News
Valentine Leaves Microsoft
Brian Valentine, a fixture in Microsoft's management team for nearly 20 years, has left the company to join Amazon.com.
Valentine's departure was reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times on Tuesday. The move was confirmed by a Microsoft spokesperson, according to the papers, saying only that he was leaving to work for the Seattle-based e-tailer.
A recent senior-level reorganization within Microsoft may have been a sign of Valentine's pending departure. In early August, he was replaced in his role as senior vice president of the Windows Core Operating System Division (COSD).
A company press release at the time said he would begin to transition to a new, as-yet-unannounced, role elsewhere in the company once Windows Vista ships. Valentine, a 17-year company veteran, had been in charge of Windows for the past eight years, according to his Microsoft biography, which is no longer on Microsoft's corporate Web site.
Company spokespeople had not returned calls for comment by publication time.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.