So, just a few months after starting his job as head of Project Kangaroo, a British commercial TV equivalent to the all-conquering iPlayer, former BBC director Ashley Highfield is leaving to join Microsoft.

Highfield has cut a controversial figure during his career - admired by many for his political nous while disliked by others for his inability to get projects launched. The cornerstone of his career, the BBC, was plagued by such troubles: even the eventual success of the iPlayer only happened when the Beeb hired Anthony Rose to spearhead development of a Flash-based version of the app.

Leaving aside the question of how the move affects Microsoft, where does Highfield's departure leave Kangaroo? The answer is, probably, not much further on than when he started (things are on hold pending an investigation by the Competition Commission). The major difference will most likely be the large chunk of cash that's gone to pay his salary for the last six months.

Immediate reaction to the news seemed to vary as wildly as Highfield's reputation. It ranged from the adulatory - one blog called him a UK internet visionary - through the cordial, and then to the angry: internet pundit Clay Shirky said hearing the news made him want to spew.

I'm still digesting what it means and how it came about, but one thing's certain: moving to Microsoft isn't going to change the way people react to him.

Update: Regular contributor Tim Anderson points out that the adulatory is blog I referenced above is actually written by a pair of Microsoft employees (and two others). So we'll put that excitable phrasing down to office politics.