Steven Sinofsky: Windows division head leaves Microsoft

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft's Windows division, has left the company with immediate effect.

His departure comes just weeks after Microsoft launched Windows 8, the latest edition of its flagship product, seen as key to the firm's future.

Microsoft did not give any reason for Mr Sinofsky's departure.

The company said Julie Larson-Green would be promoted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20307574

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[Berlum]

1. Windows 8 = Supreme Suckage

[Kolesar]

2. How so? eom

[onehandle]

5. And it's too bad. Microsoft is one of the firewalls against Google. nt

[Evasporque]

13. WIndows 8 interface

[Occulus]

15. I was VERY surprised, but I actually like it.

So far, everything works as expected. This was from an upgrade from Windows 7 Pro x64.

Believe me, nobody is as surprised as I am. I tried the developer test and it hosed my entire system drive for me.

It's very clearly designed for tablets, but I can get used to that. It's a different UI for a desktop, but not crippling, at least for me.

I have to say I love the Windows 8 Netflix app (oddly, the Google app seems unfinished to me). It's much less cluttered and far more pleasing to the eye.

[Xithras]

20. Windows 8 is actually pretty good.

I generally find that those who whine about it the most are those who use it the least. I was required to load it on one of my laptops for testing at work a number of months ago, and was fully prepared to hate it. Within 30 minutes of installing it, I realized that it's one of the most intuitive versions of Windows ever created. I really like it. In my experience, that opinion is nearly universal among those who have actually spent time working with it. Oh, and I've never seen it crash, even though I started off running it on an old XP-era laptop that didn't have half its drivers for Windows 7, much less 8. Despite that, everything worked, and nothing crashed. When I installed it on newer hardware, it worked even better.

The biggest problem for current Windows users is "relearning" processes that have largely remained unchanged for 15 years. Most people spend a few minutes trying to figure out where the Start button is to launch a program. Once you let the old Windows mindset go and realize that it's a completely new beast, everything starts to click and it makes sense.

IMO, Microsoft's only real mistake was calling it "Windows". 95>98>Me>2000>XP>Vista>7 were successive generations of the same product as it evolved over 15 years. Windows 8 is not, and is as different from Windows 7 as Windows 95 was from Windows 3.1. If Microsoft had any brains, they'd have stuck with the Metro name and consigned Windows to the dustbin of history. Instead, it gets saddled with the baggage of the crap that came before it.

[CincyDem]

3. And yet, Balmer survives. Sheesh. n/t

[onehandle]

4. Can you believe it? What does Bill Gates' college roommate have on Microsofties?

He much have photos of someone killing a hobo or something.

No way would a CEO this bad survive so long anywhere else.

[madrchsod]

6. getting out while the getting is good?

8 will be another flop.

[Randomthought]

7. I like 8

it's what 7 should have been. Of course, bashing Microsoft is the thing to do so I guess I won't waste my time.

[leveymg]

8. This has happened before at MS. Remember ME and Vista?

A lot of us wish we didn't.

It's okay, so long as MS continues supporting and developing 7, which will live on for a long time, I'm sure.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. As touch-based interfaces become more ubiquitous.

I think you'll find the touch support in Win 7 severely lacking, compared side by side with 8.

I've converted every device in the house already. I won't go back to 7, even if on the two non-touch devices the metro/desktop transition takes some getting used to.

[William Seger]

10. Touch screens are fine for phones and cameras

... because of their small size and limited functionality, but there is no way in hell I'll ever use a touchscreen at work as a software developer or for my main hobbies of video editing and stereographic photography. My main complaint against MS for a long time is that they act as if they know how everyone "ought" to use their computers, but in fact they seem to have severe tunnel vision.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Markets often move on without individuals.

Have you tried a touch enabled OS interface?

There are some things I do every day that require more screen real estate, and do not really lend themselves to touch, but win 8 supports that as well. And then I get all the improvements around networking, file transfers, memory management, smaller OS kernel, etc.

Based on the hobbies you listed 'you' are not in fact the 'everyone', so your assessment of how a company gauged how 'everyone' ought to use their computers is similarly limited by your tunnel vision. Most people don't use a PC the way you do.

[William Seger]

12. I didn't say I was "everyone"

... or that I think everyone should use a computer the way I do. My complaint was MS's "one size fits all" approach to things, which has never been -- and never will be -- the case with computers.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. And that assessment isn't accurate.

I see people using that OS in many different ways.

*I* use it in different ways depending on the physical interface available to me on whatever PC I happen to be using.

[Occulus]

16. The Apple OS directly contradicts your opinion, though.

Theirs looks and feels the same across all Apple devices.

If you want true kernel-level customization and capability to install custom user interfaces, *nix has always had that. Not sure about support for touch, though, but you can install it (or Windows, for that matter) to an ARM device, such as the Evo 3D (which I have).

What exactly are you using your computer for that makes Microsoft's interface so unusable for you? Many people perform video editing in Windows (perhaps you've heard of Adobe?) to stunning effect. As for stereographic photography, that's an esoteric hobby, and it's certainly interesting, but I'm not sure how it relates to Windows. Does it not support a particular required driver for your equipment, or something similar?

Not trying to be condescending here, I genuinely want to know. I'm bullheaded about computer issues, and if I think I can help you correct a problem I'll certainly give it a try.

[William Seger]

19. Huh?

What we're talking about is how "ubiquitous" touch devices will become. My point was that virtually everything I do on a computer requires the precision of a keyboard and mouse, not stabbing at big colored blocks.

[ThirdEye]

17. Give it a chance

I have my problems with Windows 8, but as a fellow software developer I can confidently state that the start screen is not going to hinder you.

It will require that you click to the desktop after you login, but it really isn't that bad. Plus, the start screen is super fast to appear and allows you to use keyboard shortcuts for extremely fast app and file searching. Of course, if you're like me you'll only need that every once in a while because everything else is on your taskbar. Otherwise, Windows 8 is fast and reliable so far. However, I personally don't like how they completely tossed Aero. They should have at least left the shadow effect behind each open window, like in Mac OS.

I will say, though, the the Windows app store is a completely different subject. Full-screen apps on a full-size desktop are rubbish. I absolutely will never use any Windows RT apps. If I can't run it on the desktop, forget it. My monitor is simply too big.

[Atypical Liberal]

18. Touch is not a desktop application.

Any computing job that requires sitting at a computer all day is not going to benefit from a touch interface.

I still remember 20 years ago or so when touch screens first appeared and were heralded as the "next big thing". Problem was, there were no realistically portable devices that could use them, and they don't work well for desktop jobs.

Why?

Because when you are sitting at a desk all day you don't want to have to be holding your hand up in the air all day long.

For desktop work, the keyboard and mouse will reign supreme.

Steve

[are_you_serious_1234]

21. Many people are wary of Microsoft products because of past experiences.

From what I've heard, Windows 8 is not a bad product from either user or development perspectives. This even comes from the staunchest MS player-haters. Unfortunately, people have been legitimately burned by various MS products in the past (e.g. early Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millenium/ME, Early Vista and even Windows 7) and are just leery of another revision. On the other hand, Windows N/T Windows 2000 (Really NT) and Windows XP were decent products. Haven't tried Windows 8 yet so I can't compare.

[dlwickham]

22. I need a new laptop and was terrified that I was going to have to settle for a PC

because of the price of most Macs

but I found a good price on a new Mac that is last year's model but still in the box

I hate PCs and I doubt Windows 8 is any different or better than any older Mac operating system