Microsoft has lost another blogging voice. Niall Kennedy, who joined the company in April, is leaving after less than four months. Why? Kennedy, who was working on incorporating blog-friendly RSS technology into Microsoft's Windows Live online tools, blames the company's "general paralysis." Wall Street's harsh reaction to Microsoft's increased spending on the Web prompted a rethink of the company's strategy, according to Kennedy, and he was unable to hire anyone for his team.

"I could have stayed at Microsoft, waited for the other 85% of the company to ship their products, and then hoped that support for my group might be back on track again, but I didn't want to sit around doing little to nothing until Vista, Office, and Exchange ship," writes Kennedy. "It's easier to get funding outside Microsoft than inside at the moment, so I am stepping out and doing my own thing."

A harsh indictment of his former employer, perhaps. But assuming this isn't the first time such a scenario has taken place -- Wall Street hiccups and Microsoft management panics, reorganizes, and puts a freeze on new initiatives -- it's also a telling explanation as to why Microsoft has been so slow to embrace the Internet's opportunities.