• Opinion: Microsoft, instead of turning the lights off on XP, make it open source

  To state the obvious,, Microsoft is hugely important economically and culturally, and as Peter Parker (AKA Spiderman) was told by his grandfather: "With great power comes great responsibility." (Actually Voltaire said it first but he said it in French so that doesn't count.)

• In Pictures: Top 25 iPhone and iPad apps for business

  Apple's iPhone and iPad may have been built for consumers, but the folks in Cupertino correctly guessed that what's good for consumers is good for businesses. The only stumbling block may be the growing volume of apps available: more 140,000 natively for the iPad and over 500,000 that work on the iPhone and iPad. Here are 25 go-to iOS apps for business users, from travel planning to document editing using Microsoft Office tools to time tracking to getting a good night's sleep.

• Office for iPad not happening? Don't believe the naysayers, claims site that leaked image

  PCWorld's Damon Brown says yesterday's Office for iPad tease by The Daily is probably just hype, and he's in good company -- Microsoft itself said in a recent New York Times story that the purported screenshot was bunkum.

• OnLive's train wreck: Office on the iPad

  Demos, like appearances, can be deceiving. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, one of the media hits was OnLive Desktop, a service that provisions a Windows 7 desktop environment that includes Microsoft Office 2010 to the iPad over an Internet connection. For many, the idea of being able to run the full Office suite is very appealing, given some of the limitations of the iPad's native office productivity tools such as Apple iWork suite (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers), Quickoffice, and Documents to Go.

• What completed Skype-Microsoft deal could mean for consumers

  Microsoft announced today that it has mostly wrapped up its acquisition of the Internet communications company Skype. The $8.5 billion deal has received approval from the major regulators, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Union, although a few holdouts remain--Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan--which are expected to fall into line shortly.

• How to stop MS Office from always asking you to accept its EULA

  Reader Jean has a problem: she installed Office 2003 on her brand new Windows 7 system, and every single time she runs it, a pop-up forces her to accept Microsoft's End User License Agreement (EULA).

• Closer look at Microsoft 'Aurora' Small Business Server

  Microsoft has been paying more attention lately to the small business audience, as well as the cloud. With the "Aurora" Small Business Server (SBS)--officially named Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Microsoft delivers a solution that brings the two together--bridging local services and the cloud, and granting small businesses affordable access to big business tools.

• Microsoft, get back to work!

  Steve Ballmer assured analysts and the world that Microsoft is hard at work developing a Windows 7-based tablet to compete with devices like the Apple iPad.

• Microsoft Office vs. Google Apps: The business brawl

  In the business battle to rule the enterprise office suite of the future, Microsoft and Google both must overcome significant problems.

• Microsoft Office is just what the iPad needs

  The iPad is "magic" and all that, but it is not without its flaws and weaknesses--many of which I expect Apple will address with the next incarnation of the tablet device. However, for those looking to use the current generation iPad as a mobile business tool, Microsoft may be the hero with Docs.com.

• What renting Microsoft Windows, Office means to you

  Microsoft Corp.'s announcement that it would begin renting Windows and Office 2007 left many initially euphoric on the notion that they wouldn't have to shell out several hundred dollars for Office anymore, and then disappointed when it became clear that for most of us that wouldn't be the case.

Whitepapers about microsoft office

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  Microsoft Office 2010 upgrades: Four pitfalls to avoid

  From training worries to compatibility woes, fears of business disruption can spread when IT announces a Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade. Here's how IT can steer clear of four big upgrade mistakes. Read on.