Windows boss Sinofsky leaves Microsoft
Steven Sinofsky is out, leaving Windows 8 - and its divisive new tile-based user interface - as his legacy for Microsoft.
Sinofsky started at the company back in 1989 as a software design engineer, and quickly rose through the ranks. By 1992, Sinofsky was sat at the right-hand of co-founder Bill Gates, acting as his personal technical assistant. In 1999, Sinofsky was moved sideways into the Office arm of the company, where he acted as senior vice president before being given the Windows group to play with. Most recently, in 2009, Sinofsky was promoted to overall president of the Windows arm in toto.
The appointment of Sinofsky to rule over Microsoft's Windows division was seen by many as a response to the poor showing from the company's Windows Vista release. Under Sinofsky, Microsoft launched Windows 7, generally recognised to be a significant improvement over the Vista mess and one with which most users are now comfortable - even if it didn't manage to convince the Windows XP stick-in-the-muds to splash out on an upgrade.
Sinofsky's departure from the company, during which it's worth mentioning he will not be working notice, comes hot on the heels of the launch of Windows 8. While benefiting from under-the-hood improvements, many buyers remain unconvinced as to the benefits of the once-and-former Metro UI, a touch-centric tile-based user interface which owes much to the company's Windows Phone products.
Officially, the split is amicable. 'I am grateful for the many years of work that Steven has contributed to the company,' claimed Microsoft chief and co-founder Steve Ballmer in a statement regarding Sinofsky's departure. The remainder of Steve's soundbite, however, is notable in its completely lack of mention for Sinofsky, concentrating instead on the company's achievements as a whole. 'The products and services we have delivered to the market in the past few months mark the launch of a new era at Microsoft. We’ve built an incredible foundation with new releases of Microsoft Office, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Microsoft Surface, Windows Server 2012 and ‘Halo 4,’ and great integration of services such as Bing, Skype and Xbox across all our products. To continue this success it is imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings.'
'It is impossible to count the blessings I have received over my years at Microsoft,' claimed Sinofsky. 'I am humbled by the professionalism and generosity of everyone I have had the good fortune to work with at this awesome company.'
The terse soundbites included in the official press release offer little in the way of context for the move, with leaked internal memos from Sinofsky and Ballmer providing only the claims that Sinofsky's departure was of his own volition. Coming so soon after the launch of Windows 8, however, it's hard to see the move as anything but a response to the luke-warm - and, in the case of a vocal minority, actively hostile - reception for Windows 8 and its dramatic new user interface.
Sinofsky is to be replaced by Julie Larson-Green, who is promoted to take charge of the development of Windows hardware and software, and Tami Reller, who adds responsibility for the business aspects of the role onto her existing jobs of chief financial officer and chief marketing officer.
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Discuss in the forums Replywindiows 8 fail
windows home servers fail
both due to not listening or asking what customers want.
The BIG boss should go too for that methink no scratch that, be gone he must
Jumping before pushed, methinks.
Still, I will withhold final judgment until I see what the Windows team comes up with under her guidance. I really really really want to be proved wrong and shown to be the misogynistic old pig that I surely am... :p
Yeah, because a woman with a maths degree, business qualifications and a 20-year track record at Microsoft reaching the upper echelons of management must just be a pretty face who likes shiny things. Balmer must just be an idiot who coasts by running a multi-billion software company on pure luck. Sinofsky must just be suddenly bailing on Windows 8 because he had no idea what it was going to be like and he thinks it is rubbish, or being pushed because Balmer was disappointed with it. It was like, he saw Windows 8 for the first time at its launch event and went: "Crap, that looks rubbish! Sinofsky, you're fired!".
I mean, obviously Microsoft has no idea what it is doing. It's not like it is the number one software company or something. It just hires and fires people for no particular reason. It just fundamentally redesigns its number one cash-cow OS just on a whim.
Christ, I despair of this place.
Remember when it spent two and a half years on developing it's cash-cow OS just to drop it and start from scratch?
