Microsoft Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky Out Following Windows 8 and Surface Launches

Steve121178 said:

What is he doing wrong, in your expert opinion?

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He has steered MS away from lucrative sectors like music players, smart phones and tablets introducing half-hearted efforts only after the competition is long ahead. I don't think there is a less deserving CEO in such a large corporation in the US, truly dreadful. Since he took over as CEO, MS shareholders have suffered for a decade.

ixodes said:

I bet it's not long before they do...

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damir00 said:

With Sinofsky gone, Ballmer is now on the clock.

Figure he'll be done inside of six months.

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For MS's sake, I surely hope so.

rjohnstone said:

The whole thing is based on hot corners

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Better yet, hot keys.

Win+x: brings up everything the Start menu had, except the apps. Computer, Control Panel, Computer Management, Task Manager, etc.
Win+i: Brings up the settings side panel, where Shutdown, Control panel, Audio options, Network options are.
Win+p: Brings up the secondary display settings
Alt+F4: quit an app
Win: brings up a grid with all the apps (Metro UI), which you can customize

Hit Win, then start typing to search, which is the same as Spotlight (Cmd+space) on OS X. For example, hit Win, type "Con", it will bring up control panel. Right click, and you can pin it on the task bar or in the meto grid of icons.

Yeah I know some people will never figure it out, and it's very annoying at first, but eventually most of us who have to use Win8 will get used to it.

arunim said:

Expected this.. Windows 8 is a fail for desktop, but very good innovation for tablet.

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Windows 7 could have stuck around longer like XP. There's no need for constant updates.

I agree Windows 8 will fail as it's like a tablet OS for a PC.

Surface are boring tablets. Microsoft should just give up on it and focus on Xbox 360 which is there most unique product right now.

No matter how hard some companies try I can't see any tablet ever matching Ipad.

Don't Gates and Ballmer own like 10% of Microsoft shares? My guess is Ballmer will be there until he decides he wants to leave.

I literally checked the URL to see if this was MacRumors. Even after the 3rd time, I thought, oh this is a different website, looked up again, and it said MacRumors.

I'm using Windows 8 right now, since I can dual boot it from a VHD. Haven't used it in a while, but it's ok.

bushido said:

i just fail to see how swiping gestures like those have any advantage on a desktop.

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That's the issue. Desktops are diminishing. Other than tablets, Windows 8 is really designed for laptops and ultra books equipped with the new gesture-based trackpads. Similar to MacBooks actually.

nikhsub1 said:

Oh I've used it. I support ~1000 windows machines/users in a corporate environment. My users would not be able to do their job on windows 8.

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This.

~1500 here. Assuming MS is still relevant when Windows 9 comes out, and they get their heads out of their a**es we'll probably move to that. Don't know why any enterprise currently running 7 would even look twice at Windows 8.

rdlink said:

This.

~1500 here. Assuming MS is still relevant when Windows 9 comes out, and they get their heads out of their a**es we'll probably move to that. Don't know why any enterprise currently running 7 would even look twice at Windows 8.

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Don't small and medium businesses lead in new OS adoption? I'm guessing this is the case because they buy whatever boxes staples, dell etc have advertised on their sites.

EdwardC said:

I've been playing with 8 since the 26th and I have to say I really like it! The start screen apps are really nice looking and then you can just switch to desktop mode if you wish for the more traditional look. It's really almost like having 2 O.S.'s in one and I personally think it makes my Snow Leopard look a little stale.

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Yes, switch to desktop mode. That was all I could think of at the end of my first day.

Complete fail as a desktop OS. 8Mobile will give iOS and Android a run.

nikhsub1 said:

100% on point. I will go so far as to say that it is almost unusable as desktop software.

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Windows 8 is fantastic on a desktop or laptop, but the tablets I've seen really don't do it justice. The gestures are much more sensible with a mouse than a finger, to the point that they really don't seem to work. Unfortunately we're not getting Surface in NZ until at least next year.

The Desktop is only improved over Windows 7, and the advent of 'metro' apps, for want of a better word, works really well in tandem, while also providing great solutions to some of the previously rather poor apps of Windows Live and such that appeared in Windows 7.

Metro Mail, Calendar, Messenger, etc. "just work" - AND the document version history functionality is OFF by default, as compared to OS X's where you can't even opt out. Also I see no skeuomorphism, rather screen real estate is used more functionally. And it would be far nicer in a corporate/enterprise environment than Windows 7 is, especially as IT peeps seem intent on providing terrible default settings ... like them wanting to disable the tile screen in 8 *shudder*.

