Some people have questioned me over the last week or so asking, “are you leaving Microsoft†and all this. Let’s get something straight first… I was never Microsoft’s b***h and never will be. I’ve worked with the Windows Live guys now for little less than a year starting off on Messenger and Spaces and moving on to web safety. Web safety (or rather as it’s now known as family safety as it’s more appropriate) means an awful lot to me. I’ve got a young goddaughter and a much older sister who uses the Internet and to be fair, there are all kinds of weirdo’s out there who would love to bury their faces into a young’un and it makes me sick to the core. Being a younger gentleman, I have added advantages of being young and having that special perspective which a lot of other people have. I started really young – most people could never say they’ve worked with some of the amazing people I have by the age of 15, and now I’m 18 and have met even more influential people, it makes me glad I started testing in the first place.
The Windows Live division, more specifically the family safety section is undergoing a major restructuring backend with people being shifted around from place to place, even if they’ve been doing that job for a good length of time. Family safety is really important to Microsoft but from my perspective, it’s being put off more and more because people are being shifted around. Someone I’ve done work for, Jo who worked on the family safety products for some time, isn’t working on it anymore; that really saddens me as I know she loved doing it. From what I understand, a big head of citizenship (of which the family safety comes under the hood of) has been replaced which will mean it’ll take months to find someone else let alone the time to bring them up to speed with what’s going on.
There aren’t the resources available, nor is there enough money to really push forward with some of these great ideas which have been bounced around internally.
Because of this, people have already reported that the Windows Live OneCare Family Safety product won’t be around until the summertime. The product is pretty much nearly done and I suspect one of the reasons why it’s not moving forward is because of the lack of resources and people. There are some interdependencies here and there however, like needing to interact with other products and ensuring that other teams are on track so that the Family Safety product can move forward. We’re talking about Microsoft, one of the biggest and most wealthy organisations in the world, and there isn’t the money to do these things, to protect the kids online from the things they should never have to experience. I’ve had a whole wave of ideas which could seriously improve the family safety side of things within products and existing solutions, but because of the lack of money and people being busy with hiring new leads of citizenship, these ideas are all pending for a good 6 months.
Now maybe it’s because I’m young and stupid and naïve, but can the kids of this world wait another 6 months? These threats are getting more intense every day and its Microsoft’s products which are central to these because they’re so popular with the users. It’s not Microsoft’s fault that these services are being exploited; it’s their fault for being so popular, which is hardly a bad thing. This is why I focused on Microsoft for the web safety – because they have the products and the services which are being used and that could be improved and secured for the younger generation.
One thing I can be super proud of – is that I’ve greatly contributed to improving the Windows Live OneCare Family Safety filter with the help of Jo, and that’s something which I’m proud of. Some of the people I’ve worked with – my God, just brilliant.
I’ve had a “mentor†being Philippa, and without doubt the best “boss†I’ve ever had. Cristiano, Dev, Andy, Jo, to name a few – it’s been a good stretch. But for the time being, I’ve only really got to say this as I wrap it up. I’m not leaving Microsoft as I was never really part of it in terms of a paid full time position. For the time being, I’m stepping back for some time, letting things mull over, I’ll still do the odd bit here and there no doubt but it’s time to focus on me and me only. I need to get past these next few months and finish my further education, and head on to higher education at university starting this September/October. Who knows what’ll happen next… I guess I’ll just have to take things in my stride and let things happen as and when they do.