Christopher Payne, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Live Search, has announced his intention to leave the company.  Although details are fairly sketchy, Payne has said he plans to a create a non-search related technology firm in the Seattle area.  No replacement has been named and the company says Payne is leaving for personal reasons.

You could look at this from two perspectives.

On one hand, it doesn't say a lot about Microsoft's Live Search product when the guy who runs the show decides he'd rather leave and do something else.  People don't leave jobs they enjoy.  And people don't leave jobs that they think will become successful.  I won't pretend to know the inner workings of Payne's mind - of the inner works of Microsoft - but it just doesn't say positive things.

On the other hand, this could be just want Live Search needs.  A breath of fresh air could be just what the doctor ordered.  Since Payne took over, Live Search has suffered.  I'm not saying that's necessarily his fault.  But sometimes change is the best way to get the ball moving again.