And so it begins. On Tuesday, Microsoft quietly announced the first major reshuffling of executives in its Windows Division since Steven Sinofsky moved into his new position as senior vice president in charge of Windows and Windows Live Engineering. Sinofsky was expected to engage in widespread Windows Division gutting after taking his new position earlier this year. This reshuffling appears to be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of that effort.
The most notable departure is that of Brian Valentine, who will "contribute in another area of the company," according to an email message from Microsoft. Valentine, you might recall, shot to fame when he took the reins of the then-tardy Windows 2000 project and guided that product to market. Since then, Valentine's role has been largely ceremonial, and it's unclear to outsiders whether he's been contributing at all. But several Microsoft employees have explained to me that his impact on the internal workings of the company has continued to be strong during the intervening years. My guess is that Valentine will be sorely missed by the rank and file because of his dominating, yet comic, personality and strong leadership.
Valentine, who holds the title Senior Vice President, Windows Core Operating System Division, will be replaced by Jon DeVaan, who is listed as Senior Vice President of Engineering Excellence. The two will share duties until Valentine moves on, after which DeVaan will focus on "Windows operating system development, cross platform integration and [working] closely with Steven Sinofsky on the products and services coming on the heels of Windows Vista," according to Microsoft.
David Cutler, the mercurial ex-Digital engineer directly responsible for creating Windows NT, will be reassigned from Windows to work with Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie on "initiatives focused on Live products and services." Amitabh Srivastava, corporate vice president of Windows core operating system development, will join Cutler and report directly to Ozzie as well.
From what I can tell, this week's moves will do little to fix the problems with the Windows Division, where squabbling middle managers and lower-level employees makes it impossible to get anything done quickly. My guess is that Sinofsky is only beginning to make the changes necessary to get Windows back in shape. Expect far deeper cuts in the future.
End of Article
paul, you know quite a bit but first you're starting to sound like "bonch". vista is late. no kidding so heads are rolling and execs are "moving". No surprise. Also what evidence do you have that it doesn't change anything? just what change do you mean? Isn't it fair to give them a chance to shuffle before saying they failed and accomplished nothing?
guruguru August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
I think this re-org is good and I'm wondering if once Sinofsky has gotten new lieutenants in, he's going to let his lieutenants shake things up underneath. Because I don't think Sinofsky is going to create a totally new org chart unless he's some insane control freak.
So we'll see more changes to come I think. Overall I have high hopes for Sinofsky. I think he's going to do good things there.
orion.adrian@gmail.com August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Bonch! Stop giving Paul copies of our manifestos. I worked long and hard typing up our talking points, and nearly burned my lap off writing them on my MacBook. (It's a good thing you were there to fan me with that palm branch.) I did not suffer in vain!
Those precious Vista slurs are for our private use only, when we're sipping Mac-aritas by the pool and trolling Windows boards. If every hack with a blog out there starts jumping on the "Vista is late" bandwagon, we'll have nothing to do but sit quietly and watch our MacBook's palmrests slowly turn yellow.
stevejobs August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"Microsoft Shuffles Deck Chairs on Windows Titanic"
Wonder why he'd refer to it as the "Windows Titanic" unless he felt the division was sinking.
"From what I can tell, this week's moves will do little to fix the problems with the Windows Division, where a bloat of squabbling middle managers and lower level employees make it impossible to get anything done quickly. My guess is that Sinofsky is only beginning to make the changes necessary to get Windows back in shape. Expect far deeper cuts in the future.
From what I can tell, this week's moves will do little to fix the problems with the Windows Division, where a bloat of squabbling middle managers and lower level employees make it impossible to get anything done quickly. My guess is that Sinofsky is only beginning to make the changes necessary to get Windows back in shape. Expect far deeper cuts in the future.
"From what I can tell, this week's moves will do little to fix the problems with the Windows Division, where a bloat of squabbling middle managers and lower level employees make it impossible to get anything done quickly. My guess is that Sinofsky is only beginning to make the changes necessary to get Windows back in shape. Expect far deeper cuts in the future."
I'm sure this is just the beginning. We're definitely going to see some more changes in the Windows division (or "Windows Titanic" as Paul refers to it).
yahoo August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"senior vice president of Engineering Excellence"
Oh god make the pain stop.
dugbug August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"Expect far deeper cuts in the future."
Ummm...according to seattlepi.com: "Without any fanfare, Microsoft updated the employee count on its Web page of corporate data Wednesday. The new numbers reflect a net addition of more than 10,000 people worldwide in the fiscal year ended June 30, bringing the total to 71,553. In raw figures, it's the biggest annual increase in the company's history."
That hardly sounds like a company that's making deep cuts.
And Microzealots, don't worry about Paul's "bonch-like" language. Paul knows full well that the Vista ("Vista has never been delayed"--Steve Ballmer) project is well on track. This is typical of Paul. It's reminds me of how he wrote a scathing review of Beta 2, only to marvel a month later at what a remarkable job MS had done improving things. Expect him back about 60 days from now raving about the miraculous comeback of Vista. I expect a headline, "New Management Steers Vista Ship in Right Direction" or something of the sort.
Paul's just trolling for hits. Move along; there's nothing to see here.
lotsamystuff August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Whoa...I almost missed this gem:
"senior vice president of Engineering Excellence"
Seriously? That's a title?
BWAHAHAHAHA
lotsamystuff August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"It's reminds me of how he wrote a scathing review of Beta 2, only to marvel a month later at what a remarkable job MS had done improving things."
And you don't think the fact that Vista performance had actually improved was resposible for his comment? Why is it that you iTrolls think MS is incapable of doing any good?
yahoo August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
"...you don't think the fact that Vista performance had actually improved was resposible for his comment? Why is it that you iTrolls think MS is incapable of doing any good?"
Whoa there, big fella. I said nothing of the sort. Of course there were major improvements to Beta 2...but did anyone expect something labeled "Beta" to be in good shape? Come on. Paul called it a "trainwreck". He knew better. And when the inevitable fixes came, it gave him the chance to heap praise on Microsoft for the amazing job they'd done--changes that we all knew would happen anyway, because MS never would have shipped a general release that was so buggy.
For the record: I'm convinced that Vista will be a major upgrade (I'll probably upgrade myself), and that it WILL ship "on time" (whatever "on time" means). You missed the point of my comment...that Paul is trolling for hits, making these minor changes (like management shuffles) seem major, and setting himself up to heap praise on Microsoft for what are the inevitable good things to come out of this effort. It's his way of preparing a statement saying, "Wow! Vista's gone from being the Titanic to being the biggest, best, sleekest and safest ocean liner on the planet!" He's self-promoting (much the same way that Dvorak does) by trolling for hits.
Do you get it now? Please...relax.
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Image refreshes: Three
lotsamystuff August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: )
Patch Wednesday: "Apple fixes 26 Mac OS flaws" - news.com
I think there needs to be some reoraganiztion over at @pple.
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guruguru August 02, 2006 (Article Rating: