Categories: Microsoft

VMware's 'West Coast Offense'

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on January 12

VMware’s purchase of Yahoo’s Zimbra e-mail software shows how VMware, under a management team led by former Microsoft executives, continues to diversify in the face of competition from their former...

LinkedIn Boards the Twitter Train

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 09

These days, it seems that everyone wants to be pals with Twitter, the microblogging phenom. On the morning of Oct. 21, Microsoft announced a deal for its Bing search engine...

Screen Shots of The New MSN

Posted by: Peter Burrows on November 04

Microsoft unveiled a redesigned MSN.com homepage last night, as I wrote about in this story. Most of you probably aren't seeing it on your PCs, as Microsoft is rolling it...

Windows 7: The First Blue Screen

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on October 26

My main Windows 7 system, which has been rock solid since I installed the shipping version of the operating system in early August, presented me with my first Blue Screen...

Does Microsoft Have Its Mojo Back?

Posted by: Spencer Ante on October 23

Here is a clip of my appearance on CNBC Power Lunch today in which I hash over the state of Microsoft with CNBC anchors Dennis Kneale and Sue Herrera and...

Microsoft's "Seven Days of Windows 7" Promotion

Posted by: Peter Burrows on October 21

Attention, Would-Be Mac Shoppers: Check out these killer deals on Windows 7 PCs. Judging from this promotion, that just showed up on Best Buy's website, this is going to be...

LIVE: Microsoft Announces Twitter, Facebook Deals

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 21

UPDATE: Big news below: Microsoft has signed deals to get full feeds from Twitter and Facebook. Shortly, a dedicated beta site, bing.com/twitter, will have the ability to search full Twitter...

LIVE: Yahoo Beats Q3 Earnings Forecasts; Q4 Outlook Up

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 20

Yahoo managed to beat third-quarter profit forecasts easily on slightly higher-than-expected revenues. Shares rallied in after-hours trading by about 3% 6% (the higher number coming as the conference call proceeds)....

LIVE: Google Beats Q3 Earnings Expectations

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 15

Google beat third-quarter earnings expectations easily, posting a 7% rise in net revenues excluding payments to advertising partners, to $4.38 billion. Profit was $5.89 a share, handily beating forecasts. Google...

Search Ad Spending Improves--and Boosts Google Shares

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 12

Hit by the economy early this year, search advertising looks to be on the mend. For the second quarter in a row, two search marketing firms say U.S. spending on...

Matt Cutts: How Google Deals With Web Spam

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 04

It’s up to Matt Cutts and his team at Google to keep search results as free as possible from Web spam, those pages full of Viagra ads or even malware....

Google Search Guru Singhal: We Will Try Outlandish Ideas

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 02

Inside Google’s search quality group, Amit Singhal runs the core ranking team, which is responsible for those algorithms you hear so much about. The team ran some 6,000 experiments last...

Google's Udi Manber: Search Is About People, Not Just Data

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 01

Udi Manber, Google's vice-president of technology for core search, joined the company almost four years ago after stints running Amazon.com’s A9 search project and serving as chief scientist at Yahoo....

Can Google Stay On Top of the Web? An Inside Look

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 01

Google's search engine is often described as a black box thanks to the veil of secrecy the company places over the mathematical formulas that determine what results we see in...

Microsoft Security Essentials Update: Beta Now Closed

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on September 10

A good news, bad news update on Microsoft Security Essentials, which I wrote about in my current Tech & You column. The bad news is that the public beta test...

Interview: Google China's Kai-Fu Lee Debuts Innovation Works

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 06

Kai-Fu Lee became famous in 2005 when the engineering whiz left Microsoft, where he had created Microsoft Research Asia, to head search giant Google’s operation in China. Microsoft sued, charging...

Google China Head Kai-Fu Lee Leaves to Start New Venture

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 04

The head of Google's China operation is leaving four years after his acrimonious departure from Microsoft, the search giant is announcing Friday. Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google's Greater China operation,...

Microsoft's Patent Dust-Ups

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on August 19

For the past half dozen years, Microsoft has been busily getting its patent house in order. In a bid to protect itself against lawsuits alleging that it has infringed on...

VMware Acquires SpringSource to get Stickier

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on August 10

VMware took a big step today toward making its software less replaceable in corporate data centers. The company, which makes virtualization software that lets businesses run servers more efficiently, spent...

"No Bull----": Ballmer & Bartz on Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 29

Soon after announcing their deal to combine forces on Internet search and search advertising, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked with BusinessWeek about how the deal...

Microsoft and Yahoo Announce 10-Year Search Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 29

And so the deal is finally done: Microsoft and Yahoo early this morning announced a 10-year deal that provides a united front against search giant Google. As we wrote last...

Microsoft Search Deal With Yahoo Finally Here?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 28

At long last, Microsoft and Yahoo appear to be very close to a long-awaited deal on Internet search. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Boomtown blog,...

LIVE: Yahoo's Q2 Earnings, Q3 Outlook Disappoint

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 21

Yahoo's second-quarter earnings are out now amid muted expectations. Its profit rose to $141 million, or 10 cents a share, from $131 million, or 9 cents a share a year...

Will Yahoo's Q2 Earnings Report Defy Low Expectations?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 21

Yahoo will report its second-quarter earnings today, and few investors are looking for much cheer in the results. Yahoo is expected to report a profit before special charges of 8...

Google Beats Earnings Forecast But Investors Unimpressed

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 16

Google managed to beat expectations for its second-quarter results. Here's the release, but on first glance, it looks like Google met expectations on revenues but beat handily on profits. All...

All Eyes on Google As Second-Quarter Earnings Report Looms

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 16

Search giant Google will report its second-quarter earnings shortly after 1 p.m. Pacific time today, at a time when investors will be wondering which way online advertising is going. While...

This Week, Microsoft Makes Its Case For Windows 7 and Office 2010

Posted by: Peter Burrows on July 13

It's going to be a big week for Microsoft. Thousands of distributors, systems integrators and software developers, among others, have convened in New Orleans for the company's annual Worldwide Partners...

Google's Chrome Operating System: We've Got It All Wrong

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 11

"A real rival to Windows." "Google drops a nuclear bomb on Microsoft." It all sounds so dramatic and exciting, the kind of story we journalists love. But I can't help...

