Windows 8 ... Wow.

:confused: WTF? :confused:

Microsoft just fired their "Windows Chief" Steve Sinofsky. The man in charge of Windows 8 is fired just as they roll it out to the world? This is not just anybody, he's president of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows division. Ballmer must not be happy about something related to either the Windows 8 roll-out or Windows 8 itself. Hmmmm.

.
 
Related article From the WSJ: "Mr. Sinofsky's sudden departure is likely to raise questions about the success of Windows 8"

Somebody in Redmond ain't too happy about Windows 8 ...

.
 
pcpickup said:
... "We're hearing that the executive shake-up wasn't based on any issues with Windows 8 or the Surface launch, but personality clashes within the rank" ...
Click to expand...
Yeah. I read that too. But it doesn't add up. Think about it. If everyone is so enamored with the way the roll-out is going, everyone is so happy, walking around high-fiving each other and patting each other on the back for creating this awesome new OS and for saving the company from disaster ... we come to: "at this joyous time in Microsoft history let us fire the president of the Windows division"

No. It's not due to a personality clash ... or wait a minute ... it could be due to a personality clash .... AND a colossal fk-up (Windows 8?)

When you do the math on this - any way you slice it up his firing does not look good for Windows 8 or Microsoft.

.
 
Personally I think Microsoft should stick with what they do best ie making operating systems. We all have our niche in the world and trying to be everything to everyone rarely succeeds. But yea I agree, Windows 8 is aimed at Apple and I dont think this will end well for microsoft.
 
I would imagine Ballmer has some very good intel (feedback) on how the roll-out in going. I would expect him to have the best of the best in information gathering technology on this topic right now. After all the fate of Microsoft depends on it and they already have two black eyes and a very sore rib cage. So you can bet that right now Ballmer is keenly focused on two things:
  1. acceptance, and
  2. sales
Firing the president of the Windows division **at this time** is a vote of no-confidence for both of the above. This is not some personality squabble.

.
 
My view in simple terms...

great product for the home user..

total feck-up for business amd the more demanding technical user... which is the market where MS makes their money from.

so the fact there has been ahem "departures to pastures new" within exectutives is of no suprise.
 
Wheelie said:
:confused: WTF? :confused:

Microsoft just fired their "Windows Chief" Steve Sinofsky. The man in charge of Windows 8 is fired just as they roll it out to the world? This is not just anybody, he's president of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows division. Ballmer must not be happy about something related to either the Windows 8 roll-out or Windows 8 itself. Hmmmm.

.
Click to expand...

Ballmer Probably sat down and used Windows 8 for the first time. :D
 
Apple have been making steady ground over the years with a slowly evolving OS focussing on ease of use and style and strong built-in apps. They have kept their tablet/phone OS separate. I don't know why MS didn't do the same.

Windows 7 is a winner IMO - it runs as fast as Linux on my netbook, is very logical, easy to use but not quite as cool looking as OSX. They could have refined it, improved the looks, incorporated better applications and cloud functions etc. I don't get the idea of one OS for everything but then actually producing different versions for phone, tablet and desktop. Seems very confused and confusing.
 
gunslinger said:
Ballmer Probably sat down and used Windows 8 for the first time. :D
Click to expand...
That's funny :) But this is really alarming and makes me worried about a company I depend on. Steve Sinofsky was not just anyone at Microsoft. He was president of the Windows division. Not only that but up until yesterday he was widely hailed as the next CEO of Microsoft .... the one picked to replace Steve Ballmer! Good Lord. I suspect that both sales and product acceptance are well below expectation and we are only two weeks into the Windows 8 release! This may get ugly.

.
 
They never really come out and say why someone gets fired. Difference of opinion or whatever is a great way of not saying "The guy ****** me off so I fired his ass".

windows-8-funny.jpg
 
I wanted to give my two cents here. With Windows 8 being as cheap as it is, getting upgrade copies for $39.99; I can't help but buy these instead of Windows 7.. And before you say, "HOW COULD YOU?!" I will say that I don't install Windows 8 for customers and leave it as is. I have found three excellent mods that I do to it.

1. I bring back the start menu using Startisback
2. Replace the ugly boxy Metro UI with the Visual Style from Windows 8 Release Preview (I'll upload a screenshot).
3. Skip Modern UI, allows system to boot directly to desktop without pausing on Start screen. Disable Metro corners and other metro garbage.

You can still access start screen with these mods by pressing Ctrl-Win(flag) on keyboard.

After all is said and done, my customers do not mind Windows 8 at all and love the fast performance and better battery life it gives!! Plus it's cheap.

And now that they have the UXTheme Patch for Windows 8, I expect to see more visual styles that brings back a more friendly look. I'm currently looking forward to making the window borders rounded. :)

It's not all that bad anymore with these mods. :)

Mike
 
Last edited:
Wheelie said:
:confused: WTF? :confused:

Microsoft just fired their "Windows Chief" Steve Sinofsky.
Click to expand...

I actually liked Sinofsky! But he wasn't fired, at least not publicly. He quit. Whether he was forced to quit or not, no one knows. But perhaps were reading too much into this? He had been with Microsoft for over 23 years. Maybe it was time for a change? Right after the big release is a perfect time to leave.
 
