Visual Studio Development Head Rick Laplante Leaves Microsoft

LaPlante, who is currently on an extended vacation, is leaving to pursue personal interests, according to Microsoft. When he returns, he will spend several months working on the VSTS transition with Kass, who starts his new job in June.

LaPlante's move comes at a transitional point for his group, which shipped VSTS in November after six years of development. The release marked a new approach by Microsoft for its Visual Studio tools, emphasizing the different roleslike developer, architect, tester and project managerinvolved in software development projects. In March, Microsoft released the last major component of VSTS, Team Foundation Server. Microsoft plans to continue adding role-specific editions to the VSTS lineup, though which specific roles will be tackled next remains undecided. In an interview last month, LaPlante said his team would take a bit of a breather and then dive into the project of drawing up the next set of VSTS development road maps.