Steven Sinofsky Pt 2

His exit, just weeks after the launch of Windows 8, raises questions about the future direction of the business, not least because he was seen as a credible successor to MS chief exec Steve Ballmer. A 23 year veteran of the company, he was a familiar figure to anyone who attended a Microsoft launch, a polished performer explaining just why we should be excited about the latest innovations in the Windows operating system.

The Windows 8 launch has been seen by the company as a great success, moving Microsoft into the new touchscreen mobile era, with Steve Ballmer celebrating the sales of four million copies in just three days. True, there have been some complaints from those who see the new operating system as an uneasy mix of the new mobile world and the old desktop environment, but Microsoft seems confident that all is going to plan.

But it seems likely that he decided that the completion of Windows 8 was a good time to review how the company was working. Now another company veteran, Julie Larson-Green, has been given the task of heading up Microsoft's most important division, running all of Windows software and hardware engineering.