destroy Google

*Destroy apple

*Force win8 on everybody or threaten to activate kill switch on xp and 7 that destroys everything.

 

That's my year one plan.. :devil:

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Build a Deathstar. Thread closed.

 

They don't have enough money for that. It's been estimated that building a Deathstar would cost 13,000 times the world's GDP to even begin construction and would take almost a million years to build.

 

Maybe when technology gets a little better. Besides, the Deathstar looks more like an Apple device (a ball with an iPod wheel on it).

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Remove metro from the desktop os. Force OEMS to not install bloatware on PCs. Streamline services with iOS and Android. Make AD OSX friendly

 

So...

1: Abandon tablet interface, which is a good idea till you look at the number of Android and iOS tablet sales and realize you have to do *something* to stay in that market, hence the reason for metro on the desktop right now and not a totally seperate OS

 

2: Force OEMs to do something? And attract the attention of th US government for unfair trade practices and bullying them into doing stuff to continue to get their business, thus costing your company hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees

 

3: Instead of creating your own services, which are slightly proprietary, integrate services better into iOS and Android, leaving no reason for users to use your services/hardware.

 

4: Lets throw tons of cash at making AD OSX friendly for the what, 1% of OSX users in the corporate world who are actually near an AD setup, I'd rather fire 50 developers now and go burn a couple semi's of cash, it would be over a lot quicker and same results..

 

Good thing you aren't in charge, Stock would drop 50% on the announcement of those items.

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Revive TMG, make it ipv6 complient and convert it to a server role and ship it for free with server 2012.

 

Like what was done with HyperV

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