Wheelie said:
Yeah. I read that too. But it doesn't add up. Think about it. If everyone is so enamored with the way the roll-out is going, everyone is so happy, walking around high-fiving each other and patting each other on the back for creating this awesome new OS and for saving the company from disaster ... we come to: "at this joyous time in Microsoft history let us fire the president of the Windows division"

No. It's not due to a personality clash ... or wait a minute ... it could be due to a personality clash .... AND a colossal fk-up (Windows 8?)

When you do the math on this - any way you slice it up his firing does not look good for Windows 8 or Microsoft.

.
Click to expand...

It adds up more then you think. He was in charge of DEVELOPMENT of Windows. Not really the marketing of it. Windows 8 is finished. If Microsoft wants to change leadership before beginning on Windows 9 now is the time to do that. There are several reports going back some time now about how he was not a team player and created a hostile work environment. OTOH that environment got Windows 7 out the door without many bugs. It got Windows 8 on time and I'm not seeing many bugs in it either. People has issues with the GUI but not because it fails to work correctly. The issues are design issues that are being rolled out on more then one platform. So he isn't a fault if that idea doesn't work. Ballmer is.
 
Wheelie said:
That's funny :) But this is really alarming and makes me worried about a company I depend on. Steve Sinofsky was not just anyone at Microsoft. He was president of the Windows division. Not only that but up until yesterday he was widely hailed as the next CEO of Microsoft .... the one picked to replace Steve Ballmer! Good Lord. I suspect that both sales and product acceptance are well below expectation and we are only two weeks into the Windows 8 release! This may get ugly.

.
Click to expand...
I would love to know what the return rate is on new Windows 8 computers. I know many of my customers complained about the minor changes when upgrading from Windows XP to Vista or Windows 7. I can only imagine what they would think of Windows 8.

If anybody here works at a big box store or knows anybody that does I would love to hear how customers are responding to Windows 8.
 
They talked about the Sinofsky firing on Fast Money (CNBC) about an hour ago. Grasso commented that the timing of the Sinofsky departure means it is obvious there is serious trouble with the roll-out of the Surface tablet and Windows 8. He went further by saying this does not send a good message to Wall Street and that's why the stock took such a hard hit today "this is like changing quarterbacks during the playoffs". Grasso said that based on his experience with Windows 8 it is probably an OK product for retail end users and that it works pretty well but it would likely never make it into the corporate setting and therefore MS will not gain much traction in recovering the lost ground that they are seeing globally (they posted their first ever quarterly loss in June).

.
 
nlinecomputers said:
... He was in charge of DEVELOPMENT of Windows. Not really the marketing of it ...
Click to expand...
Not true amigo. Tami Reller was the chief financial officer and chief marketing officer in the Windows group ... which was fully under Sinofsky's control. She reported directly to him so he had total responsibility for marketing Windows 8 (and thus why he's gone). Tami Reller and Julie Larson-Green were just promoted into his position.

nlinecomputers said:
... So he isn't a fault if that idea doesn't work. Ballmer is. ...
Click to expand...
Yeah well we see how far that flew. Ballmer still has a job.


.
 
16k_zx81 said:
wow

there are really a lot of threads appearing with a lot of very strong negative views about "W8"
Click to expand...
I'd love to hear what Ballmer told Sinofsky last night while they were planning his "retirement party" :eek: Probably pales in comparison to my thread :D

I have my feelings about Windows 8 but honestly they are irrelevant. How mainstream users feel about it is significantly more important since that is what will drive my business. I will gladly adopt what they adopt (but I still think Win8 is too cutesie-bubble gum).

.
 
MikeLierman said:
I wanted to give my two cents here. With Windows 8 being as cheap as it is, getting upgrade copies for $39.99; I can't help but buy these instead of Windows 7.. And before you say, "HOW COULD YOU?!" I will say that I don't install Windows 8 for customers and leave it as is. I have found three excellent mods that I do to it.

1. I bring back the start menu using Startisback
2. Replace the ugly boxy Metro UI with the Visual Style from Windows 8 Release Preview (I'll upload a screenshot).
3. Skip Modern UI, allows system to boot directly to desktop without pausing on Start screen. Disable Metro corners and other metro garbage.

You can still access start screen with these mods by pressing Ctrl-Win(flag) on keyboard.

After all is said and done, my customers do not mind Windows 8 at all and love the fast performance and better battery life it gives!! Plus it's cheap.

And now that they have the UXTheme Patch for Windows 8, I expect to see more visual styles that brings back a more friendly look. I'm currently looking forward to making the window borders rounded. :)

It's not all that bad anymore with these mods. :)

Mike
Click to expand...
Great post Mike! And you are probably on to something here (how to make a great $39 OS!!). Check out this article USA Today posted an hour ago: Will Microsoft restore Start Menu to Windows 8?

.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

callthatgirl
Is iCloud for Windows compatible with New Outlook
Replies
5
Views
263
callthatgirl
callthatgirl
callthatgirl
Top 8 New Outlook Issues
Replies
5
Views
256
callthatgirl
callthatgirl
ThatPlace928
Windows 10 updates being extended past October, 2025
Replies
19
Views
2K
britechguy
britechguy
callthatgirl
How to import calendars from Outlook Classic to New Outlook
Replies
0
Views
269
callthatgirl
callthatgirl
dee001
Apple calendar authentication failed with google account
Replies
1
Views
225
britechguy
britechguy
Back
Top