CNN Money has a post-resignation interview with Ed Fries that looks a bit more deeply than most about why Fries is leaving Microsoft just as details for the Xbox 2 and (hopefully) the release of Halo 2 are right around the corner:

"We're kind of at the point in the project that you have to decide 'are you going to sign up for another five years for the next version or not'," he said. "That's just the natural point to look back at it and ask 'Is this what I want to do? Is everything how I want it to be?'"

The departure comes after months of discussions between Fries and Bach. Fries said the company offered to change his job responsibilities in order to convince him to stay, but the two parties could not reach an agreement.

"For me, I'm looking for a situation where I have a lot of freedom around the development of our products and the way those products come to market," he said. "I've had some of that to date, but not as much as I would like."

Thanks Shacknews.