Microsoft Adds Some Twitter Updates to Bing Search

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 01

In a nod to the increasing importance of real-time search, Microsoft has started adding Twitter updates to its Bing search engine. For now, the Twitter-related results are limited only to...

LIVE: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's First Annual Meeting

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 25

I'll be liveblogging the Yahoo annual meeting this morning at the Santa Clara Marriott in Silicon Valley, network willing. This year's meeting is sure to have less drama than the...

Microsoft's Changing View of Communications Software

Posted by: Peter Burrows on June 25

In a story we ran this morning, Network World's John Fontana points out that Nortel's liquidation of assets could threaten it's two-year-old partnership with Microsoft to sell so-called "unified communications"--software...

Microsoft Competitors Win, But European Consumers May Lose

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on June 12

The guiding principle of antitrust law in the U.S. is the protection of consumers from anticompetitive practices. Europeans law, however, focuses on protecting competitors. The difference is on display in...

Microsoft’s Ozzie Says Cloud Services Will Yield Lower Margins

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on June 05

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, caused quite a splash June 4 when he told the audience at an event in Silicon Valley that cloud computing will probably lower Microsoft’s...

Microsoft Makes If Official: Netbooks Don't Exist

Posted by: Peter Burrows on June 03

Well, that was quick. Yesterday, I blogged about an interesting confrontation in the making between Microsoft and its fastest-growing Windows licensee: Acer. It's become clear that while Acer wants to...

Acer Plays Its Android Card

Posted by: Peter Burrows on June 02

I just got the press release from Acer, announcing it's long-rumored Android-based netbook. More important, the fast-growing PC maker states its intention to make many more devices based on Google's...

The Marketing of Microsoft's Bing Search Engine

Posted by: Peter Burrows on June 01

Microsoft quietly turned on its new Bing search engine for public consumption today, two days earlier than expected. And guess what? People like it. Microsoft's marketing of Bing also seems...

Microsoft Search: Q&A With Steve Ballmer On The Importance of Bing

Posted by: Peter Burrows on May 28

"I think we've got a good product, and we'll make some progress. [But] doubling our share in a year isn't going to happen."

Yahoo Plugs Search Progress: Toward a Web of Objects

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 19

With Microsoft set to relaunch its search engine as early as next week, its rivals have been talking up the new and upcoming features of their search engines. Google held...

New Google Search Features: We're Not Dead Yet; Not Even Resting

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 12

Amid a flurry of Internet search developments by other companies recently, Google today sought to demonstrate that it's not ceding any leadership in the Internet's most valuable territory. At the...

Ballmer Says Venture Freeze Will Spare Startups in Key Fields

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on May 06

The pullback in business spending and venture capital investing will winnow the field of startups, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an May 6 speech at Stanford University. But “there’s really...

Microsoft, Apple, and Pink: A History Lesson

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on April 28

Rumors that Microsoft is developing a multimedia smart phone heated up again today when The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required for full article) that Microsoft was talking to Verizon...

Microsoft's Tough Third Quarter.

Posted by: Peter Burrows on April 23

Maybe the most striking news is Microsoft's crisp cost-cutting. Who knew this Midas of the computer industry knew how to scale back so well?

Oracle and VMware: Rising Competition?

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on April 22

VMware pulled out the stops for the launch of its latest software Apr. 21. Executives at the Silicon Valley company shared a stage at an outdoor theater with Cisco Systems...

LIVE: Yahoo Second-Quarter Earnings Just OK, Q2 Guidance Light; 5% Layoff Announced

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 21

Yahoo managed to hit earnings expectations on slightly lower-than-expected first-quarter revenues. It also announced it expects to lay off about 5% of its staff. Based on the 13,600 employees as...

More Layoffs Coming at Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 14

Well, nobody really thought new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz would simply dial up Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with a deal proposal and leave it at that, did they? And so...

HP's MediaSmart Server: Reasons for a Second Look

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on April 14

Hewlett-Packard's MediaSmart Home Server is a very good product that has had a tough time justifying its existence. But a new software refresh is making the job easier by adding...

Marketers Cut Search Ad Spending But Reap Higher Returns

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 14

As investors look ahead to Google's first-quarter earnings report Thursday, they'll be looking for further signs of how much search advertising has been hit by the tanking economy. Here's an...

Yahoo and Microsoft CEOs Finally Talking About a Search Deal; Maybe More?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 10

In a development that can't be too surprising but may help revamp the Internet landscape, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have started talking about forging Internet...

Another "Laptop Hunter" Ad From Microsoft

Posted by: Peter Burrows on April 09

Microsoft just posted the third of its "Laptop Hunter" ads, in which the cameras follow consumers as they shop for a free laptop. Here it is: Video: Laptop Hunters $1500...

Upbeat Signs for Windows 7

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on April 08

A new survey suggests that this fall's introduction of windows 7 could provide a badly needed boost to Microsoft's corporate sales. A poll by ChangeWave reported by ZDnet found that...

A Sign of Slowing Search Ad Spending

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 02

Search advertising is finally feeling the full impact of the weak economy, according to a new report out this morning from online marketing analytics firm Covario. In fact, search spending...

Adios, Encarta

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on March 30

Before Wikipedia finished off the encyclopedia as we knew it, Microsoft's Encarta started the venerable multi-volume reference works on their long path to oblivion. So it is somehow fitting that...

LIVE: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz Speaks

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 03

At the Morgan Stanley technology conference, analyst Mary Meeker is interviewing Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. I'm listening on the Web, since media wasn't invited to the conference. I think it's...

Can Microsoft Give Apple A Run For The Money In Touch Computing?

Posted by: Peter Burrows on March 03

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off the company's touch-screen based "Surface" computer in May 2007, just a month before the launch of the iPhone. But since then, Apple has dominated...

Carol Bartz Prepares to Revamp Yahoo Management

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 22

Even if it's a spectacularly obvious thing for a new CEO to do, Carol Bartz's reorganization of Yahoo's management ranks as early as this week will be a pivotal development....

Making Word Work on Netbooks

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 19

In my current column, I complain that most standard PC applications don't work well on netbooks because the menus, toolbars, and other fixtures take up so much of the very...

