Head of Windows leaves company only weeks after launch of Windows 8

The Microsoft executive in charge of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, has left the company, The Verge reports.

With Sinofsky's departure Julie Larson-Green will assume control of Windows software and hardware engineering while Microsoft CFO Tami Reller will be in charge of the windows business.

Sinofsky issued the following statement:

It is impossible to count the blessings I have received over my years at Microsoft. I am humbled by the professionalism and generosity of everyone I have had the good fortune to work with at this awesome company.

The Verge reports that Sinofsky's abrupt departure has nothing to do with the launch of Windows 8 or the Surface, but is a result of personality clashes within the company.

Sources within Microsoft told The Verge that Sinofsky was "abrasive and off-putting, aggressively maintaining his control over products and putting up roadblocks for products that would have any potential to diminish the Windows (and therefore his) power."

Other sources within Microsoft told The Verge Sinofsky was not a team player and other senior executives within the company were unwilling to work with him.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer issued the following statement to Microsoft employees on Sinofsky's departure:

As we enter this new era, and with the successful launch of Windows 8 and Surface behind us, Steven Sinofsky has decided to leave the company. Steven joined Microsoft in 1989 as a software development engineer and has contributed to the company in many ways from his work as a technical advisor to Bill Gates, to leading the evolution of the Microsoft Office business, to his direction and successful leadership of Windows and Windows Live as well as Surface.