Considering the monopoly it has, the size of its user base, the financial position it is in, why is it four years behind Apple with touch? Why do complaints with user interface in your alpha/beta still make it through to retail? If your trying to have a unified platform why is your 6 month old device (WP7.5) not supported by your new device (Surface)? If people and companies weren't so invested in the windows platform the company would be close to bust now.
It's tricky to run a colossus like Microsoft. That's why the first thing Steve Jobs did when he came back to Apple is streamline its product range and the company. Microsoft may well be doing the same now. It is behind on commercially implementing touch (in the labs it is on a par with, if not ahead of Apple), but it also produced Kinect.
:D Yep, I've recently decided not to bother replying to a lot of posts, Oh right, I'll keep quiet then
Why is Microsoft so far behind on implementing touch though? It has a large computer base and was the most popular smartphone os before iOS. This should have meant a 6 to 12 month gap if they were ahead in touch. Upto two years if they were on par. I'm not an apple fanboy or windows hater, I'm just pointing out that the leader at Microsoft is absolutely *rubbish* and needs to be replaced. He is always so far of the mark its unreal.
As is proved by the same people going into spasms of paroxism at the recent touch-friendly changes in Windows 8.
Everything Nexxo said +1. Again we agree Nexxo, some may begin to talk ;)
I'm just calling it as I see it. I have praised Apple for its good products and criticised it in equal measure for its recent fails. I have criticised Microsoft for its past fails and recognised its successes and now praise it for its genuine innovations. Windows 8 is cheesecake, Windows Phone 8 awesome. As an ecosystem it's going to be very good indeed.
So good Ballmer got rid of the man behind the changes your enjoying. Ballmer laughed at Apple when the iPhone came out because it had no keyboard. I don't think it's us that have said it needs m/k its Ballmer previously telling us that is what we are getting. It wasn't until business and consumers started leaving en masse that Ballmer obviously changed his mind late in the game AGAIN and brought out a competitive device numerous years later. Surface/WinRT is nowhere near a finished product.
WP# isn't for me as I left most microsoft services a few years ago and now have my digital life running very nicely on android with googles services. I may change in the future but it would be a lot of hassle for, at best. about the same experience. So in my eyes just not worth it, but worth a look if your getting into the smartphone scene late or leaving blackberry.
On the Win8 front, it's not bad. A definite worthy upgrade from Vista and before. From 7, I feel it's murky, you really need to try it. Some people are finding it works better for them. I find it makes me slower, I really gave it a good go but I like to multi task and do my tasks fast and the extra mouse drags and button clicks I need to perform, just irritate me. This irks me as I really want to use and like it.
WinRT - ??? I can see what they did, but I can't help thinking WP+ would have been better. We will see how it evolves. It definitely needs time, as it's currently very limited.
I use Windows primarily and so would like a quality product being a user. I can't stand Ballmer, he shows consistently, that he isn't up to the job.
We don't know how much Sinofsky was instrumental in creating the Windows 8 and WP 8 ecosystem or was an obstacle in it. It is said that he did not play nice with other departments and does not think in terms of services but software in boxes.
I think that most people don't know what they want. They deride Windows 8 for looking gaudy while they put neon tubes in their modded rigs. Just search for the thread on this forum that discusses the launch of the very first iPad. I said it would be a huge success; almost everybody else thought it was rubbish and would fail for not being a "real computer", which to them meant a physical keyboard and an OS with windows and multitasking. Now we see that the iPad is a huge success, and Microsoft got it wrong? The only thing it got wrong is listening to its customer base too much. Most people don't have vision --they need someone like Steve Jobs to have it for them. The best thing Microsoft can do is hire its own visionary and ignore what everyone else says.
Because you don't write for The Sun.
This was from the BBC News Tech Correspondent, sounds like he needed to go?
The McAfee story is just disinformation put out by MS's Black-Op's Dept to dissuade Apple from hiring him, rumour has it that McAfee has already developed an eye movement indicator sensory components thought controlled OS for MS, "Windows MC" (Mind Control).
Steve Ballmer was one of the early test participants, the results were promising but the side effects have proved to be severe and long term in some test subjects!
Makes sense to me