Microsoft

In a shocking turn of events, Microsoft has withdrawn its bid to take over rival Yahoo. The decision appears to be costing the Internet portal's investors dearly; yesterday, Yahoo's stock price plummeted $4.20, finishing the day at $24.47. It's a ... new low for a stock price fluctuating around $28 since Microsoft and Yahoo began their stand off. (Source: microsoft.com ) The nosedive that Yahoo's stock took seems to contradict claims made by CEO Jerry Yang that Microsoft's offer, at $33-per-share, substantially undervalued the company. The Yahoo board was holding out for a price that would have ... (view more)

Madonna is going online tonight and fans can catch all of her sexy moves for free. That's right, the Material Girl's concert at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City will be webcast live on music.msn.com/madonna starting at 10 PM ET for US viewers. ... (Source: microsoft.com ) International audiences will have to wait until May 15 when the concert will be available on-demand. However, select countries around the world will also be given the opportunity to view the live concert. Vodafone, one of the world's leading mobile carriers, will sponsor the webstream for their customers in Cyprus, Egypt, ... (view more)

Three major PC sellers have found a way to continue offering Windows XP after it's officially withdrawn from sale on June 30. Dell, HP, and Lenovo have all found loopholes in the terms of the Microsoft license which, in theory at least, imposes the ... deadline on supplying PCs with the system installed. Dell is using a clause in its license to supply Windows Vista, the successor to XP. The license means they have to sell machines with Vista installed as standard. However, they will be able to allow customers to downgrade their package. HP is going to operate a similar system until July 2009. In ... (view more)

Microsoft is experimenting with the idea of renting its software rather than only having it available to buy out-right. The scheme, codenamed Albany, would allow US users to pay a monthly subscription for a package of software which would likely ... comprise Word, Excel, PowerPoint and anti-virus software. Users in some developing countries can already rent Office, and Microsoft's OneCare security package is already available for annual subscription in America. However, this would be the first time Office could be rented in a major market like the US. The company believes the biggest selling ... (view more)

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is reportedly poised to join Microsoft in its bid to takeover Yahoo. The talks between News Corporation and Microsoft are hush-hush, but insiders say an eventual deal might see Murdoch chip in some cash for the ... takeover and hand over his Interactive Media division, which owns MySpace. That could mean MySpace, the MSN network, and the Yahoo search engine would all be owned by the same group. Yahoo had already been talking with News Corporation themselves, but only in the hope of forming a partnership. They are trying to avoid the type of complete takeover ... (view more)

On April 5, Microsoft sent Yahoo an ultimatum to enter buyout negotiations or suffer a prolonged proxy contest for control. Less than 48 hours later, Microsoft received a response: sweeten the offer. Refuting Microsoft's claims that Yahoo was ... avoiding a takeover offer and that shareholders were interested in an agreement with Microsoft, CEO Jerry Yang wrote, "Contrary to statements in your letter, stockholders representing a significant portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo." (Source: shareholder.com ) However, Yang is not ... (view more)

Microsoft's CEO Steven Ballmer sent a strongly worded letter to Yahoo's Board of Directors on Saturday declaring his frustration over the lack of progress on his company's offer to acquire the Internet portal. On Jan. 31, Microsoft made an offer to ... purchase Yahoo with a mix of cash and stocks worth $44.6 billion, 62 percent above Yahoo's market value. Since that time, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has been busy considering alternatives to save the company including partnerships with Google, News Corp, and AOL. (Source: businessweek.com ) However, no substantive agreements have resulted and Microsoft's ... (view more)

Think Microsoft is unfazed by the criticism of the now one-year-old Windows Vista? Doesn't look like it, given recent rumblings that the company is speedily working towards the release of a completely new operating system (OS), tentatively titled ... 'Windows 7' perhaps as early as next year. Those rumblings are coming straight from the the lips of company chairman Bill Gates, who recently hinted to Reuters that Windows 7 might ship as soon as 2009. That's a huge jump forward for an OS originally dated for the year following. In response to Gates' alleged quote to Reuters starting all the rumors ... (view more)

Hoping to answer a number of concerns about its popular Office software, Microsoft has released a slew of fixes meant to patch up some fairly significant holes. A total of twelve flaws, four "critical", have been addressed by the new update. These ... are meant to fix gaps that could potentially give an attacker the ability to execute code without authorization. Given the software's immense popularity, that certainly makes for a lot of systems. (Source: macworld.com ) One of the most "critical" fixes is meant to save future headaches for Outlook email users. Again, remote execution ... (view more)

It seems that Yahoo is simply staving off an inevitable takeover by Microsoft, while it desperately searches for a partner in a last ditch attempt to fortify its defenses against the hostile bid. As Redmond-based Microsoft prepares to apply more ... pressure to its rival, Yahoo has responded by postponing the nomination of new members to its board. (Source: mercurynews.com ) In a statement released on March 5, Yahoo announced that it has amended its bylaws to extend the nominating process to elect directors to its board. Problem is, the company has given no fixed date to the end of this ... (view more)