Windows head Steven Sinofsky leaves Microsoft

Steven Sinofsky, the Microsoft executive in charge of Windows, has left the company.

more at source..

 

[Coke Robot]

But then again, Sinofsky probably left out of frustration because his Windows division has Xbox services baked in, Bing services as well, and it's known for a while now that he is NOT very keen on anything diminishing Windows, as theoretically that might diminish his power or authority.

this isn't correct at all. in fact, Sinofsky was the one demanding that everything go under the Windows umbrella. he didn't like having divisions out there that he couldn't control. the Windows Phone division fought having to fall under the Windows umbrella. Sinofsky was also demanding that the Xbox division also align and wanted more control over that division as well.

people, there are plenty of articles out there to read. this was not a surprise. these articles were even written before he left.

but if you want a summary, there were lots of articles released yesterday and today recapping what happened in the past few years.

here's arstechnica:

Why Steven Sinofsky is out at Microsoft | Ars Technica

excerpts:

The problem with this is that an abrupt departure with neither a clear explanation nor a transition plan just doesn't look very good. Microsoft's stock is sharply down today on the back of the Sinofsky news—down more than three percent at the time of writing, against an overall NASDAQ drop of a little over a quarter of a percent—and is trading at its lowest level for six months. If this really were the mutually agreed, orderly transition that the statements from Sinofsky and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claim, announcing it this way was immensely irresponsible. Corporate officers have a duty to protect shareholders, and this didn't do that.

That's not say that the Sinofsky decision was made and put into action on Monday—there's speculation by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley that something happened between Sinofsky and Ballmer a few weeks ago. Yesterday may have simply been the earliest that Microsoft felt it was "safe" to part ways with Sinofsky to avoid damaging or overshadowing the Windows 8 launch.
As such, the widespread belief is that something a little more abrupt and a little less mutual was to blame. One thing obviously not to blame is Windows 8 or Surface. Though the critical reception to both products has been decidedly mixed, it's simply too soon to declare that they've failed (or succeeded) in the marketplace. While enterprises in particular may not rush to embrace Windows 8, it's hard to believe that Microsoft management didn't expect at least some push back—they know that Windows 8 introduces training costs that companies may very well want to avoid.
Moreover, if Windows 8 were the problem, there's no way that Julie Larson-Green would be selected to lead Windows engineering. Larson-Green was a trusted Sinofsky lieutenant who came with him to Windows from the Office team and led the development of Windows 8's controversial user interface. If Windows 8 does prove to be a failure, then it's as much on Larson-Green's head as it is Sinofsky's.

Jockeying for Position

Another possible cause is a battle over the CEO position. Sinofsky was seen by some as the obvious candidate to succeed Steve Ballmer after Sinofsky's successful management of Windows 7, and Business Insider is reporting that Sinofsky resigned after Ballmer refused to give him the nod.

This narrative has a number of issues, however. Apart from anything else, the job simply isn't open at the moment.

Feeling Blue

This leads to the most plausible reason for Sinofsky's departure: a difficulty working with others. Ballmer's e-mail announcing Sinofsky's departure praises Larson-Green's "proven ability to effectively collaborate and drive a cross company agenda" as if to emphasize the importance of collaboration and working with the entire company, not merely the Windows division.
Windows 8 may very well be the last version of Windows developed as a monolithic entity on a three-year schedule. Microsoft's future is codenamed "Blue." According to company insiders we've spoken to, this will not simply be a new version of Windows; it will be a set of coordinated, tightly linked products, released annually. In Blue, Windows development will not be handled exclusively by the Windows division. Windows 8 took some tentative steps in this direction, with the suite of Bing apps and the Xbox-branded Music and Video apps, but Blue will take this further still, with core features developed by other parts of the company.

This makes inter-departmental cooperation and collaboration more important than it has ever been.
Against this backdrop, Sinofsky's uneven relationships within the company become a substantial liability. Microsoft can't pull this off if teams are unwilling or unable to work with one another. Driving out big names, as happened with Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, head of Entertainment and Devices Robbie Bach, and Entertainment and Devices executive (and father of the Xbox) J Allard, isn't acceptable when the company is (finally) wanting to act like a singular entity and not a bunch of competing departments.

