Sinofsky leaves Microsoft

Well, well, well; and so it begins... The guy who gave us the [cough] gift of Windows 8 is getting the boot.

 

The most likely reasoning is that Sinofsky did consider himself in line for Ballmer's position according to some reports - most every business analyst considered it the most likely course of action if and when Ballmer decides to step down, but Business Insider had someone "on the inside" of Microsoft that stated Sinofsky made some kind of ultimatum recently about getting that very job in some form of more concrete assurance like a contract or whatever and didn't get it once Windows 8 was released.

Hence, he's walking away.

Doesn't matter to me I suppose, just more ramblings from Redmond at this point. People will adapt to 8 or stick with 7 or move to Linux or even OSX at some point (even if they have to buy an entirely new computer for OSX).

Why these people keep these jobs with firms for so long is beyond me: only thing I've ever done for 23 freakin' years or longer (and I'm close to the 5-0 point now) is breathing.

 

I don't think he was canned because of Windows 8. If they were going to can him over metro, it would have happened a looooooooooong time before the retail release of Win 8. If they were going to can people over metro, it would have happened with the developer preview or the consumer preview. Not a year later with the retail release.

Sounds to me like there was a personality conflict between him and Ballmer and they basically said "hey, let's get through the retail release of Win 8 smoothly, and then you and I are done."

Just because they waited until after the retail release doesn't mean he was fired because of the retail release; it could easily mean that the firing was delayed as to not upset the retail release. Kind of like how Patraeus didn't resign from the CIA because of the results of the election; instead, the resignation happened right after the election because it was probably delayed to not interfere with the election.

[analogy made for illustration purposes only and not for purposes of discussing politics]

 

Now, now, now. This isn't Apple we're talking about here. Sinofsky's departure could have been for other reasons. Like me, he could have told his GM (or whomsoever is above him) to stick their arrogance up their you-know-what before he stuffed them into a rock crusher. Apart from the obvious Metro, Aero, and Start Menu issues, Windows 8 is too new for the top brass at M$ to be deeming it a complete failure yet. Though, I would agree if (or when) Windows 8 is deemed a colossal malignancy, the man at the top has to be the one to answer for such indiscretions.

 

True that.
But I'm sure most of the people gonna think that he resigned because of the Windows 8. Just because of the timing.

I hear a lot of people talking (not you, I just took your post as an example, sorry ) "Win8 sucks, everyone's gonna switch to OSX/Linux/etc". Seems a bit dumb to change to another platform just because you didn't like new OS. Stick with the older version then. I didn't like Vista back in the day, but lol I honestly didn't even consider to switch to OSX.

 

Ars has a very well thought out piece on this, rejecting both the jockeying-for-CEO theory and the fired-over-Windows-8 theory, and explaining why the "does not work well with others" is the only one that makes sense. Sinofsky did not get along well with others, particularly with people in MS outside of the Windows division, and with MS increasing the focus on a unified ecosystem, that sort of personality couldn't be tolerated anymore. The fact that Ballmer praised Sinofsky's successor's "proven ability to effectively collaborate and drive a cross company agenda" in the announcement email lends credence to that theory.

As for the timing, "Leaving just after a project is completed makes sense, and switching teams or leaving the company entirely just after a product ships as some has precedent within Microsoft."

Why Steven Sinofsky is out at Microsoft | Ars Technica

 

The New York Times got some interviews with some unnamed sources that sheds a lot more light on this:

(1) Sinofsky had always been abrasive, but he was much more confrontational and uncooperative with heads of other divisions this year than normal, including refusing to participate in a two-day retreat for MS senior executives (this sort of thing is critical as MS increasingly pushes an interconnected ecosystem).

(2) Ballmer and Sinofsky had had a lot of friction this year, but Ballmer held off on any action until after Win 8's launch so as not to disrupt the launch.

(3) Ballmer held Sinofsky responsible for Microsoft's failure to comply with European web browser regulations, which resulted in substantial fines against Microsoft earlier this year.

(4) Ballmer held Sinofsky responsible for the remarkably-poor app selection at launch of Windows 8. It has been pretty dire, and I wonder if Sinofsky's abrasive personality was ineffective at getting developers on board for day 1. No FB or Twitter apps? No Nook app until yesterday even though MS owns part of the Nook division? No Pandora app? No Instagram app? No Bad Piggies?

At Microsoft, Sinofsky Seen as Smart but Abrasive - NYTimes.com

One thing's clear: he wasn't fired over Metro or the Start Screen (either for championing it or for opposing it).

 

Yeah, of course, bash Sinofsky now...

 

Thanks to whatever moderator cleared up the pretty rude stuff that had been posted.

The unnamed sources in that NY Times article might be beating up on Sinofsky, but if he really went to a two-day summit of upper MS executives, told people that if they wanted to know what his division was doing, they should read his liveblog, and left...well he deserves to be beaten up on. That's just not acceptable in a company where its products and services are now crossing division lines.