Charlie Kindel to leave Microsoft after 21 years

Aug 8, 2011 9:34 am by Kip Kniskern | 5 comments

Charlie Kindel, known to most of us through Windows Home Server and later Windows Phone, is leaving the company after 21 years, to start his own company.  Apparently, as Ed Bott says, he’s “slashdotted himself” in the process, as his blog and the blog post announcing his departure are currently unreachable, but WPCentral lists some of his accomplishments:

• Founded Premier support
• Built ActiveX and DCOM
• Shipped Internet Explorer 3.0
• Drove the development of the home networking features in Windows XP
• Founded eHome and shipped the first version of Windows Media Center
• Drove the invention of Windows Smart Displays and Windows Media Center Extenders
• Served Bob Muglia as executive technical assistant as he ran the Enterprise Storage business through to him running the Server and Tools Division.
• Was the driving force behind Windows Home Server.
• Led the design and development of the Windows Phone 7 Application Platform.
• Drove the Windows Phone 7 application platform ecosystem development and evangelism effort.

Charlie will be working in “stealth mode” for the time being, but he left a few hints about the new company, quoted by Tim Anderson:

Charlie will be staying in the Seattle area building a new tech company. The new company will be in stealth mode initially but involves advertising, mobile, cloud computing, and youth athletics.

Good luck, Charlie, we’re going to miss you!

update: Charlie talked to Todd Bishop at GeekWire about his departure, his love for Windows Phone, their readiness for the road ahead, and a bit more (not much) on what he’ll be doing next.

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