When I first saw this image of Bill Flora, a key leader on the team that created Microsoft’s Windows 8 Metro interface, I almost laughed myself silly. Notice what Flora, who had left Microsoft after 19-years as a creative director in September to start TECTONIC, a user experience design firm, uses for his main computer? That sure looks a MacBook Pro to me!
Seriously? One of Microsoft’s go-to Metro guys left the company ahead of Windows 8’s launch and now uses a Mac? The picture says it all. Of course, Floria’s not the only Metro developer to abandon ship. Brandon Watson, head of developer experiences for Windows Phone, is the latest executive to leave the Microsoft’s phone unit. Between Flora and Watson’s departure, Matt Bencke, General Manager for Windows Phone Developer and Marketplace, left the Windows Phone team, but he did, at least, stay in Microsoft. He’s now over with the to Xbox Live crew.
OK, so Metro, while it’s getting closer to beta, is still too wet behind the ears for serious work. That said, I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s a little odd that Metro developers are running out the door so late in the game and with so much Metro development and design work still to be done. I wonder what they know that Microsoft isn’t telling us. Mind you, Microsoft isn’t telling users or developers that much about Metro applications and programming.