[quote_right]“I am grateful for the many years of work that Steven has contributed to the company” — Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft[/quote_right]Just weeks after appearing on stage during the launch of the Surface tablet and Windows 8, AllThingsD has confirmed that Steven Sinofsky, who served as the head of Windows at Microsoft, is leaving the company.

“Microsoft Corp. today announced that Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky will be leaving the company and that Julie Larson-Green will be promoted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering. Tami Reller retains her roles as chief financial officer and chief marketing officer and will assume responsibility for the business of Windows. Both executives will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.”

The move is effective immediately and is said to be related to growing tension between Sinofsky and other corporate executives at Microsoft; interestingly, Apple ousted former head of iOS Scott Forstall less than a month ago based on similar reasons. Sinofsky was viewed as a highly intelligent individual, but his inability to be a team player within Microsoft was reportedly problematic.

“I am grateful for the many years of work that Steven has contributed to the company,” CEO Steve Ballmer said. “The products and services we have delivered to the market in the past few months mark the launch of a new era at Microsoft. 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. 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.”

Sinofsky will not be replaced by a single individual, but rather by two of his top deputies. Julie Larson-Green is tasked with the engineering aspect of Windows, while Tami Reller will control the business side of Windows. Sinofsky joined Microsoft as a software design engineer over twenty years ago, becoming president of the Windows division in 2009. Sinofsky played an integral role in the release of Windows 7, a significant improvement over the dark days of Windows Vista. Sinofsky praised Microsoft in a statement for all it has done for him over the past two-plus decades.

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

[AllThingsD]