Microsoft merges teams for Windows clients and Surface

Microsoft has internally implemented a reorganization related to the Experiences & Devices division. The Windows Experience and hardware teams have been merged, indicating a strategy for deeper integration of Windows and the Surface products.

The Windows Experience, or Windows client, and hardware teams will come under chief product officer Panos Panay. He is best known outwardly as the person who unveils new Surface products at Microsoft events. Panay will continue in his new role under Rajesh Jha, the executive vice president of the Experiences & Devices division.

Merging the Windows client and hardware teams allows Microsoft to optimize Windows even better for its own Surface products. According to Panay, this will benefit the entire PC market, according to his internal mail, the content of which ZDNet publishes: “When we design hardware and software together, it allows us to do better work for the future of Windows in the long run.” He points to the arrival of systems with two screens, different types of chips, connectivity and app platforms.

Also part of the reorganization is that corporate vice president Joe Belfiore, who previously led the Windows Experience team, will join the Office Experience Group. Two years ago, Microsoft reorganized its then Windows & Devices division into separate teams for Experiences and Devices on the one hand, and for Cloud and AI on the other.