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In an interview with TechCrunch this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer goes out of his way to avoid naming Google instead calling them "the incumbent."

It's always hard to believe pre-release hype where Microsoft is concerned, but if Windows 7 is as stable as early reports suggest, it could mean more companies bent on using Microsoft anyway, will make the switch, and when they do chances are they'll need to upgrade their hardware. And that could be an economic boost.

Microsoft's Zune HD might not be a serious iPod Touch challenger, but it's a huge leap forward from the original Zunes. That's why including pre-roll ads in front of their free apps makes so little sense.

Shaun Walker, chief architect and co-founder at open source vendor, DotNetNuke, defended his decision to join the interim board of directors of the Microsoft-sponsored CodePlex project.

Microsoft has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars lately trying to "screw" its competitors. It might try concentrating on making quality products instead.

A week ago today, something horrible happened. Something unimaginable. An event that only lives in our basest fears. That's right. Gmail went down...for *two* hours.

Sony has been trying lots of new strategies lately to gain marketshare, including adopting the open ePub eBook standard, but are they doing enough to attract a mass market and overtake the Kindle?

Sony surprised the eBook market last week when it announced it was adopting the open ePub standard. Could this move pressure Amazon to follow suit or is it too big to care.

For most of the summer, Microsoft has done a good job of capturing the lion's share of media attention, but this week Google took steps to wrestle that attention away.

Microsoft has certainly been busy this year trying lots of new things. I decided to give them a report card on some of the moves they have made this year.

Microsoft and Yahoo made a smart deal this week, but I'm wondering why go with Bing, a search technology that's less than 2 months old, and why for 10 years?

Turns out Yahoo! is more than just a Microsoft plaything. Today they will unveil a revamped interface that among other things enables users to update social media sites directly from the Yahoo! search Home page.

When Amazon deleted content from Kindle Readers last week without warning or permission, they released a firestorm of criticism. Although they backed down, the same day it showed the power the proprietary format has over Kindle owners and crystallized the need for open eBook standards.

Microsoft and Yahoo! are reportedly talking again, this time about an ad deal. It's about time the two companies realize they are a much more formidable check against Google search dominance together than they would ever hope to be apart.

Microsoft is pressing ahead with plans to open retails stores in the fall in close proximity to Apple stores, an idea I find patently absurd. With more of their business headed to the cloud, it makes me wonder what's next. A Google Store? Makes about as much sense.

The Microsoft hype machine was in high gear today as they announced Office 2010. What I saw didn't impress me much. More bells and whistles and not much else.

If Netbook users rejected Linux in the past why should Linux repackaged with a Google brand fare any better?

With Google announcing Chrome OS and Microsoft launching Bing and other cloud initiatives, it seems as though the two companies are reversing roles and attempting to poach on one another's traditional territory.

Lots of tears being shed over the shuttering of CompuServe, the venerable online service, last week but frankly I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

While Microsoft desperately defends its turf, the world changes before its eyes. Like any large organization it reacts slowly to change and makes incremental moves instead of fully embracing the new world it faces.