Compounding this, there are rumors within Microsoft that Ballmer plans a reorganization to ease this new approach to software development. New teams, new responsibilities, and perhaps even the beginning of the end of the siloed mentality and viciously defended fiefdoms that are said to define the company today. An imminent reorganization would go some way toward explaining why Sinofsky hasn't been replaced in his role: there is little value in appointing someone, just to reshuffle the deck in a month or two anyway.

Ahh, this makes more sense now. I agree more with the notion that Sinofsky was pushed aside because he's not known to work well with others, and at a time where cross-platform services are being developed and refined across Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox; anyone in the way of Microsoft's ecosystem building has to be taken aside.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
call me biased if you like -- but I HATE the whole idea of "Working in teams" or you have to be a "Team player" to get certain jobs.

If you have a reasonable skill set it really doesn't matter two hoots if you are the most fun man at a party or the "Back room Nerd".
People make there own social connections

One of the worst experiences I ever had in my life was at an American "Bonding" or "Off site" experience.

I'm usually quite gregarious and get on with most people but this is was without doubt the WORST work experience I've ever had in my life -- I ABSOLUTELY HATED all those that turned up especially the "Consultant types" in their business suits" who usually had less social graces or conversational skills than the Gorilla at your local Zoo.

I escaped from this gig PDQ and never regretted it.

The point is to say --if you have any sort of skill set then USE it and forget all the US stuff about "Off site social bonding" -- 2 hours with some people would turn me into a real nasty Mugger. !!

Steven Sinovfsky had the right idea (after all who complains about W7) but he couldn't hack the "Bigger Politic".

Shame in a way as he would certainly have made W8 into a proper OS split between genuine desktop users and the newer mobile devices.

Not sure where the new woman is coming from --hope she knows what she's doing and it isn't just a "Politically correct" appointment.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[tseven]

I was about to say I think from the readings(although who knows since we don't actually know him personally) that he wanted everything under windows which is good for branding and the ecosystem I would guess although the name windows sounds kinda eh. I read that he didn't like any projects that were developed outside of the windows family that didn't have a direct connection. I'm leaning towards him getting fired because I'm sure he would have announced it himself if he was actually leaving out of his own choice.

 

[Saint Andrew]

Real shame, he wasn't in the job long.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Real shame, he wasn't in the job long.

Wasn't in the job long?!! Where are you coming from?!! A cave!?

 

[Coke Robot]

Apparently, Ballmer's reason for firing Sinofsky WAS actually in part of lack of cooperation to work with others. A Microsoft exec said that Ballmer is making a big effort to get things better coordinated at Microsoft but Sinofsky had his middle finger in everyone's face the entire time. And interestingly enough, Sinofsky threatened to quit several times too.

Well then, that escalated quickly!

 

[dirtyvu]

there's hope to lure back some of the huge Microsoft names that left due to to Sinofsky's heavy hands, such as the guy who left and led the well-respected VMWare, Paul Maritz.

 

[Coke Robot]

Sinofsky's resignation letter:

Ctrl Alt Delete.

 

[Kat]

Sinofsky's resignation letter:

Ctrl Alt Delete.

Ah, buqqer me!

10/10....

 

[jimbo45]

Also, I'd like to say to whomever believes that Microsoft will be ditching the Start Screen and putting the menu back just because Sinofsky left is rather uncouth. Seriously, it'd be an idiotic move on their behalf to put the menu back after spending millions upon millions and so much effort and time to develop the Start Screen to say, "Yeah, we fired the head of the Windows division and we're going to put the start menu back, charge people money for a faster Windows 7, and forget that we just dumped a crapton of money and effectively made ourselves redundant in an age where mobile tablet computing is going to become mainstream just because some people demand a start menu and we fired the head of the Windows division."

