Microsoft ousts Windows boss Sinofsky in executive shakeup

Microsoft has announced an executive shakeup which will see Steven Sinofsky, its head of Windows and Windows Live operations, leave the company with immediate effect.

The company said that Sinofsky has stepped down from his role as president of both its Windows brands. He will be leaving the company in the wake of the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms.

"I am grateful for the many years of work that [Sinofsky] has contributed to the company," said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

"The products and services we have delivered to the market in the past few months mark the launch of a new era at Microsoft."

Taking over for Sinofsky will be Julie-Larson Green, who will take over direction of all Microsoft's Windows-branded hardware and software engineering. Additionally, the company named Tami Reller as the head of Windows business strategy.

Microsoft said that Larson-Green had worked on the Windows 7 and Windows 8 development cycles overseeing program management and user interface design. She has worked with the company since 1993. Reller has worked with Microsoft since 2001 and has been part of the Windows team since 2007.

Microsoft said that both will report directly to Ballmer in their new capacities.

"We've built an incredible foundation with new releases of Microsoft Office, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Microsoft Surface, Windows Server 2012 and 'Halo 4,' and great integration of services such as Bing, Skype and Xbox across all our products," Ballmer said.

"To continue this success it is imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings."