Newsletter Archives

• Panos Panay gets more of the Windows pie

  Posted on August 6, 2020 at 11:11 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Report just in from Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet:

  Microsoft is moving part of the Core OS and Intelligent Edge (COSINE) team under Panay in order to create more of an end-to-end servicing and shipping experience… Some parts of COSINE engineering, specifically around the Windows core, are staying with Executive Vice President of Azure Jason Zander.

  Microsoft has long separated Windows “core” and Windows “what the customer sees” efforts into separate teams. Now, it seems, Panay is absorbing all but the base plumbing of the kitchen sink.

  I keep hoping that these restructurings will help Microsoft stabilize Windows 10.

  Microsoft News, Windows 10 Panos Panay, Win10 core

• Foley: This is how Microsoft’s Azure organization makes Windows

  Posted on December 12, 2019 at 12:32 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Fascinating story from Mary Jo in ZDNet. She had an opportunity to interview Jason Zander, the EVP of Azure — in other words, the head honcho of the team that now makes the insides of Win10.

  “Security, reliability and performance are prioritized all across,” Zander said. “Then certain features are prioritized depending on new launches — like a new console launch.”

  Feature priorities are decided sometimes in a six-month or a year-long boundary, he said. The biggest take-away: “It’s not a tyranny of organizations anymore” when it comes to deciding on timing and feature sets.

  Given how high priority and all-encompassing Azure is for Microsoft these days, do Zander and his team still care much about Windows?

  “I get updates every other day with self-host builds,” Zander said. “We love Windows and will continue to love Windows.”

  If you wonder about the way Microsoft’s going to keep developing Windows, this is a must-read.

  Windows News Azure, Jason Zander, Win10 core