Trouble Signs Already With Microsoft's New "My Phone" Service

Posted by: Peter Burrows on February 06

In reporting on Microsoft's soon-to-be-unveiled mobile strategy last week, a common theme from company executives was that the company was going to be much more focused on the consumer experience....

Microsoft's New Mobile Strategy

Posted by: Peter Burrows on February 06

For the past few years, Microsoft has been losing share in PCs to Apple. It’s been losing huge money on the Web. And it’s been badly shown up in mobile...

A Blog Helps Microsoft Get a Key Win 7 Feature Right

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 06

It's fascinating to watch how the use of corporate blogs, when used for dialog rather than propaganda, can change the way business decisions are made, generally for the better. A...

Windows 7: Heading for Early Release?

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on January 30

As someone who has closely watched every major Windows development process since Windows 95 and seen them all slip further and further behind schedule, Windows 7 has been a happy...

Windows 7: A Clarification on XP Upgrades

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on January 29

A number of commenters on my column on Windows 7 expressed dismay that Microsoft does not plan to provide an upgrade path from XP. I want to clarify just...

LIVE: Yahoo's Fourth-Quarter Earnings Beat Forecasts; Bartz Says "Not for Sale"

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 27

Yahoo managed to outpace dour expectations for its fourth quarter, beating profit expectations handily. Despite showing a net loss of $303 million thanks to the costs of layoffs and office...

LIVE: Google's Fourth-Quarter Earnings Beat Expectations

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 22

Google's much-anticipated fourth-quarter earnings are out, and it appears to have beat expectations that were muted thanks to the struggling economy and Google's own recent cost-cutting moves. Google earned a...

Coming Shortly: Economic Acid Test for Google and Search Advertising

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 22

Now that Microsoft has an early answer to its fourth-quarter earnings--bad--tech investors turn their attention to the other behemoth that will report its earnings today: Google. Thanks to a flurry...

Steve Ballmer's Letter to Microsoft Employees, Regarding Job Cuts

Posted by: Peter Burrows on January 22

Here's the full text of Ballmer's letter: In response to the realities of a deteriorating economy, we’re taking important steps to realign Microsoft’s business. I want to tell you about...

Microsoft Announces Quarter And Job Cuts: It Could Have Been Worse

Posted by: Peter Burrows on January 22

In its first broad-based job cut, Microsoft will trim its 95,000 person workforce by 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, starting with 1,400 today. The company also announced quarterly...

What New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz Really Told the Troops

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 15

Yahoo's stock fell more than 6% today as investors digested reports on what new CEO Carol Bartz told employees during an all-hands meeting yesterday. Some reports indicated she said her...

Confirmed: Carol Bartz Named Yahoo CEO: Can She Turn It Around?

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 13

UPDATED: After a two-month search for a new CEO to replace cofounder Jerry Yang, Yahoo has chosen Autodesk Executive Chairman Carol Bartz to get the embattled company back on track....

Google Loses Verizon Mobile Search Deal to Microsoft--But How Big a Loss Is It?

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 08

Google just lost a big mobile search deal to Microsoft. On late Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the software giant's Live Search will be the default search service on...

CES: Windows 7 Goes Beta

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on January 08

If Microsoft has one message they want people to take away from the annual Consumer Electronics Show, it's "we're listening." While the software giant didn't reveal any major surprises during...

Another Year, Another Round of Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Scenarios

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 07

A group of Silicon Valley executives and investment bankers is ginning up a new proposal to buy Yahoo, according to TechCrunch: Under the terms of the proposed deal, the investment...

Microsoft Executive Says What Everyone Else Seems To Be Thinking About Windows 7

Posted by: Peter Burrows on December 19

"The biggest news is that it will fulfill all the promises of Vista," says Microsoft server chief Bob Muglia.

Microsoft and VMware Execs are Friendly Foes

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on December 16

File this one under 'frenemies': The Microsoft exec in charge of its virtualization software business and category leader VMware’s CEO are good friends—even as Microsoft tries to squash VMware’s $2...

In Other News, Yahoo Settles Shareholder Lawsuit on Severance Plans

Posted by: Rob Hof on December 10

As if Yahoo wasn't doing enough today with the announced layoff of 1,500 people, it also just settled a shareholder lawsuit over controversial severance plans it adopted shortly after Microsoft's...

Former AOL Chief Jonathan Miller Eyeing Yahoo Buy? Maybe, But ...

Posted by: Rob Hof on December 02

And the rumors around Yahoo keep swirling. A few days after supposed news of a Microsoft deal to buy Yahoo's search operation proved to be complete fiction, the Wall Street...

Power.com: One Ring to Rule All Social Networks?

Posted by: Rob Hof on December 01

With what looks to be a fair amount of fanfare, a company virtually unknown in the U.S. is aiming to disrupt the fast-growing social networking business. Tonight, Rio de Janeiro-based...

Google Launches SearchWiki for Customized Search Results

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 20

After almost a year of testing and some recent early sightings, Google today is planning to launch SearchWiki, a way for searchers to edit their own search results. When you...

Microsoft to Stop Charging For Home PC Security

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on November 19

Two years after jumping into the PC security software market, Microsoft is scaling back its ambitions there. The company said Nov. 18 it’s discontinuing its $50-a-year OneCare software in favor...

Jerry Yang to Step Down As Yahoo CEO; Will Microsoft Return?

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 17

Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang will step down as CEO as soon as a successor is found, the embattled Internet company just announced. The release (quoted in full after...

Windows Live--Welcome to the Social

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on November 17

I'm a bit late getting to this, but Microsoft has finally taken the wraps off its completely overhauled Windows Live service, Redmond's attempt to become a force in the burgeoning...

Report: Google, Yahoo Revise Search Advertising Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 03

Google and Yahoo have made major concessions in their proposed search advertising deal in hopes of getting the Justice Department to go along with it, according to a Wall Street...

Microsoft and Yahoo Duel Over Who Can Lose the Most Media Executives

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 03

When they aren't letting each other know how little they think of each other, Microsoft and Yahoo seem to be engaged in another contest: Who can lose the most Internet...

Windows 7: The New User Account Control

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on November 03

One of the most annoying futures of Vista is the User Account Control window that, unless you have disabled the feature, pops up when you do any of a...

