Print - Microsoft Shuffles Deck Chairs on Windows Titanic

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.

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?

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.

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.

"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).

"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.

Whoa...I almost missed this gem: "senior vice president of Engineering Excellence" Seriously? That's a title? BWAHAHAHAHA

"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?

"...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. ------ Image refreshes: Three

Patch Wednesday: "Apple fixes 26 Mac OS flaws" - news.com I think there needs to be some reoraganiztion over at @pple.

"senior vice president of Engineering Excellence" Heh. Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer received the "First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence" ?

Everyone is expecting some pro-Mac comment from me, but really, there's not much to be said. Vista has been a complete disaster, Microsoft's own developers have called the Windows codebase overly complex, and there is talk of another delay. It's proof that Microsoft is dying, making itself totally irrelevant in today's web-driven, digital-media-driven world (i.e, Google's and Apple's domains). When Vista comes out, it will have been two years after OS X Tiger. It's insanely sad that I already enjoy Vista's "new features" today, while you guys are still waiting...and waiting...and waiting. By next year, OS X Leopard will already be out. In six years, Apple will have put out five major operating system updates while Microsoft barely musters one.

"Patch Wednesday: "Apple fixes 26 Mac OS flaws" - news.com I think there needs to be some reoraganiztion over at @pple." All operating systems occasionally need security updates. However, unlike Microsoft, Apple doesn't announce critical vulnerabilities weekly and have a "Patch Tuesday." Have fun running in an admin account in the year 2006 with no desktop hardware acceleration as you run antivirus, antispyware, firewall, and registry cleaner software in the background just to diaper Windows from the big, bad, Internet.

"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." Well, he was actually impressed at the speed with which Microsoft fixed some of the bugs. Within a month, Windows Vista had become much more stable.

"It's proof that Microsoft is dying, making itself totally irrelevant in today's web-driven, digital-media-driven world (i.e, Google's and Apple's domains)." You're right. Microsoft is dying. In fact, let me take it a step further, the world is ending. We're being attacked by aliens. There, are you happy now?

"You're right. Microsoft is dying. In fact, let me take it a step further, the world is ending. We're being attacked by aliens. There, are you happy now?" It's not aliens, its Gorebal Warming! Or Bird Flu! Or MAD COW DISEASE! Or mutating antibiotics! Actually, I think it's the Chinese: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2250133 Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not Vista that's killing us. If Microsoft Bob didn't do us all in, nothing from Redmond will.

"Everyone is expecting some pro-Mac comment from me" And what happens... A pro-Mac comment from bonch. "All operating systems occasionally need security updates." Really? In a previous post, you said that the Mac was invulnerable! How can an OS be invulnerable (your term) and still need occasional security updates? And the comment about not needing a firewall running is rich. Why then would Apple tout a firewall as one of the security features of the Mac OS? See here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/security/ From that page, this gem: "No computer is completely immune from attack unless you never turn it on." That is true, but we already knew that. nim55: You took the words right out of my mouth. Thought the exact same thing.

I also agree that Paul must like the attention that he gets by posting some of the stuff that he does. When any other columnist at Windows IT Pro posts a story, they very rarely get any comments, but a Paul post, even if it's about the weather, generates a ton of comments. This makes Paul a sort of troll in his own right. And Mac users, have fun spending $645 (+ tax) for those five OS upgrades that bonch says are coming!

"In six years, Apple will have put out five major operating system updates while Microsoft barely musters one." And you paid how much for those updates???? $700+????

"Heh. Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer received the "First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence" ?" :-) By the way, (off-topic) another very interesting and thought-provoking post by you-know-who: "Nobody cares, especially with Apple's WWDC coming up, and Apple owning 12% of the U.S. notebook market and growing while Microsoft continues to implode (seriously, it's bad news every week for this company). See you in line for a Mac, where you'll get a clean, modern operating system and not a piece of junk with code dating back to the 80s." With bonch around, who needs people like Paul Thurrott?

"However, unlike Microsoft, Apple doesn't announce critical vulnerabilities weekly and have a "Patch Tuesday."" If I'm not mistaken, MS patches come out once a month on Tuesdays, not weekly. "Have fun running in an admin account in the year 2006" On my iMac, running OS X, I have to put the admin account name and password in everytime I install SW or one of Apples monthly patches...I can also do that on XP, without having to switch users to install...what is the difference??? bonch, you really need to get your "facts" straight before spouting them off around a group of IT Professionals...We have all been able to prove you wrong in everything that you say, so go back to you "honey" of a computer and visit myspace.com, so that you can hook up with a real teenage girl(or some 40 year old sicko with a hairy back sitting in his undewear pretending to like you, whichever you prefer) --tayme

