Window Phone Guru Joe Belfiore To Take Year-long Break From Microsoft

Belfiore announced today via Facebook that he will leave Microsoft in January, heading out to sea for a global trip with his family. Given that Microsoft has already pushed Windows 10 out the door, and the company is putting the finishing touches on Windows 10 Mobile, there’s likely no better time than now to spend more time with his wife and young children. 

With Alexander in 6th grade, we already feel like high school is right around the corner. Eeeesh… We’re heading out on SEMESTER AT SEA for a journey around the world, along with 600+ college students and a handful of faculty and “lifelong learners” like us… 

We think a floating college campus will be an amazing environment for everyone in our family to get a chance to see and experience the diversity all around the world and better appreciate what we have here. We’ve coveted the opportunity to spend a lot of time with each other and our kids—and we’re taking advantage of it while we can!

For those that may feel that this means “goodbye” from Joe Belfiore, that isn’t the case. He explains that this is just a short break from the daily grind at Microsoft and that he will be back in the summer refreshed, and ready to continue his work on the Windows platform at a company he has called home for the past 25 years.

“I’ll be back at MS in my same job working on Windows next summer, in time for the kids to get back into the normal US school routine,” added Belfiore. “We’re thrilled to share our exciting news with all of you! At some point, we’ll figure out a blog or Facebook page or… something. But for now… wish us luck and send us your ideas on what to see!” 

We wish Joe and his family all the best and hope that he returns even more pumped to enable great new products and services at Microsoft.