Will the Google-Yahoo Deal Happen? Who Knows?

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 30

According to a just-posted story in the Journal, the likelihood that Google and Yahoo will walk away from their controversial search advertising deal has risen, as talks with the Justice...

Q&A With Ray Ozzie On Why Windows Has Its Place In The Cloud

Posted by: Peter Burrows on October 30

I interviewed Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie earlier this week at the company's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, about the company's many announcements. I put a couple of...

Why Does Windows 7 Think It's Windows 6.1?

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on October 29

Microsoft is a bit schizoid about Windows 7. On the one hand, it of course wants to promote it as something new and different. But it is also making...

Windows 7: Usability Testing

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on October 28

There was a surreal moment at the end of Microsoft's Windows 7 reviewers' workshop on Sunday. During the question-and-answer period that closed the sessions, a participant asked Microsoft SVP Steven...

Windows 7: A First Look

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on October 28

In sharp contrast to past development efforts, Microsoft has kept its plans for the next version of Windows, now officially designated Windows 7, under tight wraps. At its Professional...

LIVE: Yahoo Earnings Not As Bad As Feared, But Layoffs to Begin

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 21

Not surprisingly, Yahoo just reported third-quarter earnings that were weak but not as awful as some might have expected. However, the company said layoffs of at least 10% of the...

Yahoo's Display Ad Platform APT Launches; Will It Matter?

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 24

Yahoo just launched its long-awaited display-advertising system, now called APT. As I wrote in a story last week, the system, known more recently as AMP, is Yahoo's latest (maybe...

Google's Sergey, Larry and Eric Talk Yahoo, Energy, Android, and Floating Data Centers

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 17

A week after Yahoo executives defended their controversial search advertising deal with Google, the search giant joined the fray today with its own rationale. The deal, announced in mid-June, faces...

Is Justice Planning to Go After Google?

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 08

So it sounds like in a story in the Wall Street Journal, which says the Justice Dept. has just hired a hotshot litigator to look into Google's power in online...

Is the Google-Yahoo Deal Really a Bad Thing?

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 08

That's what advertisers think, according to the trade group Association of National Advertisers. The ANA on Sunday filed a letter to the Justice Dept., recommending against the deal under which...

Show of Hands: Love or Hate the New Microsoft Ad?

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 05

The new Microsoft ad with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates has sure stirred up a blogstorm today. People either sort of like it or hate it. Mostly the latter,...

VIDEO: Sergey Brin on Why Google's Launching a Browser

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 02

Google's Chrome browser is now officially available here. I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to try it, though I hope to a little later; meantime, here's an early review...

LIVE from the Googleplex: Chrome Browser Launches

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 02

Google's about to brief a gazillion of us reporters about its much-discussed Chrome Web browser, now ready for download here. I wrote my initial thoughts yesterday, and you can get...

Google to Release Web Browser Tuesday; Should Microsoft Worry, or Mozilla?

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 01

In its latest bid to remain ascendant on the Internet, Google is about to release its own Web browser, long a key online battleground. It just announced its plans for...

Will New Directors Help or Hurt Yahoo?

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 14

As expected, Yahoo has just appointed former Viacom CEO Frank Biondi Jr. and former Nextel Partners CEO John Chapple to its board. They're two of the slate proposed by activist...

LIVE from Yahoo's Annual Meeting

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 01

Yahoo's long-awaited (or long-dreaded) annual shareholders meeting is about to begin, and wireless gods willing, I'll be liveblogging the proceedings--even if they aren't expected to be very exciting. You can...

What Not to Expect at Yahoo's Annual Meeting Friday

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 31

Yahoo's long-delayed annual meeting is finally at hand, after a six-month deal ordeal that has left the Internet portal more or less where it was early this year, before Microsoft's...

Um, Hasn't Google Been Investing in Startups Already?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 31

Google is mulling the creation of a venture-capital investment arm, according to the Journal. But while I gather that is true as far as it goes, I don't get the...

Cuil: Another Google Challenger Launches--to a Cool Reception

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 28

Just weeks after the last highly touted Google challenger, Powerset, was snapped up by Microsoft, a new one is launching Sunday night. Cuil (pronounced "cool" and previously sporting an additional...

Yahoo (YHOO) Second-Quarter Earnings Fall Short

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 22

Most people had expected Yahoo to pull out all the stops to make its second quarter, but if it did, the pulling didn't work. In its just-released report, Yahoo said...

Yahoo Settles Proxy Fight With Icahn; What's Next?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 21

After months of battle with activist shareholder Carl Icahn, Yahoo has finally settled the proxy battle that had roiled the company for months. (Full text of the release and the...

Yahoo Activist Shareholder Backs Four Dissident Directors

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 20

Lately, it has looked like Yahoo, against all odds, might win the proxy fight that activist investor Carl Icahn is waging against it. The problem for Icahn is that, without...

Bolstered by Major Shareholder's Support, Yahoo Comes Out Swinging

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 18

With its annual meeting looming in just two weeks, Yahoo is ratcheting up its defense against Carl Icahn's proxy fight with an energy critics wish they'd seen for the...

A Rare Miss for Google (GOOG) on Second-Quarter Earnings

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 17

My quick take on Google's second-quarter earnings (full release after the jump and updates from conference call below): It's a miss, though not a huge one. My full story is...

Google Second-Quarter Earnings Coming Up

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 17

I'll have a quick take on Google's second quarter earnings as soon as they're released shortly after 1 p.m. Pacific time. I'll add key comments from the conference call and...

Yahoo Fires at Microsoft Again

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 17

As the days wind down to Yahoo's Aug. 1 annual meeting, you can expect an escalating war of words among Yahoo, would-be dealmaker Microsoft, and corporate activist Carl Icahn. The...

Microsoft Still Searching for Yahoo Search Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 15

Despite Yahoo’s rejection of a new search deal offer from Microsoft last week--one that went over like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl with some shareholders--the software giant this time...

Microsoft-Yahoo: Trapped in Groundhog Day

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 02

So, Microsoft hasn't given up on Yahoo after all? So it seems from a Journal story that just hit the wires, following on a melange of related possibilities raised...

Bringing Health Records Online

Posted by: Catherine Holahan on June 26

When he worked in the emergency room, Dr. James Mault often had technology capable of saving patients’ lives. What he didn’t have was the technology to alert him to what...

