Shares in the internet portal firm Yahoo have leapt 10% on rumours that Microsoft is considering a second attempt at a takeover.

Change is good, says Microsoft, especially when it comes to the Windows Start Menu.

It's the first time since 1996 that IBM closed ahead of Microsoft. Microsoft was worth three times as much as IBM in 2000.

As Microsoft says, Metro is "touch first." You can use it with a keyboard and mouse, but any Windows 8 PC that doesn't have a touchscreen is going to feel a tad retro.

The beauty of these system-on-chip architectures is that they can be placed in very tight spaces. This obviously impacts case designs.

Microsoft is realizing that the "feel" of touch to the user is more important than simple hardware performance. It's also testing manufacturers' bezel designs, graphics setups and screen cover glass in an attempt to make Windows 8 "feel right."

Microsoft has laid out a wide-ranging plan to overhaul its Windows software platform, marking an attempt to stem the erosion of its core PC software business amid the rise of touchscreen computing popularised by Apple.

Last we heard of Velocity Micro it was coughing up licensing fees to Microsoft for its Android range, so it makes sense that the company should have a few new products to make the most of that spend.

Despite being the only TechCrunch writer in Seattle, I don't get out to Microsoft nearly as much as one might expect. The fact is it's on the other side of a big lake and getting there usually involves a lot of traffic.

A lawsuit alleges the the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating system tracks users' location without permission.

Sales of PCs with Windows to businesses actually rose 8% in the quarter ended June 30, but could not offset weak demand among consumers, particularly in so-called developed markets, according to Microsoft. Sales of lightweight netbook computers with Windows fell 41% in the period.

Support for the latest UEFI specifications also means that American Megatrends' (AMI) Aptio core 4.6.5.1 is fully ready to support Microsoft Windows 8 and the key security and pre-boot optimizations anticipated in the next-generation version of the OS.

Judge E. James Gildea found that Apple infringes US Patent No. 6,658,146 directed to systems and methods for compressing images and US Patent No. 6,683,978 directed to image data formats, both of which belong to S3 Graphics. In the industry, that technology is known as S3 Texture Compression (S3TC).

ARM has said that within 18 months its Mali GPU will be able to match the power of Sony's Playstation 3 or Microsoft's Xbox 360, but that Moore's Law was not the only way to achieve that.

Skype Technologies, the Internet-calling service being bought by Microsoft, is firing senior executives before the deal closes, a move that reduces the value of their payout, according to three people familiar with the matter.

An official Nokia statement said he had left to resolve a "personal matter" and gave no date for his return. However, a Finnish newspaper quoted sources inside Nokia saying he had left because of differences over strategy and would not return.

The speculation comes a week after Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop described as "baseless" a blog report that Microsoft wanted to buy the Finnish company, which has been rocked by a recent profit warning and downgrades from ratings agencies.

Some observers think the company would be better off focusing all its resources on a successful smartphone portfolio first, then worry about a tablet down the road.

The chips will run applications faster and turn tablets into multimedia powerhouses. However, quad-core chips could be power hogs, and tablet applications may need to be rewritten to take full advantage of the hardware features, which could be a challenge, according to analysts.

The fact that Nokia's new chief had to deal with a long-shot of a rumor regarding a supposed buyout deal from Microsoft - at a big discount to its current valuation - shows how far the world's largest mobile phone company has fallen.