Two well-known directors from Microsoft’s Windows team, who oversaw some of the biggest changes introduced by Windows 8 and 8.1, are shifting to the Microsoft Bing team — part of a broader management upheaval in Microsoft’s operating systems group.
Making the move are Ted Dworkin, the director of program management who oversaw the Windows Store app marketplace in Windows 8; and Jensen Harris, who was the director of program management for the Windows User Experience.
A Microsoft representative confirmed the moves in response to an inquiry from GeekWire this morning, after we heard rumblings of the changes. Harris and Dworkin couldn’t be reached for comment.
Many people know Harris as the Microsoft leader who publicly introduced Windows 8’s revamped user experience and the subsequent changes in that experience in Windows 8.1, which was designed in part to address criticism of the original Windows 8.
The company isn’t yet disclosing specifics about their new jobs at Bing, or who will be filling their roles under new operating systems chief Terry Myerson, the former Windows Phone chief. Several Windows Phone leaders have been given key roles in the new group. Many previous Windows 8 program management and executive leaders have moved to new roles.
Other changes include a recent shift by Dean Hachamovitch, the longtime Internet Explorer chief, who announced last month that he would be leaving that role and starting a new team inside the company.
This is one of many changes in the Windows team and across the company following the One Microsoft reorganization unveiled by CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this year, before he announced his plans to retire from the company himself.
Mary Jo Foley, citing anonymous sources, reported last week on ZDNet that Microsoft is planning an update to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 “in the spring 2014/Q2 2014 timeframe” before delivering a larger update, code-named “Threshold,” in 2015 to create more underlying commonality for Windows across, phones, computers and consoles.
