Steven Sinofsky: Other reasons why he left Microsoft

on Microsoft, Sinofsky, Windows8

The news of Steven Sinofsky leaving Microsoft is a week old now. However since then I’ve been thinking about some possible reasons why he actually left and whether there could be another reason despite what’s been speculated by many last week. I think I’ve found one and below are my thoughts on this. The way Sinofsky’s departure was handled would certainly indicate that there were a lot of internal politics involved. If you’ve read some of the articles from last week you will know that many people noted that he is a difficult person to…

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Microsoft Leadership Changes: Goodbye Sinofsky

on Microsoft, Sinofsky

By now you will have probably heard that Steven Sinofsky has decided to leave Microsoft after being with the company since 1989. Without knowing much about what happens within the teams at Microsoft I must admit I was very surprised at hearing this news especially with all the recent product launches at the company that were lead by Sinofsky. However tech blogger Mary Jo Foley seems to be one of those not surprised by the news and in fact seems pleased with Sinofsky’s departure. Update: "Some might notice a bit of chatter speculating about this decision or timing.I…

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Microsoft Surface: Review & why I decided to buy one

on Microsoft, Surface

So by now you are probably aware the Microsoft Surface has become available for purchase in several countries and many have already gotten their hands on one – including myself! There is already a whole heap of content out there reviewing the device itself and showing videos …etc. of how to use and operate it. Rather than tell you much of the same which you can find online I have decided to take a different approach in this post. There are several reviews on Surface out there but you will find extensive coverage about the Surface on Paul Thurrot’s WinSuperSite…

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Windows 8–Why the Start button and menu are gone

on Microsoft, Windows8

With the public release a few days ago many users may – or probably will – be frustrated when they find that in the Desktop mode there is no longer a Start button or menu. The start button has long been a subject of discussion/criticism from a usability point of view and has had minor changes over the years. With the introduction of the live tile screen in Windows 8 and the removal of the start menu from the Desktop view it’s time to step back and think of why Microsoft have gone with this approach and specifically why is…

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Breaking up Microsoft

on Business, Microsoft

In my previous post, Microsoft’s new logo: The hidden mesage, I mentioned what I called Microsoft’s hidden message in the new logo where I noted that I believe they are trying to send out a message that they are changing. There’s no doubt that that is the case given Steve Ballmer’s recent letter. As most of you will agree Microsoft is now trying to focus more on reaching out to consumers in addition to being a business focused company and one of the things I talked about in my previous post about their logo change is…

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First time to Tech.Ed? Read these tips

on Microsoft, AuTechEd

So tomorrow I’m going to be at Tech Ed Australia 2012 in the Gold Coast. This year is my fourth time at Tech Ed and while not even close in count to some other people I know I feel that I’ve been there enough times to know my way around. As a result I thought I’d share some tips on how I think you can make the most of the event. Hopefully you find these useful. If you’ve been to Tech Ed before and are reading this post please share your tips too in the comments.…

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Visual Studio 2012: New Features

on .NET, VisualStudio 2012

 So you will have probably heard that Visual Studio 2012 has been released to manufacturing earlier this month. With that announcement I thought I’d write up a quick post highlighting some of the new features in Visual Studio 2012 that I like. 1) Opening solution files between Visual Studio 2012 & Visual Studio 2010 without conversion If you have a Visual Studio Solution file that was created in Visual Studio 2010 you can open and modify the same solution in Visual Studio 2012 without having to upgrade your projects which means you can go back and forward between the…

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Microsoft's new Logo: The hidden message

on Microsoft

So you may have recently heard that Microsoft today has unveiled a new logo for the company and you might be thinking – new logo, what’s the big deal? – on the surface it might seem like a simple change that’s irrelevant but is it? Maybe, and maybe not. As you can see from the search results, as with anything else, some will like it and some wont. To dig a bit deeper I think one should ask: What’s in a logo – brand –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand? So from the link one of the things noted about…

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Fixing your BlogEngine.NET theme in Windows Live Writer

on BlogEngine, Blogging

If you’re using Windows Live Writer with a custom designed theme the blog theme template sometimes doesn’t work correctly. I’ve had this issue a while back and just fiddling around I accidently got it working but wasn’t sure of the steps I followed at the time. Among the things I tried – which didn’t work for me – were using the ThemeFixer tool which you can grab from https://blogs.msdn.com/b/brandonturner/archive/2009/08/16/broken-theme-in-windows-live-writer-you-can-fix-it.aspx. After upgrading to Windows 8 and installing Windows Live Writer again I started having the same issues…

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Ballmer’s baby – Time to let it grow

on Ballmer, Microsoft

So I recently came across the article How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo: Steve Ballmer and Corporate America’s Most Spectacular Decline. After reading the article I’ve been thinking how things can change at Microsoft and I think it is probably time for Ballmer to step aside from the CEO post. As per the comments in the article since Ballmer joined Microsoft back in 1980 he was there to be the ‘business’ guy, doing the deals, sales …etc. That’s all well and good, and he has obviously done well over the years but as per common opinions today Microsoft…

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