Windows 2000 guru leaves Microsoft

Microsoft has been left without a Windows 2000 Server strategist following the resignation of the software giant's vice-president of Windows Server marketing.

The reported departure of Jim Ewel, a 12-year Microsoft veteran, follows his internally announced intention in November to retire, according to sources. It is the latest in a line of resignations by senior Microsoft executives in the past few months, including that of Paul Maritz, Windows group vice-president.

Ewel joined the Redmond giant in 1989 as an enterprise sales manager and worked as SQL Server group product manager. He was a dominant force in the launches of both Windows NT Server 3.5 and 3.51. Microsoft has removed Ewel's biography page from its corporate website.

Group vice-president Jim Allchin, who returned from a several-month sabbatical in September, will continue to oversee Windows development.

Ewel's departure follows that of 17-year Microsoft veteran Joachim Kimpin, who was formerly in charge of managing relations with the software company's largest PC hardware partners.

Other recent departures include chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold, who failed to return after a 12-month sabbatical, and Brad Silverberg, who led the development of Windows 95 and Internet Explorer.

Microsoft is expected to detail sales figures for Windows 2000 when it announces its fiscal second-quarter earnings on 18 January. In December, the company warned that both its fiscal second-quarter and year 2001 sales would fall short of original estimates.