They parted ways for their own reasons which need not be obvous.

It could be that AMD doesn't need the guys expensive services now that all is left to do is to show the damn chip...

"Like a scared turtle, AMD has tucked head in shell and refuses to use any form of communication to discuss the Richard situation with us."

And why should they share the info with you? Maybe it was just internal politics. Maybe someone didn't like him and it finally just happened. Maybe he got in trouble or maybe he has family issues.

Regardless, your dripping sarcasm is uncalled for. And unprofessional. How about: "Currently, AMD has chosen not to comment on the resignation of Rhichards." Says everything you said but in a professional manner.

And no, this doesn't have anything to do with being an AMD or Intel fanboy. Just annoyed at this ridiculous comment.

Must Try harder

I'd say something about the time of the month, but really, I think it's just El Reg reporters trying to one-up each other with their little digs at the people in the news.

There's really f*ck-all news in this story without the snide remarks.

Personal opinion in comment allows for a more focussed look at what was likely to have caused the comment/story....the Root Cause .... of a soft hands and Ferrari departure.

A Step up into a New Beta Venture with Processor Knowledge Input [ We're told Richard will go to a company "outside of the PC industry."] or down into Present Pastures and a Pause/Rest/Retirement?

These new SMARTer Multi Core HyperThreading Chips can maybe Think for themselves faster than is Humanly Possible and thus, as All Global Information is Fed into the Computer Communications Network which Creates Virtual Space for Real as an InterNetworking Tool for Web/Semantic Web dDevelopers, will it be possible for a more Universal Intelligence lead for Humanity if ITs Intelligence Services were to be Artificially Advanced...... with a Simple Lead driven by Interest.

Which sounds very much like a Valid and Viable ActiveXXXXDriver too........ which suggests that with the right ChipSet you can capture the Operating System and give it Beta Direction.

AI Crack Core Code ... and for All Binary Based Systems.

Which would also Render a Global Control Facility to Use and Abuse with whatever took your Fancy.

And on that thought, I'll ponder a while...... for there is so much to Fancy.

Although, given that the Future is in Virtualisation, "outside of the PC industry" is a less than stellar path, which does sort of require that AMD produce a new Star 42 Sparc and sparkle.

Do you think, there is a mirror of the Nuclear Industry, where Certain Knowledge is best kept protected from Abuse because of the Destruction in its Use, for is there not a Similarity [towards Singularity?] in the Binary Field of Play, where a few lines of Addictive Crack Code fed in at Source/Resource/Driver Levels can render Proxy Control? A Covert Anonymous Control for Ease of Maintenance.

You people must be new to the vulture. Either that or fucking gullible.

Ashlee - I was beginning to get worried about FotW getting boring but between Apple, Google, AMD, Microsoft and drug-addled celebrities the Reg has really had a chance to, ah, for lack of a better word, troll the wire for some great stories.

Wow wrote: "Regardless, your dripping sarcasm is uncalled for. "

This is The Register, dripping sarcasm is always call for. Its the site's bread and butter, or rather bread and dripping.

It's the semiconductor industry...when the hell COULD Richard resign or be terminated and not have it be within a few months of a "major chip introduction"?!?!?! If it wasn't before Barcelona, it would be before Diego Garcia, if not that, then before Oslo, or Marrakkesh, or Lebanon, or Naples...it's an endless revolving door of new product launches. That's the industry that we love, and one of the reasons we love it.

And the personal comments on Richard's style just blow ANY attempt to construct a logical connection between his departure and AMD's challenges in the industry to shreds. Muckraking journalism at it's very finest, Ashlee...all we know is you, your friends, and friends of your friends don't like Richard...and have been close enough to know how his hands smell in great detail. Not the mental image I need over my coffee this morning.

... between the amount of newsworthy content in a story, and the length of the martian response?

The comment about "great smelling hands" was a bit abusive of my oh-so-delicate sensibilities. The only thing that could have taken me to greater heights of risen gorge was reference to the olfactory qualities of other body parts and muscle groups of the worthy in question.

I know that Sillycon Valley is a relatively small and close knit community, Ashleeeeee, but there are limits to disclosure, you know?

What next can we expect to read from you, the aroma of Carl Sassenrath's 10-year-old Wolverines? In 20 lines or less of REBOL?

Yeesh.

I beleive Richard at AMD is seeing what is really ahead- Intel and Apple are WAY ahead in the race for computer dominance and the latest offerings by AMD just aren't going to "cut the mustard" with the issues at hand with good old AMD- grabbing market share gains! Either way it goes, time will truly dictate all of what we assume or think about the posting by Ashlee. Besides, who cares? It's all going to come out in the wash with who has the best offering, who can bring the best chip to the table and by the buying public- whether it's big/small business.

I can agree with much of the posts here in this thread though- I don't want to know WHAT Richard did as for as his resigning his position goes (poor product design, seizure ridden house cat, thrown rod in his fast car, etc.), but in the case of supporters of AMD- I want to know if I will have a job to look forward to in the upcoming days/months/years or if the chip they offer will relly make my computer main-frame work better than the other offerings available.