Google is often seen as the anti-Microsoft. But with Google's Chrome announcement it's clear that the the company cultures are a lot more alike than they are different. Microsoft's competitive DNA is embedded in Google's core.

Gmail has finally gone out of beta, after more than five years of carrying the "beta" label. But it's leaving beta not because of any great technological leap forward, but because Google has been having a hard time selling software labeled beta to enterprises.

Google hit the bad news trifecta today: The federal government has announced that it's investigating Google for possible violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act; Nokia says it has no plans to develop an Android phone; and YouTube is under attack from Disney. Could this be the day people realize that the search giant is not invulnerable?

Microsoft seems to have heeded the critics who were less than enthralled with the company's recent Internet Explorer ad that featured a housewife spewing vomit on her husband after she saw the porn he was viewing on his computer. The ad has been pulled from a Microsoft YouTube channel, as well as from a Web site launched for the ad campaign.

Microsoft has launched a new ad campaign for Internet Explorer that is either clever and slyly humorous, or obnoxious and snarky, depending on your point of view. But in one ad promoting IE 8's so-called porn mode, the software giant has crossed the line of bad taste --- by about three miles. I've got details and the video itself in my blog.

Steve Jobs is frequently held out as the model of a tech industry CEO, but a Harvard Business Review blogger says that his style of management represents just about everything that a CEO shouldn't do.

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it will charge $120 for upgrades to Windows 7 when it ships. But don't believe that price; I expect that permanent discounts will ensure consumers will always pay less.

Microsoft has essentially said it's betting the farm on Internet search and Bing. But it may be that it's real target isn't Google, but instead Yahoo.

Apple's penchant for secrecy could ultimately backfire --- Warren Buffet has hinted that the company might have violated the law by not revealing months ago that Steve Jobs was scheduled for a liver transplant.

Netbooks have been the one bright spot in PC sales over the last year. But there's some evidence that the glory days of the netbook are over, and that buyers will turn to more traditional notebooks.

Microsoft still suffers from Google envy: Steve Ballmer appears ready to make a bet of up to $11 billion that Microsoft's new search engine Bing can overtake its Internet competitor. At best, the bet is a long shot, and throwing away that amount of money could well do Microsoft irreparable harm.

The massive protests in Iran are powered by access to Facebook, Twitter and other Internet services even though the Iranian government has blocked access to them from inside Iran. How are the Iranians managing to get to the sites? Here are four tools and techniques Iranians are using to evade Internet censorship.

As the unfolding events in Iran show, the most important tool for those who want to fight for their freedom is access to the Internet. Facebook, Twitter, email and other Internet services help people organize protests, and give them access to a weapon even more powerful than bullets: information. If President Obama and Congress want to spread freedom throughout the world, the best thing they can do is support the so-called Internet freedom initiative, which would give $50 million for censor-busting technologies like proxy servers.

Windows 7 is clearly Microsoft's best operating system yet. But it's far from perfect. Here are four ways Microsoft can improve it by "borrowing" features from Mac OS X.

Every time Microsoft seems to sew up the netbook market, it makes yet one more blunder, giving Linux a big market opening. This time around could be the worst: Microsoft apparently plans to charge netbook makers up $55 for Windows 7 Starter Edition, about double what it charges for XP. At that price, buyers just may opt for Linux instead.