This is way off the original topic, but I can't resist...I just got out of a meeting where we were discussing disaster recovery for a group here at the hospital that I work for...It seems that there are about 6 Mac OS X desktops for the marketing people. It was stated by the department manager that the Macs could be gone for more than 90 days with no impact to the business, but all of the Windows PCs and applications needed to be recovered within 5 days. I think that kinda speaks to the importance of each OS in a real world, mainstream business scenario... --tayme

"It seems that there are about 6 Mac OS X desktops for the marketing people. It was stated by the department manager that the Macs could be gone for more than 90 days with no impact to the business" Having once worked for a multinational company where the only Mac presence was in the marketing department, I can say with certainty that the "department head" that made that statement is an idiot. Any company that puts its marketing department out of commission for six months is going to suffer. Period. The statement was probably made by the head of Engineering.

lotsa: uhh ... read his comment again: "I just got out of a meeting where we were discussing disaster recovery for a group here at the hospital that I work for" The key word is HOSPITAL. You don't really need a full-fledged marketing department to run a hospital. People get sick and mashed up all the time. I'm also pretty certain that all the medical and patient and staff time clock and appraisal databases do not run off of Mac's. So yah, in the case of a Hospital, they could go without Mac's for the marketing gimps for three months. Other places, like say, a Marketing company well, that's a different story.

"The key word is HOSPITAL. You don't really need a full-fledged marketing department to run a hospital. People get sick and mashed up all the time. I'm also pretty certain that all the medical and patient and staff time clock and appraisal databases do not run off of Mac's." That, of course, depends on what PCs are used for in the marketing department, doesn't it? Another off-topic post: I have a friend who, when she was a PhD student, her academic adviser gave her a beautiful Mac. Of course, as expected, she loved its look and design. Within a month, however, she asked for a Dell Desktop PC. Having used Windows PCs for years, she was unable to get used to the Mac. By the way, she's not very tech savvy.

"You don't really need a full-fledged marketing department to run a hospital." You do if you want it to be competitive and profitable, unless you're the only one in town, in which case you wouldn't have a staff of at least six. Competition in the health care industry is intense. Marketing is essential; again, I posit that the person that made the comment is NOT from the marketing department, or is an idiot, or both.

"Having used Windows PCs for years, she was unable to get used to the Mac." That's how I felt when I was first forced to use a Mac in my job. It took a couple months for me to get over my religious fervor for the PC, and my resistance to the evangelism of the Machead in the department. Once I adjusted, though, I never wanted to use the PC except in situations where I absolutely had to. Still feel that way today. Since we're speaking anecdotally here, I also knew a lot of people that had a hard time adjusting to Windows from DOS-based applications. And I still know people that won't transition to XP because they just don't "get it". Hard to believe, but it's true. To each his own. It's no big deal to me either way, but I do recognize that any change can be difficult.

I should have been clearer...there are also Windows based PCs in use in the Marketing dept. The Macs were brought in to run a couple of programs that were originally thought to be available only for the Mac...you know how sometimes a department goes out on their own and buys hardware and software without going through the IT staff, then expects it to be supported??? Anyway, the manager said that they were able to complete all of their work on the Windows PCs and could live without the Macs. bonch, do you have any real world stories in a mainstream business world where the entire organization could operate without Windows PCs? --tayme

"first major reshuffling" under Sinofsky? Paul, where have you been? Did you miss where Sinofsky brought in Julie Larson Green (from the Office division, and a driving force behind the new Ribbon UI) over to the Windows division as a Corporate VP? http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/julielar/default.mspx Note the date on that page: June 30.

"... any change can be difficult." I agree, especially in this case. Switching from Windows to OS X is not like upgrading (yes, upgrading :-)) from a Camry to a Passat. After five years of driving a Camry, switching to a Passat is still easy - the main control etc. are essentially the same. It's not the same with Windows and OS X.

"All operating systems occasionally need security updates." I remember you touting Mac's invulnerability... http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/08/hijacking_a_macbook_in_60_seco_1.html Shame. lol I hope the recent "security issues" which in reality are "gaping disasterous holes" sheds some light on the truth about Mac security. In that, nobody gives a crap about hacking one, so they never try. Break a Win server'03 box, you could be saddling up on the ADC of about 2000 domain PCs.... mmm tasty for doing DDoS. Break a Mac... ooh, photoshop pics. On a sidenote, rootkiting in Windows is quite hard to do, which is why people rely on users having admin accounts up and running while trying to exploit. Once Vista is released alleviating this problem. You will see who the real security king is. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/08/hijacking_a_macbook_in_60_seco_1.html heh... I havn't seen as big or as easy hole since WEP, Apple doesn't even know how to steal unix properly.