Yahoo's Reorg Goes Down: Less of the Same?

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 26

Despite advance criticisms involving the words "deck chairs" and "Titanic," Yahoo today announced the reorganization of its management ranks that had been expected for more than a week. Rising to...

Microsoft-Yahoo Buyout Talks Back On? Not Yet.

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 24

Mike Arrington at TechCrunch is reporting that Microsoft is again talking with Yahoo about a full buyout, though Arrington admits his information is "thin." One source I talked to, however,...

Yahoo Loses Another Exec--and Another and Another*

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 16

This will be no surprise to anyone following the continuing Microsoft-Yahoo saga, but another top executive of Yahoo has departed for less scorched pastures. Jeff Weiner, executive vice president...

Has Microsoft Really Given Up On Yahoo As Google Search Deal Looms?

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 12

UPDATE 2: After the jump, below, is a draft of a story that will run later tonight. The key takeaway: Google wins big again. The other takeaway: Yahoo's not getting...

Glassdoor.com:TripAdvisor for the Workplace

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 11

If you've ever wondered what your officemates really make, Glassdoor.com may be what you're looking for. The free Web site, which bills itself as a "career and workplace community where...

A Little More Life for Windows XP

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on June 03

Microsoft today took another small step back from it's plans to stop sales of Windows XP at the end of this month. According to an IDG News Service report by...

What a Surprise: Icahn Wants Jerry Yang Out

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 03

Carl Icahn, the corporate raider who's waging a proxy fight to replace Yahoo's board and spur a renewed deal with Microsoft, is finally putting on the pressure after a couple...

Yahoo-Microsoft Lawsuit Unsealed: Did Severance Plan Kill Deal?

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 02

A Delaware judge has unsealed details in a shareholder lawsuit against Yahoo for allegedly taking undue steps to block Microsoft's unsolicited bid for the company. You can see the lawsuit...

What Will Windows 7 Be?

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on June 02

Microsoft has always been very open about its plans for Windows. With Vista, the openness bit back when many planned features were dropped late in development and what was shipped...

Google I/O: Window Into the Real Future of the Web

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 28

Google's Web-based applications such as Gmail and Google Docs often look to casual observers like a tiny sideshow to the company's main event, which overwhelmingly remains search. Some folks even...

Windows 7: Does Microsoft Have a Big Idea?

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on May 28

What is going to give Windows 7, which Microsoft insists will be out in early 2010, its wow? At the D: All Things Digital Conference last night, Microsoft CEO Steve...

Yahoo Delays Annual Meeting, Again

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 22

Yahoo just announced in an SEC filing this afternoon that it's delaying its annual meeting to the end of July, from a previously scheduled date of July 3. Yahoo also...

Is Microsoft's New Deal Proposal Really a Signal to Yahoo Shareholders?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 21

My colleague Jay Greene, who covers Microsoft out of Seattle, had some thoughts on Microsoft's surprising May 15 announcement that it's talking with Yahoo about a deal short of a...

Microsoft Tries to Get Search Traffic by Paying Users

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 21

Microsoft on Wednesday is launching its latest attempt to make a dent in Google's dominant market share in search and raise its currently single-digit percentage of search queries: Live Search...

If Microsoft Is in the Driver's Seat, Why Isn't It Driving the Car?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 19

At Google's Zeitgeist conference in Hertfordshire, England, today, the search giant's trio at the top said they're meeting tonight to discuss how to respond to the new possibility of a...

Microsoft Proposes Search Deal With Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 18

Microsoft has proposed to Yahoo that it ally on a "transaction" that is something short of the full acquisition that Microsoft abandoned on May 3. Although the companies aren't detailing...

Yahoo Fires Back at Icahn: Carl, You Ignorant Slut...

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 15

Just hours after billionaire financier Carl Icahn launched a battle to replace Yahoo’s board and get the Internet icon back into talks with onetime suitor Microsoft, Yahoo has fired back....

Icahn's Going for It: Launches Proxy Fight Against Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 14

So corporate raider Carl Icahn will indeed launch a proxy fight against Yahoo and its board, according to Reuters and the Journal. No details at this point except that a...

Not-Just-A-Search-Engine Powerset Launches Beta

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 12

After a couple of years of anticipation, the upstart search engine-plus Powerset is launching on Monday to the public in limited form--limited not just in being in beta test but...

LIVEBLOGGING: Schmidt, Page, and Brin Happy About Failed Microsoft-Yahoo Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 08

I'm sort of liveblogging a talk that Google honchos Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin and Larry Page is having with reporters before the company's annual meeting. I'll post their comments in...

That Cash Sure Is Burning a Hole in Ballmer's Pocket

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 07

After deciding not to spend $22 billion or so of its cash to buy Yahoo, now there's word in Kara Swisher's Boomtown blog that Microsoft is interested in buying the...

Stop the Presses! Yahoo Sets Annual Meeting!

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 05

I never thought I'd write about something so mundane as a company setting its annual meeting of shareholders. But in Yahoo's case, it's actually reasonably big news, because the now-aborted...

Jerry Yang Speaks: Mixed Feelings on Microsoft Pullout, Doesn't Rule Out Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 05

I got a few minutes to talk with Jerry Yang today, so in the interests of passing along his so-far rare thoughts ASAP and provide Yahoo's side at a...

Will Yahoo's Stock Plunge Send Yang Crawling Back to Microsoft?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 05

After Microsoft pulled its offer to buy Yahoo for at least $33 a share, Yahoo's stock has fallen this morning from Friday's $28.67 close to around $24.50 a share. That's...

Microsoft Walks from Yahoo Deal; Ball’s In Your Court, Jerry

Posted by: Spencer Ante on May 04

Wow. I can’t believe Microsoft actually walked away from the Yahoo! deal. But while I am truly surprised, I believe Steve Ballmer made the right call. I’ve said from the...

Microsoft Drops Yahoo Bid--At Least For Now

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 03

Microsoft announced it's dropping its unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo late Saturday afternoon. (The announcement and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's letter to Yahoo CEO and cofounder Jerry Yang, as well...

Microsoft-Yahoo Talks Intensifying. What a Surprise.