Uh hu.

Hi there
can yo explain why it would cost millions to put the start sctreen back on W8 when there's quite a nice FREE application that more or less does it fine already (Windows Classic shell).

Ms could pay this guy a decent amount of money, tidy up the app bit and put it back into W8 within a WEEK. Those who want to stick with the new W8 start screen get to keep their version too.

Simple --easily done -- not a huge re-engineering effort.

If Ms adopts a "Classic shell" like solution they need to add a feature so that the "Classic" desktop can be the first desktop the user sees after boot.

I seriously can't understand why implementing this type of solution if Ms wanted to do it would cost a lot of money - and I'm quite sure the developer of classic shell would be quite happy to walk away with a few hundred thousand dollars (or possibly even more - still small change to Ms).

cheers
jimbo

 

[area 66]

What ever it will cost it will bring way more sales than it bring now.

 

[Coke Robot]

It would end up costing millions of dollars on Microsoft's behalf because they're making a HUGE marketing effort for the metro Start Screen UI on both Windows 8, Surface, and Windows Phone 8. To go back after that and say, "Ok, we'll put in a start menu after we just made a huge deal over its replacement" would just screw them over financially and their reputation. Investors might shy away from them, and shareholders will be out, probably, for blood as to what they're doing. After all of Microsoft saying that the Start Screen is better than the menu and to go back to the menu will end up diminishing their opinion.

 

[area 66]

They already spending the money, it will be release in less than a year ( code name blue) so enjoy Windows 8 the time it will last....and I was right , Windows 8 is their last OS call Windows .... I can't say more

 

[Coke Robot]

Isn't it called Windows Blue though? Or could it be just a Windows 8.5 type update like how Windows Phone 7's Mango update was a huge update and was considered Windows Phone 7.5?

 

[Coke Robot]

I give a middle finger now to Steve Sinofsky.

It's now claimed that he refused to make Windows 7 touch enabled, although OEM partners had tablet hardware that would had been ready for Windows 7's launch.

OH. MY. BOMBSHELL. Now wonder Ballmer fired him, Windows 7 tablets would had officially been out before the ipad, and Microsoft would had been in a better position in doing so.

 

[pparks1]

OH. MY. BOMBSHELL. Now wonder Ballmer fired him, Windows 7 tablets would had officially been out before the ipad, and Microsoft would had been in a better position in doing so.

You guys have all been running around explaining how the start button and such would NEVER work in a touchscreen environment. Now, we are speculating that Microsoft could have had an advantage over Apple had Windows 7 been touch enabled.

 

[lehnerus2000]

You guys have all been running around explaining how the start button and such would NEVER work in a touchscreen environment. Now, we are speculating that Microsoft could have had an advantage over Apple had Windows 7 been touch enabled.

I assume that he means W7 should have had Metro.

 

[Coke Robot]

I am guessing a touch enabled Windows 7 would be in fact closer to a Windows 8 Start Screen than menu. Using the start menu with touch is literally fingering than touching.

 

[dirtyvu]

They already spending the money, it will be release in less than a year ( code name blue) so enjoy Windows 8 the time it will last....and I was right , Windows 8 is their last OS call Windows .... I can't say more

I'm growing tired of your BS. Just because Windows is trying to go to a more rapid release schedule doesn't mean it's going to lose the name "Windows". You can't say more because you don't know anything.

In the past, they released every 3 years and charged a fairly high amount for it. And in-between releases, you got free updates and upgrades in features via service packs. Now they may be going to more of a Mac OS scenario where they release incremental upgrades of the OS almost yearly but they charge for those incremental upgrades. And if it's like on the Mac, you are kind of forced to upgrade due to how they handle software on that side of things.

 

[area 66]

I'm growing tired of your BS. Just because Windows is trying to go to a more rapid release schedule doesn't mean it's going to lose the name "Windows".

It's 2 years Microsoft said they will have a new name for the next OS and Windows 8 will be the last OS name Windows, what's wrong with this, if they want to change ?