recent removal of Andy Lees from running the Windows Phone division has certainly sparked some interesting theories and ideas as to Lees new role with Microsoft. According to Ballmer, “I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8“, but what isn’t really clear is if this move is because Lees was being punished for not making Phone 7 a success or being praised/promoted for his work in making WP7 a solid product. He is still, at least at the moment, retaining his title as a President so I honestly believe that it isn’t a punishment. As to what “time critical” role he is playing while at Ballmer’s side? Only they know, but we can certainly speculate. And speculate the Internet world has. ArsTecha has recently put up an article about how the change in leadership might be in preparation of merging Windows 8 and WP paths (Moving CE-based WP to an NT kernel), and they certainly aren’t the only source that’s discussed this possibility. While I do believe that there will come a time that the two merge, I just don’t know if now is that time. For one thing, you would think that such a move would involve the entire Windows Phone developer team (which it doesn’t look like, at least from what we’ve heard), that is unless the new NT-based Mobile OS was completely a new path and not compatible with the Windows Phone platform. Such a move was made when Microsoft moved away from Windows Mobile. WM applications are very different from WP7 apps, and so doing such a move again after such little time sounds like a bad idea. So what is really going on with this move? Honestly, I have no magical powers to divine that answer but it could be possible that Microsoft wanted to move Andy in order to get his help in making Windows 8 feel just as solid as a mobile platform as WP7 does right now. Additionally, perhaps to help with new technologies for porting apps from WP7 to Windows 8, or something along the lines of such capability. Do I think it is to develop a way to run Windows 8 on the Phone? I’m not sure. I mean, anything is possible. I personally think that the best move is to win Xbox, Phone, Tablet, and PC users over with Metro-like interfaces and apps. Once they’ve won over this kind of support, then they can take things to the next level and work on converging all these platforms to a unified core (like NT), if they are so inclined. While many Internet sources have talked about Andy Lee’s move and his ‘project’, but is it just as possible that he just wasn’t doing the right job and the ‘move’ was just a way to get him out of that position? Maybe, but I’m not so certain. What do you think about the recent move in management? Additionally, do you think that they are working on porting Windows 8 to the phone as well? Is such a move a good idea? Share your thoughts below!]]>
