“Think Microsoft is happy with Vista? Think again. Numerous top execs involved in its development and launch are no longer at the company, at least in one instance because an exec was put in a position that was certainly a demotion,” Preston Gralla blogs for Computerworld.
“The latest casualty is Will Poole, who until the middle of 2007 was responsible for client versions of Windows, Computerworld’s Gregg Keizer’s reports. Poole is a 12-year veteran of the company,” Gralla reports.
“Keizer quotes analyst Rob Helm of Directions on Microsoft as saying that ‘With the launch of Vista, there was a new broom. There were a number of people who moved out, or were moved out, of [the] Windows [group] in the wake of Vista. Some of them have decided to move on out of the company,'” Gralla reports.
Gralla reports, “Poole was clearly given a demotion of sorts after his work on Vista. Analysts note that after Vista, Poole was made head of the the Unlimited Potential group. Never heard of it? No one else has either.”
Full article here.
Like rats from a sinking ship.
This is why he really left:
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Oops:
This is why he really left.
Let’s not forget that Jim Allchin left Microsoft right after Vista’s official release – on the very day, I think. Even he wanted nothing more to do with it.
@ Hint Hammer
Clearly
@ James …
Geeze – that’s nauseating. Springsteen should sue
Ayn Rand. Nice quote, FreeFromDesign! It does sound Jobsian, though.
No kidding! Didn’t someone once say that Microsoft simply had no taste? How many of their employees had even spurted from the ooze when that might have been relevant? I’d flee too.
Maybe Will ordered this video.
I was being oblique. It was a breadcrumb. I’d collect my kudo directly from Alisa. But, I’ve misplaced my tardis!
FWIW, I believe — and like that quote. Even though, some were quite contrary.
The quote is similar to something I believe. “Business is about making money — about putting food on the table; roof over head; and money in the bank. It is NOT war.”
sta-sta-stapler
has anyone seen my sta-stapler?
uuuummmyeeeaaaaahhh
about that…
Is Zune Tang for real? I used Vista everyday for months and had such a terrible experience with it that I switched back to XP. Btw, I rather have a Mac and I hope to buy one soon.
It’s interesting that Howard Roark (the ‘hero’ of Rand’s The Fountainhead) is practically Steve Jobs written on a page whilst the Keating character is Gates.
However, it’s not the only Randian reference in computing history: some Data General engineers in the late-Seventies code-named the project to develop a competitor to DEC’s VAX architecture as FHP which stood for Fountainhead Project. Bizarrely, theirs was not an homage to Rand – they simply did their initial development work in an apartment block called The Fountainhead that was close to DG’s Westboro headquarters.
FHP initially appeared to win an internal competition against Tom West’s EGO project (in a direct allusion to 2001, they deliberately created an acronym that was one on from EGO): however, their design was a clean 32-bit sheet of paper with no legacy support for programs developed for DG’s earlier AOS and RDOS operating systems.
EGO was dead, however West (who was smarter than a fox with a Masters degree) recreated the team in secret to develop a machine called ‘Eagle’ (try saying that without thinking EGO) and – when FHP faltered – Eagle came out of the shadows with its backwards-compatibility and became what was ultimately DG’s MV architecture.
It could be argued that Eagle was an early model for Apple’s current success: the new ‘rational’ Jobs has – with the help of his hardware and software monkeys – created a new Macintosh that not only embraces and extends the old Macintosh, but also has the capability to embrace its competitors (Windows, Linux, etc.).
However, unlike the truly horrible WinDell model, the support for ‘legacy’ and ‘foreign’ systems is maintained at arm’s length maintaining the purity of whatever the ‘current’ vision of the Macintosh happens to be at the time: I bet Ballmer wishes that Microsoft could develop something with that modular elegance.
LOL – We all know ‘Unlimited Potential’ is the name for the
‘happy class’ at Microscoff’
As Mac fans/users, we don’t care if the rats “stay or if they go” (to paraphrase the immortal Clash) as long as Apple doesn’t HIRE any of them!
Please, Steve, don’t bring any of those copycat losers on board!
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
Interesting MCFFR. The reason I saw it as so fitting was that so many focus on beating the competition that they forget the real reason they are doing it. I agree, when I saw it it sounded Jobsian so thats why I put that in there.
M$ is fucked till Ballmer’s ass is kicked out the door… I wonder what he has on Billy Gates that keepd him in his job?
Rats from a sinking ship, and they are are one with more than two brain cells … Balmer has one that works once in a while when showing some signs of cognizance [rarely].
“Unlimited Potential group”…Lol!
Only MS can think of something like this! 😀
@ MCCFR
That’s cool history!
I live and work the 128-495 corridor.
Love the history of the early days.
And anyone who can tie Atlas Shrugged, 2001:Space… and the early days of high tech startups gets “hazzahs”
Will Ballmer still get a parachute?
Give MonkeyBoy a choice of several parachutes. Make sure they’re all painted pretty, so nobody will notice they’re made from patched-up old burlap.
Then have none of them actually work, despite 10+ years of development effort.
Anyone remember the falling whale from “Hitchhiker’s Guide”? You get the idea.
M$ are still making obscene profits. Ballmer will hang on until he wants to leave.
I’m wondering if the Yahoo deal goes down M$ will have bitten off more than it can chew. It could accelerate its decline.
@ Just Me
no, he means “microsoft.”
I see none of you folks recognized my comments about The Rand.
Whatever. I can dumb it down. Anyway…
Alex, for the KudoCookie. Who is Alisa Rosenbaum, AKA — Ayn Rand.
And for the HuzzahCookie — Who are… THE CRAZY ONES.
. .. … …. …..
Judges, will you accept?
@ CYxodus
Zune Tang™ is our resident noob detector. Your skepticism was well played.
Other.