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To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (21653)	11/23/1998 12:38:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Dan - HP apparently caved to the MSFT pressure on the 'windows experience' while CPQ did not. After CPQ put products out with a 'non'compliant' startup sequence, GTW, Micron and others followed suit, and now HP also. There is no question that Kempin and the OEM crew were attempting to pressure the OEMs on this, but it amazes me that a company the size of HP would fold so easily, this is a kind of 'may I kiss your ring' letter from a senior HP executive to a guy 2 levels down from Kempin in the organization. Compare that to CPQ, where the interface with MSFT on contracts is 3 reports down from EP. It's no wonder HP is losing in the PC space with guys like this at the helm. BTW I heard from a fairly senior manager at MSFT that it is a 'no-no' to schedule any meeting where both Kempin and Ballmer are invited - if that happens Kempin is inevitably "too busy to attend". This guy says that Ballmer has been only minimally tolerant of Kempin for many years, but that Kempin has Bill's protection from the usual Ballmer devastation. He also says that Ballmer is openly sarcastic and caustic about Kempin's 'success' in the company. I wonder if Kempin will be a casualty of the DOJ case - he certainly seems to be the one who comes up with the most poorly thought out and least defensible tactics.