Review of Microsoft's 2014: from starting with almost no CEO to ending with Windows 10 on track (II)

Much had happened in the first half of the year, but much was yet to happen before its end. Not surprisingly, halfway through 2014 camea complete change in strategy at Microsoft led by a Satya Nadelladetermined to dismantle many myths about his company.The following months were a good example of this and are well worth a thorough review before receiving 2015.

Comes from 'Review of Microsoft's 2014: from starting with almost no CEO to ending with Windows 10 on track (I)'

July

With summer came the heat and the rumors around the Windows universe increased even more. Some of them were bad news, like the one who started talking about downsizing at Microsoft; while others gave us long teeth with possible new hardware from the company, insisting on the Surface Mini, the Lumia with 3D Touch or the possibility of a Nokia by Microsoft brand. There were so many that it was better to be more cautious than ever.

What did end up being real were the leaked screenshots of the future Windows, at that time still known as Windows 9, which left see the new Start Menu and apps on the desktop; or the Lumia 530, the best-selling refresh among Windows Phone smartphones, which was announced during those dates.The good numbers shared in July by Microsoft were also true, such as the upturn in Xbox One sales thanks to its pack without Kinect, and the growth sustained in the financial results presented.

Still, Microsoft needed change, and Nadella was determined to make it happen. This was announced in a change in strategy that moved Redmond away from the mantra of a device and services company imposed by Ballmer a couple of years ago. Microsoft was going to be from now on the company bent on making us all more productive in a mobile and cloud world Along the way the worst omens were confirmed and Microsoft began a round of layoffs to adjust its workforce after the acquisition of Nokia. Experiments such as the Nokia X with Android were also abandoned and an image wash was launched that even began to be seen with a new style of ads such as those that confronted Cortana with Siri in a humorous tone.

In Xataka Windows | July 2014 Archives

August

But Microsoft needed more than clever ads to catch up on several fronts, primarily on Windows Phone. August was the month chosen to add a new manufacturer to the system: HTC. The Taiwanese company decided to return to Windows Phone with the HTC One with Windows, a proposal that many of us would like to see from more manufacturers: move their smartphones with Android directly to Windows Phone.

Convincing more manufacturers seemed like one of the missions of those from Redmond in 2014, and for that it was good to bring up data like that of the 300,000 applications that already populated the Windows Phone Store or as the one that Windows Phone was able to surpass iOS in Spain for the first time in quarterly sales.The problem is when conflicts arise, such as the one between Microsoft and Samsung due to non-payment of the corresponding patent licenses. At least we know that there will always be Lumias, like the ones that Microsoft was expected to present at the event that it invited us to at the beginning of September.

But before getting to that there was a lot of other news that marked the month of August. From more leaks of Windows Threshold, which pointed to a possible preview version for September, to more speculation about the losses of Surface, through the arrival of the media player to Xbox One and the presentation of a more than necessary DTT adapter for Europe. Not to mention that August was the month of theIce Bucket Challengeand the moment chosen bySteve Ballmerto say goodbye to Microsoft with the abandonment of his seat on the board.

In Xataka Windows | August 2014 Archives

September

As previously announced, September began with a Microsoft event and new Lumia phones. In addition to new laptops, all-in-ones and tablets, the lights at IFA 2014 served to illuminate the renewal of the mid-range with the Lumia 730/735 and the Lumia 830 The two were doing it just at the time when Lumia Cyan was spreading the most and in Redmond they already had Update 1 of Windows Phone 8.1 underway. It will not be for lack of updates in 2014.

The fact is that September had more important news up its sleeve and that we soon began to glimpse with the announcement of an event on Windows for the end of the month. But before that many other things had to happen. There was the renewal of the MSN website after years stagnant in design and functions, or the definitive appearance of Windows 8.1 with Bing and the landing of laptops and tablets with the system below 200 euros. Even more surprising, purchase of Mojang AB, creators of Minecraft, became Microsoft's acquisition of the year.

But if September 2014 will be memorable for anything, it is because on the 30th of that month Microsoft made public the development of Windows 10 Neither Threshold, or 9, in Redmond they cut their losses and skipped the numbering to announce a future version of their operating system that began to innovate from its very development process. At a press conference in New York, Terry Myerson and Joe Belfiore gave the world a sneak peek of what they were preparing and kicked off the Windows Insider test program and Technical Preview of Windows 10 that we might soon be able to test for ourselves.

