14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been a tough week for Microsoft, as Steven Sinofsky, head of the Windows division, decided to leave the company “to seek new opportunities,” as he said in the goodbye letter sent to Microsoft’s employees.
Microsoft is yet to unveil the official reason behind his departure, but it appears that the growing tension between Sinofsky and the other Microsoft execs, as well as the disappointing Windows 8 sales performance, were equally important in Ballmer’s decision to hire a new Windows chief.
On Monday, it has emerged that an issue in Microsoft’s SkyDrive sent 2 million NULL characters to all Opera browsers, which obviously resulted in an imminent crash. In addition, Microsoft’s Surface has already reached the UAE, but only on the grey market, and is now sold at ridiculous prices.
Steven Sinofsky officially left Microsoft a few hours later, while rumors released in the media have hinted that it all happened because of the growing tension between him and Ballmer.
Microsoft officially released Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 preview on Patch Tuesday, alongside security updates for Windows 8 and other software. What’s more, Microsoft said that IE 10 on Windows 7 is “stellar,” so it’s no wonder that iPad users are really impressed with this browser.
A critical Skype security flaw that could allow hackers get into any account in a few seconds was discovered on Wednesday, so Microsoft’s programmers had no other choice than to disable the password reset option. During the same day, our users have reported the first IE 10 for Windows 7 bugs.
On Thursday, CEO Steve Ballmer described Android as a “wild” operating system, while analysts emphasized that secrecy could actually be the thing that could kill Microsoft completely. A developer revealed that Chrome is 22 times faster than IE 10, while some DirectX 11.1 features have been released on Windows 7.
Microsoft rolled out an Office 2013 60-day trial on Friday, while an analysts explained in a statement that IE’s “Do Not Track” option threatens the free Internet. Windows 8 officially became more popular than Linux a few hours later, according to StatCounter figures.
If you’d like to boot directly to desktop in Windows 8, we’ve also created a step-by-step guide for you available here.
P.S.: Microsoft has admitted on Saturday that Windows 8’s sales performance is disappointing. More info here.