Taylor, a 13-year company veteran who led Microsoft's "Get the Facts" anti-Linux crusade for several years, was named in March as a corporate vice president overseeing the marketing push for Windows Live services.
Before he led the "Get the Facts" campaign, Taylor served as director of business strategy, working directly for Ballmer on various strategic projects and on long-term planning for the corporation. Prior to that, he spent more than two years as general manager of Microsoft's Caribbean unit.
"We've made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don't comment on personnel matters," Microsoft said in a statement. "We appreciate Martin's contributions at Microsoft over the past 13 years."
Taylor could not immediately be reached for comment. His departure was reported earlier Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal on its Web site.
Highlighting the abruptness of the departure, the Journal noted that Taylor had been quoted Monday in a press release announcing Windows Live Messenger, the new version of Microsoft's instant messaging software.
