RUMOR CENTRAL.

The article presents information about a rumor with regard to software firms Microsoft Corp. and Intel Inc. The relationship between Intel and Microsoft has been on shaky ground since it was announced that the former will use Opteron-based servers from software firm Hewlett-Packard Co. in all its Microsoft Technology Centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The news particularly riled Intel execs because the vendor could have accommodated Microsoft with its new Xeon chips with the same 64-bit capability as the Opteron. Intel executives complained to Microsoft, reportedly taking their case to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft veteran David Weise has parted ways with the company. Weise is lauded as having been essential to the success of Windows 3.0. He, along with Nathan Myhrvold, was a founder of Dynamical Systems Research, which Microsoft bought in 1986. From there, Weise helped Microsoft think outside the OS/2 box and run Windows apps in protected mode. He then broke through DOS' 640KB memory limit and ran multiple DOS apps in virtual x86 machines, thus abetting Redmond's world domination. Weise will return to his roots in molecular biology.