Steven Sinofsky, the man who supervised the development of Windows 7 and Windows 8, left Microsoft almost immediately following 8's release. When someone of his rank and 23-year tenure leaves the company, lawyers make sure it is . Just a few days ago, an SEC filing publishes the terms of his resignation; inside baseball, but might be worthwhile at least for some of our viewers.

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We assumed, but just recently had confirmed, that Sinofsky is currently unable to compete with Microsoft via terms of his former employment contract. This means that, until December 31st of this year, he will be unable to:

  • Work for a Microsoft competitor
  • Disparage Microsoft
  • Sway customers to competing products
  • Headhunt Microsoft employees or otherwise encourage them to quit

Sinofsky will also be immune to legal action as a result of any events, if they should ever arise, which relate to his employment at Microsoft. This is likely no more than a typical formality. He is not wholly decoupled from Microsoft litigation, however, as he will continue "assisting with intellectual property litigation until January 1, 2017".

As final compensation, Sinofsky will receive outstanding shares prior to Fiscal Year 2013 and half of those awarded FY2013. These 418,361 shares are estimated at about $14.2 million and will arrive, over time, between now and August 2016.

He is currently teaching at Harvard Business School.