Its public news now that Jim Allchin is on his way out the door along side MSFT's next operating system release named Vista (Longhorn).  When Vista ships, so does Allchin.

During my many years in the IT industry I have never known of any single executive to be so in-touch with the product that they are trying to sell.  We all will be at a loss when he walks out the door for the last time.

His amazing insight into the very heart of the platform is, at times, scary.  When speaking to a technical crowd he always gains the utmost respect and confidence out of everyone because of this knack that he has. 

I truly believe that he had a profound impact on all tech geeks that had an opportunity to hear him present, especially as an executive for MSFT.  He brought a sense of deep technical validity to the table which we could pick up on and trust.

I never had the chance to actually meet the guy face to face and would love to have the oppotunity to do so.  Maybe during the MVP summit next year, if it happens before the release I will track him down, shake his and and tell him thanks.

1 Comment

• Jason Alexander said Thursday, November 3, 2005 1:11:00 PM

  I'm with ya there, man. Jim (ya know, because we're on a first name basis *roll my eyes*) really knows his stuff, and it's obvious when you see him speak.
  
  I was really not impressed with that "Co-VP" that spoke at the MVP summit that had no answers and was more of a Marketing guy. Very scary that he looks to be the man in the driver's seat when Jim is gone.
  
  It will be interesting to see where Jim goes to from here (if anywhere, I suppose). Incredibly smart man.