jakem1 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 All I can say, is it does give all the indications of a somewhat hasty, and involuntary exit. It was planned for the last 2 to 3 years and they expect to find his replacement within the next 12 months. That doesn't sound hasty or involuntary to me. The fact is that this is article is about as pointless as all the speculation and conspiracy theories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 If you were having crashes with Vista then it was likely related to bad hardware/drivers, not specifically an issue with Vista. True, but Vista should not have crashed due to bad drivers. It should have been more solid than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganX Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It was planned for the last 2 to 3 years and they expect to find his replacement within the next 12 months. That doesn't sound hasty or involuntary to me. The fact is that this is article is about as pointless as all the speculation and conspiracy theories. I can't disagree about the article. And most companies have a CEO succession plan. That doesn't change the fact that this exit, to me anyway, seems "hastened." After planning for 3 years you announce in August you'll be out by the end of the year. I don't buy it. Plus many have been calling for his exit for some time. It's not a bad thing, it just is. For a company like Microsoft, all the about faces and fixes the last year, or since Windows 8 RTM, wouldn't bode well for "any" CEO. I'm all for the Modern UI vision, as much as Windows 8 may be involved, but the execution was horrendous IMO. PS: Half of forum discussions are speculation and conspiracy theories, that's half the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganX Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Ballmer should write a book. I would actually read Ballmer's. Sinofsky, not a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake89 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 analysts understanding business writeoffs, did pigs fly today? Yep. http://youtu.be/XlYM_jtqAWM MorganX 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 More source less troll bait... Thief000 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 $900 million write-off ... And how much is Ballmer's retirement package ? Atomic Wanderer Chicken 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I can't disagree about the article. And most companies have a CEO succession plan. That doesn't change the fact that this exit, to me anyway, seems "hastened." After planning for 3 years you announce in August you'll be out by the end of the year. I don't buy it. Plus many have been calling for his exit for some time. It's not a bad thing, it just is. For a company like Microsoft, all the about faces and fixes the last year, or since Windows 8 RTM, wouldn't bode well for "any" CEO. I'm all for the Modern UI vision, as much as Windows 8 may be involved, but the execution was horrendous IMO. PS: Half of forum discussions are speculation and conspiracy theories, that's half the fun. Ballmer COULD very well have gotten tired of all the sniping. How long has Ballmer been CEO? Being CEO of a public company - and of Microsoft in particular - is basically living on a bullseye. Everything you do or say is sniped at - even when its successful. On top of that, the general anti-change sentiment about ANYTHING (not just Windows) could have been well the straw that broke BALLMER's back - the majority of the criticism of Ballmer (and especially on Neowin) is because Windows changed at all. Even CEOs get tired of banging their heads against a wall. MorganX 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganX Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 $900 million write-off ... And how much is Ballmer's retirement package ? Good point. I'm sure Steve isn't hurting other than emotionally. Shareholders don't see Golden Parachutes as money that could have been in their pockets, off limits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganX Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Ballmer COULD very well have gotten tired of all the sniping. How long has Ballmer been CEO? Being CEO of a public company - and of Microsoft in particular - is basically living on a bullseye. Everything you do or say is sniped at - even when its successful. On top of that, the general anti-change sentiment about ANYTHING (not just Windows) could have been well the straw that broke BALLMER's back - the majority of the criticism of Ballmer (and especially on Neowin) is because Windows changed at all. Even CEOs get tired of banging their heads against a wall. I personally have liked Ballmer over the years. I do think he was better with Gates ... I have not liked the whole Windows 8 period though. I think he let his upper management get out of hand and out of control. Sinofsky had way too much influence on the culture and based purely on speculation and conspiracy, and the products released under him, it was a negative influence and it shows in the initial 8 initiative (including Windows Phone). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skin Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Vista was great, anybody who denies it had less than 1 GB of ram. Windows 8 on the other hand... I must be the only person in the wold that has zero issues with MS Software... aside from the Millennium edition... arrgules on that one. Showan 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Why doesn't Microsoft just sell leftover Surface RT tablets on e-Bay, to the gullible Chinese or Arabs ? :laugh: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.XSurface+RT+tablet&_nkw=Surface+RT+tablet&_sacat=0&_from=R40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blade1269 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Now he can buy a Mac! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Wanderer Chicken Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Please come back as CEO Bill Gates!!!! Windows has been vandalized and defaced with this metro thing :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDboyz Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 The only Windows OS that gave me headaches was Windows ME as well. Vista is just tricky. If you have all compatible hardware, it works just as well as others. I must be the only person in the wold that has zero issues with MS Software... aside from the Millennium edition... arrgules on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Wanderer Chicken Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I have Windows ME on a Compaq Presario, it works ok, but was very problematic. The only issue I had with vista was its high pc requirements. 512 mb of ram at the time Vista was released was pretty common. Vista needed a aero capable graphics card, and at least 1gb of ram for it to run ok. Even at 1gb it became sluggish. Windows XP on the other hand could be installed on a 512mb pc and would considerably better than vista on the same pc. XP compared to vista was extremely compatible with almost any piece of hardware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 26, 2013 Member Share Posted August 26, 2013 Sometimes change is a good thing for everyone. A company, like a person, sometimes needs a fresh start. Ballmer has had more misses than he has had hits of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argonite Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Why does this topic not have a huge "RUMOUR" tag in the title? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 $900 million write-off ... And how much is Ballmer's retirement package ? None. They've already stated they don't give out retirement packages to their execs, although the 7% increase in stock did bump his investment worth up about $700 million in a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I have Windows ME on a Compaq Presario, it works ok, but was very problematic. The only issue I had with vista was its high pc requirements. 512 mb of ram at the time Vista was released was pretty common. Vista needed a aero capable graphics card, and at least 1gb of ram for it to run ok. Even at 1gb it became sluggish. Windows XP on the other hand could be installed on a 512mb pc and would considerably better than vista on the same pc. XP compared to vista was extremely compatible with almost any piece of hardware I personally not only refused to touch ME (security issues), I refused to recommend it for the same reasons - I recommended (and ran personally) Windows 2000 Professional instead. I had no issues with Vista whatsoever - in fact, I switched to Vista during the beta and was running the RTM bits at launch. The same was true of Windows 7, and would be true of Windows 8 as well. (The ONLY change between Vista and 7 was I migrated from x32 to x64 prior to 7 going into beta - basically, during Vista's turn as current Windows desktop OS.) I was atypical among Neowinians (and a lot of other tech sites) in that I had no driver issues with Vista - however, I also had no real migration issues moving to x64, either - are the two, in fact, related? (The question needed asking for two reasons - while Longhorn was originally based on XP32 code, Vista was not. Vista - and XP x64 Edition - were instead based on the code from Windows Server 2003R2; the HCLs of the three operating systems had a LOT of commonalities with each other; however, there were also a not-insignificant amount of hardware that was compatible with only XP, but not with the other three OSes. The original Sound Blaster Audigy was not on the XP64 HCL, for example, while the Audigy 2, ZS, and then-new X-Fi were. I DID castigate the OEMs for poor Vista hardware support, while others chose to blame Microsoft instead.) I mentioned the two year desktop lull of 2004 and 2005 (and how portables - specifically notebooks and lighter laptops, saved personal computing's bacon) in another thread. 2006 and 2007 were better, but not much. That was also the launch of the Core 2 line of processors from Intel, and AMD's corresponding AthlonXP line. You would be correct in noting that began the x64 invasion of ordinary computing in earnest. However, how much migration would there be to x64 in either year? The migration didn't really begin until 2007, and prior to the launch of Windows 7. The spur of interest was due to a failing of all x32 operating systems, and the floor falling out from under memory prices. The failing of x32 OSes was that they could NOT normally deal with 4 GB (or more) of system RAM without specific workarounds. The rapid decrease of memory pricing - especially DDR2, though DDR pricing was also affected - meant that larger amounts of RAM were suddenly nearly silly-cheap. Suddenly, Vista's increased RAM requirements compared to XP meant nearly nothing. Even the increased (again, not by much) RAM requirements of any x64 version of Windows (including x64 versions of Vista) also meant little to nothing. That external event - over which Microsoft had no control whatsoever - is what REALLY paved the way for Windows 7, and especially the x64 versions, which also marked the first time that x64 outsold x32 of the same SKU of any Microsoft OS, let alone x64 outselling x32 heads-up across all common desktop Windows 7 SKUs. After all, what really changed as far as the core of Windows itself between Vista and 7? Yet Vista was panned, while 7 was (and still is) considered a rousing success. That is why I say that real issue with Windows 8 is basically the same issue that was the case with Vista - poor timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrian Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I understand a lot of people don't like Modern UI. I hated it myself, and am currently lukewarm. 8.1 will play much better with the Desktop Environment. But seriously, are you saying Vista was a better OS than the Windows 8 Desktop Environment? How will 8.1 "play much better with the Desktop Environment."? It still looks the same to me. Unless you really think adding a start button makes a difference? Most of the changes affect the "modern ui." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganX Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 How will 8.1 "play much better with the Desktop Environment."? It still looks the same to me. Unless you really think adding a start button makes a difference? Most of the changes affect the "modern ui." Booting to desktop is huge IMO, particularly in the enterprise. More granular Snap views and MS demonstrating how to design better Modern UI apps and their snap views will make working with Modern UI apps alongside the desktop much more pleasant and productive? Those are just two, I haven't spent that much time with 8.1, I'm sure there's going to be more. Oh, all the in-app searches removing all that full-screen search. And unified search results. It won't "interact" with the desktop, but it will play better with it. There's only a few major annoyances in which the Modern UI interrupts the desktop experience and I think they have them covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REM2000 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 people may have there difference of opinion when it comes to the products put out, they sell reasonably well, some sell incredibly well. For me Steve Ballmer had to go for basically making Microsoft one giant internal fight. Each team fought the other, each team convinced they were better than the other, it's the reason why Office is not as touch friendly as it could be on Windows 8. Ballmers job was to bring the company into one whole, a company where all of it's products and services would flow together into a tight integrated stack. Why is the integration of Skydrive only happening now in Windows 8 it should have been there ages ago in Windows 7. we all know that Microsoft has some incredibly talented people, instead of bringing them together to face the competition from apple and Google all he done was bring i stacking and make Microsoft fight itself while Google and Apple move ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sszecret Veteran Posted August 26, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 26, 2013 (edited) I would actually read Ballmer's. Sinofsky, not a chance. Well, Sinfosky did co-write a book, with Marco Iansiti. http://www.amazon.com/One-Strategy-Organization-Planning-Decision/dp/0470560452 If he was back then anything like people have described him, he probably "reimagined" co-authoring and wrote the entire book himself, in one long blog post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anibal P Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 How will 8.1 "play much better with the Desktop Environment."? It still looks the same to me. Unless you really think adding a start button makes a difference? Most of the changes affect the "modern ui." Win8 and 8.1 great once you get past all the irrational hate of change that permeates around here 8.1 just polishes and enhances the already solid base that was originally created Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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