HP to Microsoft: Thanks for Nothing - Page 2

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For his part, Allchin hit the ceiling over the changes to the Vista Capable standards, which were made in his absence.

"I am beyond being upset here. This was totally mismanaged by Intel and Microsoft. What a mess. Now we have an upset partner, Microsoft destroyed credibility, as well as my own credibility shot," Allchin said in an e-mail to CEO Steve Ballmer.

An e-mail from Ballmer in response to Allchin's message appears to beg off on any responsibility.

"I had nothing to do with this. Will [Poole – at the time senior vice president of the Microsoft market expansion group] handled everything," Ballmer replied. "You [sic] better get Will under control thanks," he closed.

Although Allchin, according to the e-mails, tried to get the Intel decision rescinded, he was unsuccessful. Both Allchin and Poole are long gone from Microsoft at this point.

In an earlier filing, also unsealed last week, the lawsuit plaintiffs allege that, in order to make it up to HP, Microsoft kicked in an extra $7 million in marketing funds meant to offset $6.8 million HP had spent working on device drivers for Vista.

The documents were unsealed as part of ongoing discovery in the lawsuit which is being tried in Seattle. The trial, which was postponed from October, is currently scheduled to start April 13, 2009, according to a Microsoft spokesperson.