I haven't been thrilled with how Microsoft has been run over the last decade. As a stockholder, I've been disappointed. As a technologist, I've shaken my head all too often at the various ways in which I think the company has failed to grow and reinvent itself. I've been concerned over the lack of coordination and focus that many groups have had, changing priorities and abandoning technologies instead of building products that impressed people with their fit, finish, and constant enhancement.

Don't get me wrong. I think SQL Server has grown, changed, and amazed me at times with the enhancements. At the same time I'm disappointed with the lack of improvement in tooling for things like replication and Service Broker. There seems to be a lack of coordination at times between the various languages used by pieces of the platform, almost like the fractured standards that plauged parts of the Office Suite in the past. I moan the lack of resources devoted to improving features like encryption. At times it appears that whole sections of the platform are ignored during development cycles.

I don't know if this large scale reorganization will improve the way Microsoft functions. I have concerns about the bundling of Windows into one group, and the potential issues with trying to force the product to work the same way on tablets, phones, and desktops. Devices and services sounds good, but ultimately I think that Microsoft needs to ensure that the software works well, with a high degree of fit and finish that meets the particular platform on which Windows runs. 

I like how Windows Phone looks, but I bemoan the lack of applications. As important as marketing can be, I truly think that Microsoft needs to get back to the "developers, developers, developers" mantra and not only entice developers, but reward them for helping catapult Windows Phone onto equal footing with iOS and Android by getting lots of new apps built, especially the popular ones from big companies. 

Most of all I wish Microsoft would go back to being a technology company, with a focus on cool, exciting technology, with a leader that appreciates, uses, and understands how exciting technology can be.