Microsoft’s Jim Allchin Explains Why He Said He’d Buy a Mac

An e-mail sent in 2004 from Jim Allchin, Microsoft’s Windows chief, to company Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates in which he stated that he’d buy a Mac if he weren’t employed by the software giant was recently revealed as evidence in an antitrust suit filed against Microsoft in Iowa, Computerworld.com reports.

In the 2004 e-mail, Allchin explained how he thought the Redmond, Wash.-based firm had lost its direction, and that its connection with its customers was losing strength.

“I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems our customers face are,” the e-mail reads, according to Computerworld. He then went on to say that these issues would lead him to purchase an Apple Computer Mac were he not under the employ of Microsoft, Computerworld reports.

Early this week, the Web was abuzz with commentary on the e-mail from Microsoft’s Platform and Services division president, and Allchin himself on Tuesday responded with a blog post on the subject titled “Setting the Record Straight.”

In the post, Allchin stressed that his past comments should not be taken out of context, and that he was purposely being “dramatic to drive home a point.” He said the message was sent to Ballmer and Gates to express his opinion that Microsoft was desperately in need of a change. And according to Allchin, the company responded and made the changes of which he wrote.

“2-and-1/2 years later, Windows Vista has turned into a phenomenal product, better than any other OS we’ve ever built and far, far better than any other software available today, in my opinion,” Allchin wrote.

Allchin plans to retire at the end of 2006, according to Computerworld.

Related Links:

• Windows vs. Linux vs. OS X

• Microsoft Windows Vista: The OS Has Landed

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.