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After many months of speculation and mention of all sorts of names of prominent executives from corporate America, the company has eventually selected an insider. The reason is that all external applicants refused, one by one. There was a view that none of the possible external candidates would want two former executives to interfere in theirwork.

The new Microsoft CEO is Satya Nadella, one of the long-time company employees. Who is Satya Nadella?

Nadella is 46 years old, married and has three children. He has worked at Microsoft for 22 years, during which time he has held a variety of posts. Significant achievements  include his attempts to turn Bing search engine into a major rival of Google as well as the rapid development of Microsoft cloud services and their presentation to corporate clients.

He is described as a quiet and humble man. Nadella himself states that family, curiosity and thirst for knowledge are what characterise him most. He had worked at Sun Microsystems before joining Microsoft. He has acquired Master’s degrees in Computer Science from the University of Milwaukee and in Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Here is the first statement by Nadella:

John Thompson is the man who has replaced Bill Gates, heading Microsoft board of directors. There is not much talk about him. He joined the board of directors of the company in February 2012 and his resume shows that he was "executive manager" at Symantec and Virtual Instruments. He is a member of several government committees. Here is his statement after the election of Satya Nadella:

"It is very important how the three of them will get along. It is not clear whether Satya will be permitted to make the important changes which Microsoft needs both as regards products and people," states Bill George, a professor at Harvard University, for Reuters.

The majority of analysts expect that the appointment of Nadella will not lead to major changes in the behaviour and development of Microsoft. He is defined as "a safe bet". "The strategy set in 2013 shows the direction of the company," states Sid Parak, an analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen. Its main points are focused on devices and services, and on integration of platforms. Even when Ballmer announced his retirement, it was expected that the next CEO should just follow his plan, being able to further develop it if necessary. Nadella along with Bill Gates seems like the right choice as regards the achievement of this goal. The question is whether this is the right strategy for Microsoft, although the company's management seems to be convinced of its success.

Time of changes

Just a week after the announced changes the rumours about the first steps taken by Nadella are multiplying. The most challenging and daring one comes from the technology blog, ''The Verge'', which claims that, according to inside information, Microsoft is considering the option of  Windows supporting Android applications.

The idea is still at an early stage of discussion but it has gained the support of employees occupying different posts in the company. If it is implemented, Android applications will appear in Windows Store and they can be installed on both Windows Phone and Windows 8.

In technical terms, the installation support for Android in Windows is feasible, and it is gradually becoming easier. The reason is that CPU manufacturers Intel and AMD have already developed chips that support parallel operation of both platforms.

The main concern of opponents of the proposal is that it can lead to the disastrous end of the Windows platform in general. If developers knew that their applications for Android would be used by Windows users, it would be useless and meaningless for them to put effort into creating programs just for Microsoft platforms. According to those who are hesitant, however, although this may lead to a decline in mobile applications for Windows, it will not affect the traditionally more complex programs for the operating system.

Another point is that, through this decision, Microsoft will motivate more users to continue using Windows devices, without resorting to the use of other platforms. Android has a very large user base, which can be a kind of attractive point to Windows, if there is significant compatibility between both platforms.

This unprecedented move would be dictated by both Microsoft, which is lagging behind in terms of mobile devices and its poor results over the past two years while trying to catch up with its competitors. Microsoft has attempted to encourage developers to develop more applications for Windows Phone and Windows 8. The company has developed additional software that helps the conversion of applications from other platforms to Windows, reduced the differences between the versions of the operating system for the different devices and has even offered some financial incentives. However, the popularity of mobile products running Windows is far from what is desired, as their market share is only about 3%.