• Microsoft's $2B loan to Dell comes with strings

  As part of Microsoft's loan of $2 billion to a group trying to buy PC maker Dell, the two companies must modify the payment terms of Dell's current agreements with Microsoft, a document filed with U.S. regulators said.

• Windows 8 grows slow, XP just won't go

  Microsoft was hit with a double whammy last month as it made scant progress in either boosting the usage share of Windows 8 or depressing the share of Windows XP, new data published showed.

• Want the best tech support? Buy a Mac, says <i>Consumer Reports</i>

  Apple today again captured top honors in Consumer Reports' tech support ratings survey, besting other computer makers by a wide margin.

• Outgoing Intel CEO knocks Windows 8, predicts $200 touch PCs this year

  Intel's outgoing CEO has taken a few parting shots at Microsoft's Windows 8 as he explained a slump in both revenue and profits for the first quarter.

• Microsoft may backtrack on Start button in Windows 8

  Microsoft may recant its Windows 8 design theology, bloggers reported Tuesday, by offering Windows 8 users an option to bypass the "Modern" UI and by restoring the Start button and menu to the beleaguered operating system.

• Windows 8 is an enterprise 'non-starter' because IT sees no value in changes

  Windows 8 faces a number of hurdles in the enterprise, but the biggest reason it won't replace the current corporate champion, Windows 7, is simple: IT shops don't think it's worth the upgrade hassle.

• Apple CEO defends Mac line; analysts foresee iPad hybrids

  Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the company's iconic Mac line, which saw a second consecutive decline in sales last quarter, and promised that Apple would continue to crank out personal computers.

• Microsoft: Mum's again the word on Windows 8 sales

  Even though PC shipments were down 14% last quarter, Microsoft's Windows division posted revenue about the same as the last year, making up for slumping sales to OEMs with growth in long-term licensing agreements sold to enterprises.

• With Intel's Otellini out next month, no CEO replacement yet

  Just a month before Paul Otellini steps down as CEO of Intel, the company does not yet have a replacement.

• Microsoft must fight to remain influential, say analysts

  Stormed by a shift to tablets and smartphones, and threatened, even in its enterprise bastion, by new demands from workers, Microsoft may lose its place at the table reserved for major technology players, an analyst argued today.

Whitepapers about PCs

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  Cloud printing in the enterprise: liberating the mobile print experience from cables, operating systems, and physical boundaries

  In recent years, mobile technology has proliferated throughout the enterprise. Today, virtually no one in the workforce is bound to a desk to work, check email or communicate with co-workers and customers. Notebooks and personal data assistants (PDAs) have evolved into all-in-one smartphones, and broadband wireless networks make it possible for people to be connected where business takes them. At the same time, we’re seeing the rise of cloud technologies to manage data and software that used to run solely on PCs. This merger of mobile and cloud technologies is on its way to becoming one of the most significant enablers of business productivity and innovation in the past decade.