 Pfeiffer's permanent replacement was Michael Capellas, who had been serving as Compaq's CIO.Immediately after Pfeiffer's ouster, Capellas was elevated to interim chief operating officer by Rosen, and after several months Capellas was made President and CEO, also assuming the title of Chairman on September 28, 2000 when Rosen retired from the board of directors.Capellas was able to restore some of the luster lost in the latter part of the Pfeiffer era and he repaired the relationship with Microsoft which had deteriorated under his predecessor's tenure, but the company still struggled against lower-cost competitors such as Dell who took over the top spot of PC manufacturer from Compaq in 2001.