It seems that long-time Microsoft designer J Allard has left the company after having differences of opinion with the company’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, over the dual-screened Courier tablet project.

These leaked shots may be all we ever see of the Courier

For those unfamiliar with Allard’s work, he was head of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, and often seen as the father of the first Xbox, a device that Microsoft has capitalised on very well, moving from an outsider to a significant portion of the market within two console generations. Now though, word comes from ZDNet that Allard has left the company, ostensibly on a sabbatical, but noting that the rumblings from within Microsoft indicate that he may not return to the company.

The nexus of contention around which Allard and Ballmer seem to have circled is the company’s long known about, though never officially announced, Courier project. For those who haven’t seen it, the Courier is a two-screened tablet device, which opens like a book. One display was to be based on e-Ink technology, and essentially function as an ebook reader. The other was to boast stylus-based touch-screen control, an area in which Microsoft is very capable indeed.

While many were looking forward to the Courier, with many specifically pointing out that it offered an awful lot of functionality that Apple’s iPad doesn’t boast, it seems that the sentiment within Microsoft itself was a little less positive, and the project has been cancelled, though Microsoft has been quick to point out that it’s likely we’ll see the research done by the Courier project turn up in other places.

For the moment, this is all filed strictly under rumour, but given the fact that ZDNet tends to do fairly well on its Microsoft coverage, we wouldn’t be too surprised to see Allard leave Microsoft.