In Xataka Windows | September 2014 Archives

October

The launch of the Windows Insider program caught us around the turn of the month. It would be already in October when we could get our first taste of Windows 10 Technical Preview and start to see what the Redmond people are up to. New Start Menu, desktop applications and new features to increase productivity. All this on a more polished core that will allow the system to be unified in a single Windows, without Phone tags or the like. Set to abandon names Microsoft had to leave behind the Nokia brand precisely that month.

What did happen in October were more updates, with the announcement of Lumia Denim, and, above all, a lot of new applications and services. During this month Microsoft presented Office Sway to the world, a new online tool for its office suite; Skype launched Qik, because there will always be something to try in the world of messaging; and Microsoft Research decided to make Xim public, with which they give another twist to sharing photos from smartphones.

But not only the software had its moments of glory. The hardware was also the protagonist in October. Xbox One was debuting in China, quite a milestone in a country that for more than a decade remained hermetic to almost any video game console. They must have been so happy in Redmond that they decided it would be a good idea to drop the price of Xbox One by $50, but only temporarily and geographically limited. And it will not be for our lack of insistence. This insistence was also repeated with the return of rumors about the Surface Mini or new Surfaces, to which Microsoft responded with the presentation and sale of its smart bracelet Microsoft Band

In Xataka Windows | Archives for October 2014

November

Without eating or drinking it, we were already in November, and if we were to order something before the end of the year, it was okay to begin to suspect that it was not long before we would see Cortana speaking in Spanish.It wouldn't be a bad way to debut the Lumia 535 that Microsoft introduced that same month, or to celebrate the news that all Windows Phone 8 could be updated to Windows 10 The system was still under development and it was then that we discovered that its kernel would no longer be 6.x, but rather 10.0, which represents the biggest jump in its numbering of the last decades.

But November had reserved our attention to a whole series of news stories that spoke clearly of the new course they had taken in Redmond. Beginning with the establishment of new alliances, such as the one that already unites Microsoft and Dropbox, which allows greater integration between Office and the storage service. Given that Dropbox competes directly with OneDrive, such a move seemed unthinkable just a few months ago, but not anymore.

Just as it is not unthinkable to see Microsoft products and services reaching competing systems before your own.This is the case of Office tactile, which, after being presented for iPad in May, was now extended to all of iOS and reached a new system different from Windows: Android . If there was a month in which it became clear how serious Nadella is with his multiplatform strategy, that was November 2014. Of course, Ballmer had also done his bit, since it was under his command when was announced. the liberation of .NET which finished taking place this month constituting a perfect historical milestone to face the last thirty days of the year.

In Xataka Windows | November 2014 Archives

December

If they had asked us as soon as the year began, it was difficult to foresee everything that 2014 was going to give of itself. Perhaps we would have been luckier to have had the predictive potential of Bing, who continued to play riddles and already at the beginning of the month let us see the most sought after of the year.In the list we will no longer find the mythical Office Clip Arts, to which Microsoft decided to put a definitive end after years of perpetrating attacks against the design of all kinds of posters and documents.

It is not the only thing that came to an end with the arrival of December. This month, for example, the period of punishment imposed on Microsoft by the European Union, which forced it to show the happy Browser Ballot, also ended. And perhaps it was also time to put an end, at least temporarily, to the rumors about a higher-end Lumia, for which we may have to wait a little longer. What we will not have to keep waiting for is to have Cortana in Spain As simple as installing the Preview for Developers of Windows Phone and one can now have their own personal assistant speaking in the language of Cervantes.

Speaking of languages, the technological advance of the month was about precisely that. In mid-December Skype Translator launched its test version, proving to a lucky few that the future may be closer than we think.And hopefully so, because judging by the latest leaks Windows 10 promises many interesting things. January 21 will be the day we can learn more about the news that Microsoft is preparing for its operating system. Our intention is to be there and accompany you for another year following the Windows universe. Because we may be closing out 2014, but 2015 is starting off looking great.

In Xataka Windows | December 2014 Archives

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