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 02

Forgive me if I feel like I'm coming down with a case of whiplash. First, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says he might walk away from his company's unsolicited bid...

Updated 2--Excel 2007 Still Can't Add

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on May 02

SECOND UPDATE 5/5 4 pm EDT Commenter Anthony Jones is absolutely correct--it's a floating-point rounding error, described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 214118. The article offers a couple of workarounds,...

Microsoft May Go Hostile, Yahoo May Announce Google Search Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 01

After a pretty quiet several weeks, the Microsoft-Yahoo battle is suddenly getting a lot louder. After Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said early Thursday he might walk out on its offer...

Ballmer Talks the Walk But Keeps Door Open

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 01

In Steve Ballmer's town hall meeting/call this morning, reported on Silicon Alley Insider, the Microsoft CEO said he wouldn't pay a penny more than Yahoo is worth. He didn't say,...

Microsoft's Silence on Yahoo Has to End Soon

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 29

When there's no news, journalists (including bloggers) write about the lack of news. Sorry to say, today I can't resist the urge either. I just can't help thinking that Microsoft...

Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell on Yahoo Bid: We're Standing Firm

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 24

Overshadowing Microsoft's somewhat disappointing report on third-quarter results were questions about its unsolicited bid for Yahoo. The gist of Microsoft's comments was pretty much the same: We've offered plenty, so...

Will Ballmer Walk?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 24

In a word, no. As Sramana Mitra notes, and as we've been saying for awhile, Yahoo's fate as a Microsoft vassal was sealed the day the software giant made its...

Yahoo Ekes Out a First-Quarter Beat--and More Leverage Vs. Microsoft?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 22

Yahoo had to turn in at least respectable first-quarter results today if it was to have any chance of getting Microsoft to up its unsolicited $31-a-share offer to buy the...

Something's Fishy About This Yahoo-Google Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 17

Oh, please. An initial test of outsourcing Yahoo's search to Google showed positive results, according to an account in the Journal. Hold it; didn't that test just start this week?...

Yahoo Responds to Microsoft: Quit Lowballing Us and We'll Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 07

In the latest twist in the tango between Microsoft and Yahoo, the struggling Internet portal's chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang have sent a public letter back to Microsoft...

Microsoft's Patience Finally Wears Out: Issues Deadline to Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 05

Microsoft just dropped the bomb on Yahoo. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today sent a letter (in full after the jump) giving Yahoo's board three weeks before it initiates a proxy...

Yahoo Gets Taste of What Happens If Microsoft Pulls Out

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 04

Yahoo's stock is down at least 3% in after-hours trading today after someone close to Microsoft implied to Reuters the software giant might offer up even less than its...

Microsoft Grows Impatient with Yahoo. Again.

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 01

Microsoft is saying without saying that it's not going to raise its offer for Yahoo. According to the Journal: Such pronouncements are standard in deal negotiations but people close to...

Are You Getting Microhoo Fatigue Too?

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 18

You know Yahoo doesn't have much left on the table when it trots out a board presentation from December--well before Microsoft's unsolicited offer--saying it's going to do better than everyone...

European Commission OK's Google-DoubleClick Deal

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 11

It was expected by now, but the European Commission has just approved Google's $3.1 billion bid for ad serving firm DoubleClick. Even though competitors such as Microsoft and privacy advocates...

Moving Beyond Windows

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on March 05

I have taken Microsoft to task for being too concerned about compatibility at the expense of making long overdue fundamental changes in Windows. But the business concerns that lead Microsoft...

Yahoo Strings Microsoft Along

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 05

After many days of silence, Yahoo is finally making some moves in its dance with Microsoft over the software giant's unsolicited bid, including a possible deal with Time Warner to...

Microsoft's Letter to Employees: Another View

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 22

My colleague Catherine Holahan has her own take on the Kevin Johnson letter to Microsoft employees. Here's her guest blog: With all the discussion of the fear and loathing in...

Microsoft's New Message to Employees--and to Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 22

Microsoft is going to get the Yahoo deal done, proxy fight or not, and it sure would like the cooperation of Yahoo employees and shareholders to make it happen. That's...

With Proxy Fight Threat, Is Microsoft Boxing Yahoo In--or Itself?

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 21

As everyone waits for Yahoo to make the next move in Microsoft's unsolicited bid to buy the Internet portal, I'm starting to wonder if the ball's actually still in Microsoft's...

And It Keeps Getting Worse......

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 21

In additions to the problems with Windows Home Server backup, Microsoft now says a different problem with file corruption is much worse than originally reported. Microsoft today reissued a technical...

Windows Home Server--The Drama Continues

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 20

My ups and downs with the Hewlett Packard MediaSmart Windows Home Server server. But the latest incident suggests Microsoft might want to do some serious rethinking of the design of...

Microsoft-Yahoo Water Torture Trickles On--But For How Long?

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 19

So now, Microsoft's putting out signals that it's ready to rumble, with plans to authorize a proxy fight to replace Yahoo's board if it doesn't accept Microsoft's first and only...

Vultures Feast on Yahoo Before It's Even Dead

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 13

The feeding frenzy around Yahoo seems to intensify with every new daily development, making me wonder when this injured animal is going to make the one-way transformation into a...

Yahoo Layoffs Begin

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 12

It's pink slip day at Yahoo's purple-and-yellow digs, I'm told by a Yahoo executive. More coverage of the expected layoffs here, here, and here. But from what some of them,...

Best Microsoft-Yahoo Blog Headlines

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 11

Some people are managing to have fun with the Microsoft-Yahoo battle: Best we can figure, sir, they seem to be including sentimental value --John Murrell/Good Morning Silicon Valley We’ll See...

Yahoo + AOL: Another Negotiation Ploy, Or a Grasp at Straws?

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 10

Honestly, I don't know whether Yahoo seeking to acquire AOL, as reported by the Times of London, is just a way to jack up Microsoft's unsolicited bid, or a real,...

So, What Now for Microsoft and Yahoo? More Fancy Footwork

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 10

I'm no M&A expert, but I've seen enough not to be surprised by Yahoo's apparent, imminent rejection of Microsoft's offer to buy the company. So why are so many people...

Yahoo Moves to the Negotiation Phase: A Web Roundup

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 09

Yahoo's board is set to send Microsoft a letter Monday rejecting the software giant's $45 billion bid, according to the Journal on Saturday. From the apparent wording from a source--that...

