How Nadella changed Microsoft in just 3 months

Three months ago Microsoft announced that the company’s long-time executive Satya Nadella would become its third CEO. Picking him has proven to be a smart decision. In a few short weeks, the company seems to have acquired a fresh attitude and has more respect towards its consumers, developers and, most importantly, its competitors. A quick look at what’s been going on at Microsoft shows the company making changes at a feverish pace.

No war with Apple

Nadella has ended Microsoft’s war with Apple. Microsoft has been using Apple’s iPad and iPhones with Microsoft software and cloud services in public demos all over the place – at its developer’s conference, at its big customer conference. Expect Apple’s products to appear on stage at its big partner conference in July too.

Smart pricing strategy

Under Nadella, Microsoft has pulled the plug on “one of the most egregious price-gouging experiences in personal technology,” as one tech blogger called it. Microsoft said it would end the tactic of making Xbox users pay for an upgraded Live Gold subscription just to use the entertainment features included in the console.

Personal touch

He, himself, talked to Wall Street analysts at the quarterly conference call. That’s something that his predecessor didn’t do. He struck the right tone between confidence and humility, telling the Street that Microsoft’s new attitude is “courage in the face of reality”.

Getting better at apps

Nadella convinced developers to create more apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone by offering them what is known as the “Holy Grail” in app development, tools that let an app developer write the app once and easily convert it to all Windows versions(Windows 8, Windows Phone and Xbox) and also to iOS and Android. After seeing the new tools, one developer remarked, “This was a very strategic move. Microsoft is offering a lot of support, making it easy to work with them.”

New look windows

Under him, Microsoft killed the tile-based look of Windows 8 for PCs with keyboards and no touch screens, undoing Microsoft’s earlier decision to force people to use the start screen with Windows 8. Microsoft no longer views anything “not Windows” as an enemy of Microsoft. Nadella feels that competing devices provide an ideal platform for Microsoft software and cloud services.

Becoming iPad friendly

He launched Office for iPad, even though a touch version of Office still isn’t available for Windows 8. Releasing Office for iPad before Windows 8 was actually a decision that was taken before he became CEO , but Nadella used the launch as his first public appearance. At the time, he also made his master plan clear: Microsoft software will power all sorts of devices through services and apps.