Stories by Shane O'Neill

Is your Windows 7 PC as secure as it could be?

From its humble beginnings as a repository for Office documents to its current role as a hulking enterprise-wide information portal, Microsoft's SharePoint Server suite has always been about content.

The business benefits of a cloud computing model have been well stated. You cut costs by switching to more flexible on-demand IT resources that can better handle the ebb and flow technology needs at a company.

Will Nokia team up with Microsoft to put the Windows Phone OS on Nokia's mobile handsets? The idea gained steam last week after Berenberg Bank analyst Adnaan Ahmad sent an open letter to both companies pleading that they save themselves by forming an exclusive partnership.

The term "mobile workforce" has been around for years, but in 2011, mobility will become even more of a priority for enterprises and vendors, according to a new report from research firm Forrester.

Microsoft recently announced that the Windows Phone Marketplace app store now has 6000 apps and counting. That's not even remotely close to Android's 100,000 apps or the iPhone's 300,000, but the Windows Phone 7 Zune-like interface gives apps a colorful and useful visual flair that's lacking on other mobile platforms. Here are 10 free apps that benefit from the Windows Phone 7 aesthetic.

You have to wonder if Microsoft execs were dancing the jig after hearing the news that business-minded Google CEO Eric Schmidt was replaced by 38-year-old co-founder and elusive search guru Larry Page.

Bob Muglia, president of Microsoft's server and tools division, yesterday became another in the recent spate of top executives to part ways with Microsoft.

This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas had the biggest audience since the pre-recession 2008 show, hopefully an early indicator of economic recovery in 2011.

Anticipation was high before this week's Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas that Microsoft would once and for all present a viable iPad competitor.

What are the implications if Microsoft fails or falls behind in the tablet PC race, which at its current pace, is a decent possibility?

It's always a challenge for IT departments to anticipate how corporate technical demands will evolve, especially when IT budgets have been as tight as a drum for two years.

In late 2009, when the unemployment rate reached 10 per cent for the first time since the early '80s, everyone hoped that 2010 would be a comeback year. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. After early signs of progress, economic growth sputtered this year and the unemployment rate sits at 9.8 per cent as we approach Christmas.

If you're staying at a Hilton Hotel for business or pleasure, you probably won't see evidence in the lobby that the worldwide hotel chain is upgrading to Office and SharePoint 2010 for its employees and business partners at 3,600 hotels.

Lync, the next generation of Microsoft's Office Communications Server software, was unveiled yesterday in New York City, complete with a surprise appearance from Bill Gates via Lync's video conference tool.