The Yahoo Death Watch

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 08

Yeah, it's practically a done deal, but despite breathless impatience of many people, mating dances take awhile to result in consummation. Especially when one party not only was hoping to...

Google Tries to Turn Microsoft's Yahoo Pursuit to Its Advantage

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 03

The ironies keep piling up, but Google's blog post today about Microsoft's unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo looks to me like a smart chess move by the search giant. In...

Yahoo's Response to Microsoft: We'll Take Our Sweet Time

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 01

Reading between the lines of this FAQ from Yahoo released today... FAQ: Unsolicited Proposal From Microsoft Q1. How is Yahoo! responding to Microsoft’s proposal? The Yahoo! Board is undertaking a...

Microsoft Finally Makes Its Move on Yahoo

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 01

For all the reasons a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo! doesn't make sense, one factor trumped them all: a bargain. Early this morning, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid for the Internet...

Working Around Home Server Bugs

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on January 21

Unless you are an early adopter of Hewlett-Pakard's Media Smart Windows Home Server, you needn't bother reading this. As pointed out in an earlier post, there is a bug in...

Will Online Advertising Finally Take a Hit Now?

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 11

So far, online advertising doesn't seem to have been hit in the economic troubles growing out of the credit crunch, and forecasters are looking for 25%-plus growth this year. But...

A Buggy Home Server

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on December 27

A few weeks ago, I gave a generally upbeat review to Microsoft's new Windows Home Server product. I may have been a bit premature. It turns out that the software...

Home Server Followup: Bad News, Good News

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on December 18

When I looked at my Hewlett-Packard MediaSmart Windows Home Server this morning, I noticed that only one of the blue disk drive lights was one. I fired up the Home...

Erase Your Search Tracks

Posted by: Rob Hof on December 11

Most people probably don't realize that their online searches are tracked by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. With a new feature called AskEraser, Ask.com is hoping to...

Confirmed: MySpace Joining Google's OpenSocial

Posted by: Rob Hof on November 01

Now, it's getting interesting: News Corp.'s MySpace is joining Google's just-announced OpenSocial program. That's Google's shot at one-upping Facebook in the race to get outside software developers to create programs...

Another $500 Million for Facebook? OK, This Is Getting Ridiculous

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 25

And I don't mean ridiculous for Facebook, which might as well take any money that's green. But I can't understand why two hedge funds would invest an additional $500...

Microsoft Nets Piece of Facebook

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 24

OK, the deal's done: In one of the most anticipated tech deals in recent years, Facebook just forged a deal with Microsoft Corp. that values the privately held social networking...

Mark Zuckerberg: Financing "Almost Wrapped Up"

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 17

On the $15 billion question of the moment, that being the valuation Facebook is believed to be seeking in a private funding, Mark Zuckerberg had some brief but interesting answers...

Prime Time for Google Apps

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 02

Starting Oct. 3, companies using Google Apps Premier Edition, the for-pay version of Google's suite of online office-productivity applications, will see a new button to add security and compliance services...

Google's Search Rivals Keep Trying Harder

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 01

... or are they just tilting at windmills? In recent weeks and months, Google's major rivals, such as Microsoft and IAC's Ask unit, not to mention upstarts like Powerset...

65,536 Lashes for Microsoft

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on October 01

Microsoft should be more abashed than it seems to be about a bug in Excel 2007 that causes certain multiplications that produce results very close to 65,535 or 65,536 to...

Microsoft and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good , Very Bad Week

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on September 18

Things are not going well for the colossus of Redmond. The European Court of First Instance has upheld a $613 million fine for antitrust violations. Now IBM, which Microsoft drove...

Targeting You: Yahoo Moves Deeper into Behaviorial Targeting with BlueLithium Purchase

Posted by: Rob Hof on September 04

With the $300 million purchase of ad network BlueLithium today, Yahoo! is moving further into targeting ads based on people's online behavior. Behavioral targeting, as it's known, helps marketers track...

Microsoft Home Server--Not So Fast

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 31

UPDATE--This product is now shipping. Watch for a review of the HP MediaSmart Home Server in an upcoming issue of BusinessWeek, or on the TechMaven page. ------------------ Folks waiting for...

Microsoft In, Google Out for Ads on Digg

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 25

Kevin Rose at Digg is saying the popular user-driven news site has just signed a three-year exclusive ad deal with Microsoft. Bye-bye Google. Don't think it will hurt Google's bottom...

Fancy That! Google Misses on Earnings

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 19

Everybody knew Google was spending big bucks on everything from data centers to acquisitions. But investors, who have bid the stock up 20% so far this year, clearly had been...

Openads: An Alternative to Google Ad Hegemony?

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 13

Openads, an open-source ad server, just got $5 million in funding. Since the company's been around for years, one might wonder if this is simply an opportunistic play on the...

What Steve and Bill Didn't Mention

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on May 31

I'm not going to try to mduplicate the saturation blog coverage of Bill Gates' and Steve Jobs' joint appearence at Dow Jones' D5: All Things Digital conference Wednesday. But both...

Google Gears Up to Take Web Services Beyond the Web

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 30

Google just can't seem to resist baiting the 800-pound gorilla in Redmond. With Google Gears, just announced minutes ago, it's providing Web developers a way to take their online services...

Windows Genuine Annoyance (continued)

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on May 25

The craziness of Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) continues to amaze me. Today I was installing Windows Defender, Microsoft's so-so, but free, anti-spyware program on a PC. First, Microsoft's download...

Microsoft Buys aQuantive for--What?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 18

I must admit I'm still trying to get my head around what Microsoft will do with all the advertising properties inside aQuantive, which it just announced it will buy for...

Will Microsoft Really Buy Yahoo!?

Posted by: Rob Hof on May 04

So it appears [Update: or not--see below] from the stories in the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. And usually where there's smoke, there's fire. But I wonder...

Windows Genuine Annoyance

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on April 26

Microsoft never seems to run out of ways to make its antipiracy Windows Genuine Advantage campaign more annoying. WGA is a "service" that checks the validity and activation status of...

