Steven Sinofsky - Shouldn't Microsoft get him back?

[Sarveshwar]

Sinofsky successfully delivered two major versions of Windows on time - Windows 7 and Windows 8. Windows 7's success is widely accredited to him and his style of management. Also, some people call held him responsible for the fiasco that was Windows 8.

I bought Windows 8 and have used it for over three years. Although it had two different environments bolted together, much like the current Windows 10, but it was much more polished on the launch day itself - like Windows 7 was. It never felt I was using a beta/incomplete/under development software like Windows 10 is after three months of its release - and for a supposedly long time to come.

Before you fans of Microsoft here start to bash me, please think for a minute before you do so. Being a fan is alright but closing your eyes and putting your trust into a company is not one should do. You should be open to others' opinion too about the organisation.

I think Microsoft did a great job till Windows 8. Minor annoyances started to creep in with Windows 8.1 - time when Sinofsky was gone and we had new people (other Microsoft veterans) taking over Windows division. I think Sinofsky would have taken Windows down the right path - after Windows 8 fell flat. He would have improved it and delivered the next version on time and more importantly, it would have been a bug-free release unlike current Windows 10 which is full of annoyances and inconsistencies here and there all over the OS.

With Windows 10, there are so many things that are just promised over and then never delivered - both on PC and Mobile. Many of them. You guys know it very well. And the more versatile Win32 is now like a second rate citizen at Microsoft itself with Windows Media Player removed, Photo Viewer pushed back with no improvement and no proper replacement or new version for Windows Live programs like Movie Maker etc. The inbuilt apps seems miles away from perfection.

I am more annoyed with the people who claim and try to convince others that the OS is in 'development', so don't complain. Why shouldn't they? After all, they had paid for that. And Microsoft continuously bugged people to upgrade. Blaming the people for upgrading is not even ethically correct as they put their trust in the company and were betrayed by kept in the dark. Windows 10 was not at all ready to be released and if I was the law, I would have taken cognizance and fined Microsoft heavily for the mischief it has done. Only problem is... the world does not work that way... It's highly flawed - just like Windows 10.

 

[Krystianpants]

Honestly latest build is pretty nice and stable. Windows 8 wasn't a complete rewrite that's why it was not buggy. They rewrote everything in windows 10 including the kernel and broke it up to be more app centric and support better APIs. And more friendly with restrictions. Windows 8 was very restrictive and it's what sparked outrage by valves ceo. Not sure he could have made much of a difference as this is how the development cycle works. The desktop version was rushed to people to increase the user base as quickly as possible. They could have waited longer but then the problem is irrelevance snoops up. They also needed it for true hybrid pcs. I got used to 8.1. But as a non touch screen user I found it annoying quite a lot of times. Windows 10 is the best thing Microsoft has ever done. And honestly myself and many people I know have no problems on latest build. Mobile is the same for me on this build. It hasn't given me any problems while others have reported issues. It's getting closer to RTM though. So I think it's coming along nicely. And honestly he would not have made much of a difference.

 

[Long Syntax]

I'm not a proponent of bringing Sinofsky back. It was widely reported that internally he was very divisive and not at all what MS needs to move forward if they want the internal divisions working closely together. That ship has sailed - time to move forward.

 

[Sarveshwar]

I will be waiting for the November release but frankly I have very less hopes from the Windows team now. I am seeing that they do not have the kind of either the design sense or the conviction to deliver the optimised software to minimise the annoyances for the user while using it. It seems as if they are half-heartedly doing all the stuffs they are doing.

Be it the PC or the Mobile, I am now disappointed in Windows. I have already put my Lumia in the drawer until the final Windows 10 Mobile comes out. So much is my disgust for Windows 10 that I had arranged all the Linux drivers for my hardware but have kept myself from shifting to new platform just to give the November release a chance. But, frankly speaking, I do not like any of the Linux distro either. So, I am kind of stuck here. If nothing else works, I will be force to move to the Apple's so called 'walled garden'.

 

[Krystianpants]

I will be waiting for the November release but frankly I have very less hopes from the Windows team now. I am seeing that they do not have the kind of either the design sense or the conviction to deliver the optimised software to minimise the annoyances for the user while using it. It seems as if they are half-heartedly doing all the stuffs they are doing.

Be it the PC or the Mobile, I am now disappointed in Windows. I have already put my Lumia in the drawer until the final Windows 10 Mobile comes out. So much is my disgust for Windows 10 that I had arranged all the Linux drivers for my hardware but have kept myself from shifting to new platform just to give the November release a chance. But, frankly speaking, I do not like any of the Linux distro either. So, I am kind of stuck here. If nothing else works, I will be force to move to the Apple's so called 'walled garden'.

I would suggest giving OpenSuse a try. It was built around one of the first and best distros out there, slackware. But it's one of the best desktop distros, at least it was when I was using it.

 

[Spectrum90]

I don't have any major issues with Windows 10. It needs a little more work, but It's a great OS.

It's hard to trust an executive that did such a poor job with Windows 8. Although, Microsoft promoted Myerson and Belfiore that also did a really poor job with WP7 and WP8.
The Windows 8 fiasco was perceived as a failure of Microsoft organization and its engineering process. Changes were much deeper and extensive than top executives.

I think Microsoft did the right thing rushing Windows 10 to market. Windows 8 is just too awful, even with a few bugs Windows 10 provides a far superior user experience. They also needed to start the development of Windows 10 apps as soon as possible.

 

[Sarveshwar]

I'm not a proponent of bringing Sinofsky back. It was widely reported that internally he was very divisive and not at all what MS needs to move forward if they want the internal divisions working closely together. That ship has sailed - time to move forward.

Yes, I read several news articles which mentioned that he was a difficult person to work with and his conflicts with Steve Ballmer and with the mobile division. But the man had a vision. Some even called him a Steve Jobs wannabe.

I feel Windows 8 was flawed in UI and that is considered the primary reason for its failure. But as far as I see, Windows 10 is worse than Windows 8 or 8.1. But most people fail to notice the issues. Even worse, the Windows team, from the last person to the CEO, seems to have no idea or kind of attention to detail that is required to design a UI - or even more - a complex project like an Operating System.

Windows 10, it seems like is being taken very casually by the teams. They seem to be enjoying more attention on the social media and doing less actual work. And how could a CEO allow such an incomplete **** to be released out to the public? That's shameful. What kind of management is that? And to those who say that Microsoft gave it away for free so I should be grateful, you have no idea what purpose you are serving for them. It's not free. It never is. And who wants such a buggy **** anyway?

Some corrections in the managemnet is definitely needed. And the departure/release/holiday of Joe Belfiore is one example for the failure to deliver mobile OS which is taking forever to be usable for a general release. And what to say about the guy who uses iPhone over the OS that he's responsible for as a head of the team?

Windows 10 works most of the time, but it is ugly and very unpleasant to look at or work on. Satya Nadella needs to take his work a lot more seriously before he can think of people to 'love' Windows. It's easier said than done. May be he needs to hire some better people to boost his underperforming teams. And Sinofsky may be the man who can deliver.

 

[eshloraque]

Microsoft tried it with peoples who are into design, usability and vision. They thought they need to bring value to the customers and the customers will understand. Now they realized they have to please the press. So in terms of joy using an OS, they should get Sinofsky back. But in terms of getting the dump crowd using windows, they should stay for the next two years with the same leader.