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Stuart Scott received very abrupt walking papers from Microsoft, losing his position as corporate vice-president and chief information officer. Little information has emerged about the swift departure of Scott from Microsoft's command structure.

Mary Jo Foley posted a compact statement from Microsoft regarding Scott's firing: "We can confirm that Stuart Scott was terminated after an investigation for violation of company policies , and have no further information to share."

Given the dramatically quick nature of Scott's dismissal, certain speculation has been raised. Valleywag cited a tipster's claim that Scott and a female VP reporting to him both took emergency family leave at the same time, suggesting an affair was taking place.

Valleywag also recalled the departure of Martin Taylor, a Microsoft executive who was out of the company a day after the debut of Windows Live Messenger, which he had a role in promoting.

Owen Wilson at Valleywag picked up on a tip about Taylor, which claimed he not only enjoyed an affair with a co-worker, but charged his weekend hotel trysts back to the company.

Yet lengthy delays in getting the Vista operating system to market, and Microsoft's need to acquiesce to OEM demands that they be allowed to continue offering Windows XP to customers, hasn't resulted in anyone being fired in the lofty peaks of the corporate apparatus.