More Google Power

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 25

First, Google's sites (including YouTube) pass Microsoft's family in traffic. Then it lands the crown as world's most powerful brand, again taking Microsoft's place. ("Physical property is not included," a...

Blackberry Outage

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on April 18

Kick 'em while they're down! As if Crackberry addicts and corporations that subscribe to Research in Motion's Blackberry service weren't complaining enough, Microsoft's PR team is in high gear. A...

Google Completes Office Suite with PowerPoint Product

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 17

Google CEO Eric Schmidt used his brief appearance at the Web 2.0 Expo today to announce the company this summer would add a PowerPoint editing tool to Google Apps, its...

TellMe's Long Journey to Redmond

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 14

TellMe Networks has to be one of the longest-running IPO candidates ever. Now, it's going to be part of Microsoft. I hope it doesn't get buried inside the colossus, because...

What's Up With Microsoft's Attack on Google?

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 06

That's the question roiling the blogosphere today, following a speech today (masterfully leaked in advance for maximum publicity) by a Microsoft lawyer to the Association of American Publishers, slamming Google's...

Google Apps Go Corporate

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 22

A few weeks ago, I wrote that the launch of a for-pay version of Google Apps for Your Domain was nigh. Now, it's here. And Premier Edition, a package of...

Windows on a Mac: More Expensive Than You Thought

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on February 13

Microsoft has thrown a nasty curve ball to folks who want to run Windows Vista on their Macs using Parallels Desktop virtual machine software, at least if they care about...

Google Apps: More Than Meets the Eye?

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 02

It looks like Google Apps for Your Domain soon will come outta beta with a paid version for enterprises. The one thing I wanted to explore in the story I...

Vista Firewall Isn't Quite What It Seems

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on January 22

In a recent column on Window's Vista security, I wrote:"And the Windows Firewall is much enhanced. The XP version could block incoming attacks, but the Vista edition watches traffic both...

Google's "Not Office" Launches

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 11

Google has just launched "Docs & Spreadsheets," notes TechCrunch's Mike Arrington, one of the bloggers who got an early look. Yeah, yeah, they're not trying to do an online version...

Deep 6 for A9 Features

Posted by: Rob Hof on October 03

Amazon.com is throwing in the towel on at least some features of its A9 search site, a perennial underformer in the search engine wars. Its Yellow Pages, with millions...

Wait, Now It's Google + Apple. Or Is It?

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 29

Lots of speculation about what it means that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is joining Apple's board. Marshall at TechCrunch muses that Google's just-announced online office suite on Apple computers might...

Google Vs. Microsoft, For Real

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 27

So Google's moving forcefully at last into the business software market, at least in a test version. Google Apps for Your Domain, will let small businesses, nonprofits, and universities use,...

Microsoft's Big Loss

Posted by: Rob Hof on June 12

Scoble's leaving. Wow. Hard to imagine a guy who helped Microsoft's image more. He explains why he's moving on. Good luck, Robert!...

One More Reason to Buy a Mac

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 05

Not that I needed another reason, since I've been intending to move to a Mac for my personal machine for months now. But I think today's release of Boot Camp,...

How Do You Shop Online?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 03

I've been noticing how many new kinds of e-commerce venues are sprouting up lately, from the fledgling Google Base and classified-ad startups like Edgeio and Vast.com to upcoming offerings from...

If Selling Out to Google Isn't a Good Business Model...

Posted by: Rob Hof on March 09

... why does it seem to work so well? The latest to get scooped up: Web-based word processing startup Writely. I agree with the many folks who worry that there...

Is Firefox Slipping?

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 13

Richard McManus at the Web 2.0 Explorer blog has been seeing more complaints about the up-and-coming Web browser Firefox crashing a lot, just as I've noticed personally lately. He wonders...

IE7 Beta: Never Count Microsoft Out

Posted by: Rob Hof on February 02

Apparently, Microsoft's browser-in-beta, Internet Explorer 7, looks pretty promising, according to early reports. Got the same impression from SimpleFeed's Mark Carlson, who stopped by today. I'm not yet daring enough...

Bill Gates and the xPod

Posted by: Steve Hamm on January 27

My esteemed colleague Jay Greene broke the story in the BusinessWeek print edition this week that Microsoft is considering making it's own digital music player to rival Apple's iPod. There's...

Interesting New Microsoft Browser Feature...

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 27

... as imagined by Naval Ravikant: Made me smile, anyway. (Via Munjal Shah)...

The Google Pack Gotcha

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 07

I've been wondering about the real reason behind the just-announced Google Pack, a rather disparate mix of (admittedly good) software programs that are pretty easy to get elsewhere. (As for...

Bubbasoft? Puh-leeeze

Posted by: Rob Hof on January 06

It may be the talk of the blogosphere, but I can't bring myself to link to this wild rumor about a certain Seattle software giant's new president. You'll have to...

Why Was Google So Desperate for AOL?

Posted by: Rob Hof on December 18

I don't get it. Here's a company that seems to have everything going for it--absurdly high revenue growth and profits and a $127 billion market cap. But according to this...

Microsoft: 1995 redux?

Posted by: Steve Hamm on November 01

Today's San Francisco briefing by Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie bears an eerie resemblance to a fateful day almost exactly a decade ago: Dec. 7, 1995. That was the day...

A Gamer's Passport: The Pros and Cons

Posted by: Olga Kharif on October 11

Microsoft is at it again. Its Microsoft .Net passport efforts tanked, so the Redmond giant is now working to create another type of a universal I.D.: a gamer's passport. Last...

College tech recruiting surprise

Posted by: Steve Hamm on September 16

BusinessWeek published a huge cover story package this week about internal problems at Microsoft. This involved months of reporting by Seattle Bureau Chief Jay Greene. Microsoft refused to grant interviews...

Hey Kids, There's a Revolution in Retailing

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 16

Robert Scoble throws out an intriguing new vision of online retail following his recent visit with the folks at eBay's developers program: "For instance, check out fatlens.com. That site sells...

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Ballmer?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 28

At an analyst conference today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a choice comment. "We have won on the desktop," he said according to this account at CNET News.com. "Now...

From Longhorn to Vista

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on July 25

I suppose it's fortunate that Microsoft moved away from Longhorn for its next-gen operating system. After all, associating their product with bull might invite some unhappy characterizations. Then again, no...