microsoft office

Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street: smartphones and software, discount brokers and airbeds, and would you like a side of fries with that?

I'm no Apple hater, but I don't see the appeal of its expensive new iPad. Clearly, I'm in the minority here -- Apple sold 3 million of them in a single weekend -- but allow me to explain.

What terrifies a man as smart and successful as Bill Gates? What's the real reason for his early retirement? These two words.

For the past 14 years, Microsoft has kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with a a keynote address that set the tone for the exposition where tech companies showcase their latest wares. But Microsoft is announcing that next month's show will be its last.

Microsoft's next quarterly report arrives Thursday, and it's hard to get too excited. It's still the world's largest software company, and it's growing. It just happens to be as sexy as Abe Vigoda. But Microsoft could still innovate its way out of its slump. Here are four things we'd love to hear Microsoft say on Thursday.

Google recently announced the launch of the Chromebook: a notebook PC loaded with its Chrome Web browser as a bare-bones operating system. This Web-based portable is a direct attack on Microsoft's core businesses: the Windows OS and the Office suite. But how much of a threat is it?

Investors are buying into the meme that Windows is dying -- and therefore Microsoft is as well. While tablets are clearly cutting into the giant's core PC business, Microsoft is also showing remarkable agility in building new franchises for the future, the Kinect for one.

Microsoft has unveiled the initial lineup of smartphones that will use its new mobile OS. Analysts seem impressed, but they warn that the software giant has a huge task ahead to lure consumers away from Apple iPhones and Google Android-powered handsets.

Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer's not-so-secret meeting with Abode CEO Shantanu Narayen to discuss a joint battle strategy against Apple raised the tantalizing possibility of an Adobe buyout. That deal wouldn't just be good for Microsoft, it would be good for the future of the Web overall.

Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) is preparing to offer a free, web-based version of its popular Office software suite next week, according to the Financial Times. Microsoft is targeting Google (GOOG), which has aggressively pushed into the web-based software space with its Google Docs product. It's...