Microsoft moves exec from Office to Windows
Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 02, 2006 - 11:15 AM
Microsoft
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Two days after it said it will delay the next version of Windows, Microsoft Corp. overhauled the management for its flagship operating system, giving a top position to an executive from its Office division with a reputation for running a tight ship.
The company also said Thursday that it will delay shipping the new retail version of its Office word-processing, e-mail and spreadsheet package until January, to coincide with the late shipment of the Vista operating system.
Microsoft officials played down the shake-up's connection to the postponed retail release of Vista, saying the management changes had been in the works for months.
But Steven Sinofsky, the senior vice president who will head the Windows desktop group, is known in the industry for overseeing efficient and timely software development projects.
"They needed a very senior engineer who could knock heads together when disputes arose and had backing from senior management," said Rob Helm, a director at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. "Steve is really tailor-made for the job." In his new role, Sinofsky, 40, will also head Windows Live, a collection of online programs designed to make money through advertising and subscription fees.
Sinofsky's replacement as chief of Office, the company's second-largest moneymaker after Windows, hasn't been named. Microsoft will make Office 2007 and Vista available to business customers late this year and will have the products on store shelves in January, spokeswoman Melissa Havel said.
Kevin Johnson, co-president of the Platforms & Services Division within which the Windows and Windows Live group falls, said Sinofsky's new position "would have come (Thursday) regardless of the news earlier this week" about Vista's delay.
In an interview, Johnson called Sinofsky "one of the most talented engineering/product leaders in the world. He's got a track record of innovation and engineering discipline and delivering on the product plans."
As previously announced, Jim Allchin, Johnson's co-president, will retire next year. Until then, he and Johnson will continue to lead the division, aided by Brian Valentine, head of the Core Operating System Division.
Meanwhile, Sinofsky will focus on planning future versions of the world's most prevalent desktop operating system.
No one was fired or demoted in the reorganization.
Delays in releasing new versions of Windows -- among the largest and most complex pieces of software in existence -- are hardly unusual, but they cause damage nonetheless.
Microsoft shares fell 3 percent after Tuesday's announcement that Vista for consumers will be delayed until January. The delay will crimp holiday sales for makers of PCs, semiconductor memory and chips, some analysts said.
And with companies including Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. developing Internet-based programs that threaten Microsoft's desktop-bound Windows, Office and other programs, the Redmond company can scarcely afford delays.
Johnson, whose expertise lies in sales and marketing, stopped short of predicting that Sinofsky will tighten the time between future releases of Windows.
But others said he will impose order on Windows development.
In the Office division, Sinofsky "combated a tendency that Microsoft has shown ... to be driven more by engineers than by managers," said Gary McDaniel, a Standard & Poor's analyst. Engineers "always want to put in bells and whistles, but that can lead to delays," he said.
Helm, of Directions on Microsoft, agreed.
"Steve wants to ship on a predictable schedule, and that sometimes means avoiding dependence on other Microsoft software," he said.
For example, Office 2007 incorporates very little Vista technology and doesn't require the new operating system to run.
Sinofsky's philosophy -- sacrificing some integration with other Microsoft products, and possibly some innovation -- may not be practicable when developing an operating system. By definition, operating systems must interact with a vast range of programs and hardware.
And his credo could run contrary to Microsoft's stated goal of innovating while integrating its products.
But "it does get software out the door," Helm said.
Vista will be the first new version of Windows since XP was released, in late 2001. Some analysts originally expected it to launch as early as 2003. But its release was delayed, first by a companywide effort to improve security of all Microsoft products. At another point, Microsoft decided to try overhauling it to ease adding new features.
Over time, the company has scaled back its goals for Vista, deciding not to ship the product with an advanced system for storing and organizing data called WinFS. Microsoft said it does plan improvements to how users can find things such as pictures, e-mails and documents, but the more sophisticated WinFS system won't be added until later.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
By DAN RICHMAN AND TODD BISHOPP-I REPORTERS
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