The company that brought you classics like Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 is making a move that doesn't bode well for future breakthroughs: according to canned employees, its R&D lab in Silicon Valley is closing.

Reports of the shutdown came via its employees, caught in what will only be the first part of Microsoft's 18,000 employee contraction:

Among other projects, the Silicon Valley lab served as home base for Leslie Lamport, an eminent computer scientist who earned a Turing Award last year. For a company that fumbled its last major product release and is struggling with its image of severe staleness, firing a bunch of tremendously smart and creative people seems misguided. But hey—at least they own Minecraft!