Surprised they're making such a staffing move, anyway. Maybe they need *more* skeumorphism, and Scott might be a good hire .

Good, now Microsoft can hire Scott Forstall and lose what little grip they have on the mobile space.

boss.king said:

Do you say that as someone who's never used it before? Because the desktop is still right there, just as good as it was in Windows 7.

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As a person who has used it, there are many things Windows 8 requires you to use metro for. Some of which is just basic tasks like turning the computer off, requiring you to go to the right corner, click settings and then off (who designed this? I mean really!). But even for desktop apps compatibility is horrible and it breaks compatibility with many windows 7 apps that i use.

Steve121178 said:

Why does he live up to the title?

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The real question is...Why are you on a MacRumors forum, defending Steve Balmer? Talk about a lost cause. For twenty years I used Windows at work, and when I came home I breathed a sigh of relief and booted up my Mac. Windows has improved over the years I'll give you that much. It had good ease of use with XP. It's been all down hill from there. Win 7 isn't too bad, but still why use a second rate O/S when you don't have to?

Ballmer is firing everyone in his succession plan.

How on God's Green Earth is the BoD on board with that?

Stupid trend of firing talented people just because they're not "team workers". Just like Jobs was fired in 80's, but it looks like the history doesn't teach them anything.
The most talented never were team workers. They're rebels, they think different.

Mactendo said:

Stupid trend of firing talented people just because they're not "team workers". Just like Jobs was fired in 80's, but it looks like the history doesn't teach them anything.
The most talented never were team workers. They're rebels, they think different.

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Steve worked because he was a good visionary. From what I can tell Sinofsky is not a visionary. He is just a good engineer. He was let go allegedly because he led to the poor cohesiveness among the various Microsoft groups and Windows.

Mactendo said:

Stupid trend of firing talented people just because they're not "team workers". Just like Jobs was fired in 80's, but it looks like the history doesn't teach them anything.
The most talented never were team workers. They're rebels, they think different.

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Like I said before, the usual translation of "not a team player" is "doesn't get along with the boss."

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MuffCabbage said:

Steve worked because he was a good visionary. From what I can tell Sinofsky is not a visionary. He is just a good engineer. He was let go allegedly because he led to the poor cohesiveness among the various Microsoft groups and Windows.

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Microsoft doesn't have any real visionaries, but they do have a few competent managers. One less now, so it seems.

I remember during the surface keynote when he messed up big time...

okay windows 8 is super fast but still haven't gotten used to the interface.

and im a tech guy!

A kick in the pants that Microsoft needed

As a guy that just purchased both a MacBook Air and at Dell XPS Win 8 Convertable 12", I appreciate that he shook things up around there. It was needed.

IJ Reilly said:

Sinofsky seemed like one of the best people in Microsoft's leadership. Usually, "not a team player" really means "doesn't agree with the boss."

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Maybe he didn't give a sh** about Ballmer Stupid comments or didnt join him when he doing a "epilepsy"

nikhsub1 said:

100% on point. I will go so far as to say that it is almost unusable as desktop software.

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I tried the trial version for a while in VMWare Fusion, and it's not that great of an operating system. Is it better than Vista? Yes. Is it better than Windows 7? In my opinion, no. They should have given the option to keep the regular start menu button, and give us the option to use that and still be able to click on a button to go to Metro view if we want, instead of having to go online and look for a tweak to get the start menu back. I will say that it is pretty fast though, even faster than Windows 7

LagunaSol said:

Windows is like McDonalds hamburgers. No matter how bad it is, it will still sell in the bajillions.

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Same can be said of the Apple Appstore. Billions and billions sold is all we hear about. But the vast majority of the apps are crap.

The Bulge said:

Watch Steve Jobs the lost interview. I think he gives all the answers why.

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Just because you're an ******, doesn't mean you're Steve Jobs.

What Jobs did was push people to their breaking point in order to get the absolute best work out of them--even when that meant proving him wrong. Ron Johnson did it with the retail stores, Chiat/Day did it with the name of the iMac, I'm sure there are plenty of other instances as well.

The key is that even though he was a notorious bastard to work with, he was always ready to listen to the ideas and contributions of his team.

From the sound of things, neither of these guys were ready to listen. They had a vision and that was that. Perhaps that was a good thing in the case of Microsoft, any vision away from their past is good. In Forstall's case, he was pushing away the likes of Jony Ive and Tim Cook. Not really the kind of people who are known for having bad ideas.

Aidan5806 said:

Aidan Maycock: Future CEO of Apple, inc.

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Aiden - They rarely appoint a CEO who doesn't spell the name properly. HTH.