Why Gates won’t do a Steve Jobs to save Microsoft

Who do you think runs Microsoft? Unless you’ve been paying really careful attention to corporate technology news over the last couple of years you’ll probably reply: “Bill Gates.” And you’ll be wrong. But Microsoft would dearly love to have him back.
Most of the world still thinks Gates is the boss of Microsoft and the company [...]

When will gravity take effect on Apple?

With the price of Apple’s shares making it more valuable than Microsoft and the phenomenal sales success of the iPad, now might seem a strange time to examine the vulnerability of what now seems world’s most popular technology company. But it is a business whose strengths could also be its weaknesses.
Take that rise in Apple’s [...]

Dodgy Windows 7 key in ’stops working’ shock

At the end of January I described how keys sold for a few pounds on eBay were being used to activate copies of Windows 7. I bought one from an American seller for £6.50, typed in the code and watched as the software passed all Microsoft’s “Genuine Advantage” tests.
Today, exactly four months after I [...]

Apple’s bid for world domination starts in Tesco

Tesco has cut the price of its iPhone subscriptions. Beyond a few British consumers this might not seem particularly exciting news, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg revealing enormous changes in technology which in the last few days can be seen stretching from British supermarket shelves to remote Indian villages.
As with all mobile [...]

Obituary: The man who inspired Microsoft

d Roberts, the inspiration for the modern computing industry, has died aged 68. Although his name is virtually unknown outside rarefied world of technology specialists, his passing has attracted fulsome praise particularly from Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
In a statement they said: “Ed was willing to take a chance on us – two [...]

Opinion: Apple’s slide into censorship

The philosophy of total control which has helped Apple develop some of the most stylish products of the last two decades has a sinister underside. From ensuring that customers buy compatible products to censoring what they do on them is a small, dangerous step. That’s what Apple is now doing, and where it goes others [...]

Microsoft smartphone aims squarely at Apple

Not since William Tell put away his crossbow has anybody taken such careful aim at an Apple. In Las Vegas Microsoft revealed a smartphone strategy to developers which will see its “Windows Phone 7 Series” compete head on with the iPhone.
The change needed to happen. Unlike Apple which developed the iPhone almost from scratch, Microsoft’s [...]

SXSW winners featuring rainbows, unicorns and the number of calories in a G-spot

Technology conferences are usually pretty dull. Loads of men compete for free tee shirts and other gewgaws while failing to make eye-contact with the “beta babes” handing out flyers. SXSW as in “south by south-west” in text-speak is different. It’s more of a rock, arts and film festival with tech tacked on.
In fact the internet [...]

Game over for consoles despite latest power-ups?

Sony has finally announced the release of a motion sensor control to compete with the Wii remote which has been stealing sales from the PS3 games console for almost four years. It comes as Microsoft readies its own remote-less game controller for the Xbox and a competitor appears on the scene threatening to consign consoles [...]

Google takes a big swipe at Microsoft Office

Google has launched what is widely seen as a full frontal attack on the dominant and highly-profitable Microsoft Office software suite. The Google Apps Marketplace brings together a variety of programs and services from different companies to work together in a single ecosystem.
At the moment business software for, say, accounting, project and customer relationship management [...]

Microsoft rains on Apple’s iPad parade

Of course it’s just coincidence, but details of a new device Microsoft is apparently working on have leaked out just as Apple announced when the iPad would be available. But despite being billed as an “iPad killer” Microsoft’s Courier would be a very different beast.
If the pictures on technology blog Engadget are to be believed, [...]

The Cold War 2.0: Apple vs Google

Apple seems to have been taking lessons from the Cold War strategists. Just as the Soviet Union and the USA avoided direct confrontation choosing instead to use smaller nations in a battle by proxy, Apple has launched a wide-ranging legal attack on the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
But it is clear who Apple’s real target is [...]

1985 is back – and this time it’s mobile

here’s a strange feeling of déjà vu about 2010. In a large part of the technology business it could be 1985 all over again. Once more consumers and businesses are confronted by a bewildering array of devices that seem to do much the same thing, but not quite.
In the mid-1980s it was personal computers. Magazines [...]

Despite the hype Google Buzz won’t be killing anything much

Google is like Apple. Whenever it announces anything the world goes mad. Or at least the world’s media goes mad. It must be so galling for other technology companies.
Every launch attracts similar headlines. A few weeks ago the Nexus One smartphone was the potential “iPhone killer”. Google Talk was the “Skype killer”. Google Docs was [...]

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate sells on eBay for £6.50 instead of £229.99

Traders on eBay are selling hundreds of activation keys a day which allow users to install Microsoft’s most expensive version of Windows for less than a twentieth of its lowest discounted price.
And the world’s largest software company seems incapable of stopping the trade.
The Caledonian Mercury paid £6.50 to one of dozens of eBay sellers offering [...]