Microsoft confirmed today that Mike Nash is leaving the company. The longtime Microsoft executive worked most recently as corporate vice president in charge of Windows 7 platform strategy.

But here's the interesting part: Nash is going to Amazon.com to work on the Kindle, as reported by Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet. We're hearing the same thing, independently, and we've contacted Amazon to find out more about Nash's new role.

"We can confirm that Mike Nash is leaving Microsoft in a couple weeks," Microsoft said in a statement. "In his 19 years, Mike made an impact in number of key roles at the company. We appreciate his service and wish him well."

Nash would be joining the Kindle team at a pivotal moment, as Amazon.com prepares to compete with Apple's iPad and an onslaught of smaller players in the e-reader business. At the same time, Nash is familiar with the Kindle business through his Microsoft role, having been quoted in the news release announcing Amazon's Kindle software for Windows PCs.

He is the second high-ranking Windows executive to leave Microsoft in recent weeks, following the news that Bill Veghte, the former Windows sales and marketing senior vice president, would be looking for a job elsewhere after exploring other opportunities inside the company.