Submission + - Head of Vista, Jim Allchin: "I would buy a Mac
moonbirds writes: ComputerWorld is reporting that Windows Vista Chief, Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's Platforms and Services division wrote in a 2004 e-mail to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer that "he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft." The e-mail was presented as evidence late last week in the Iowa antitrust trial, Comes v. Microsoft Corp. As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from Allchin and other Microsoft executives. Ironically, Allchin himself is quoted in two internal memos directing employees to get rid of all e-mails after 30 days. "This is not something you get to decide," he wrote on Jan. 23, 2000. "This is company policy. Do not think this is something that only applies to a few people. Do not think it will be okay if I do this, it hasn't caused any problems so far. Do not archive your mail. Do not be foolish. 30 days." Iowa's counsel also presented evidence designed to show that an ostensibly charitable program from Microsoft for developing countries and schools was actually designed to ensure that Windows remained preinstalled on PCs to discourage competition from the open-source Linux operating system. The so-called Education Government Incentive (or EDGI) program, appears "to be based on Microsoft generosity, but in fact the program is intended only for use where Linux is a threat," according to Roxanne Conlin, co-counsel for Iowa.
