Worried about the explosive growth of Linux on inexpensive, ultra-portable PCs like the Asus Eee PC, Microsoft has launched a campaign to offer Windows XP at steep discounts to makers of low-cost portables. Insider documents reveal that Microsoft is also trying to make sure those portables don't become so powerful that they cannibalize sales from higher-end Windows PCs.

Apple may be the darling of the hipper-than-thou crowd, but when it comes to climate change, it has one of the worse environmental records of any tech company, according to a new survey. Microsoft beats it by a considerable margin, and IBM is best of all the techs. I have all the results in my blog.

If the rumors are true, and Microsoft is indeed considering buying Facebook, Google can start the celebration now. Buying Facebook would hurt, not help Microsoft's battle with its online rival, and end up being billions of dollars badly spent.

The first legal home PCs just went up for sale in Cuba, and it should be no surprise that they're Windows XP-based, not Macs. Macs or Mac-alikes would be far too pricy for cash-starved Cubans, who pay just under $800 for the machines. No Vista, either: The hardware required to run it costs too much money.

Back in March, Apple began tricking Windows users into downloading Safari via a method that Mozilla CEO John Lilly said "borders on malware distribution practices." Malware or not, the scheme paid off for Apple, tripling the use of Safari on Windows in a single month.

Windows users have long felt that Mac owners looked down their noses at them. Now a marketing survey shows that's true: It found that Mac owners feel superior to PC users. Among other oddball facts, it also discovered that they're more likely than PC owners to whiten their teeth.

Microsoft recently has been getting a lot of press for its COFEE investigative tool to help police officers gather digital evidence. The device is being used by 2,000 officers in 15 countries, reports the Seattle Times. But Microsoft won't reveal exactly which countries use the tool --- and it's not clear why.

Think Apple has a monopoly on clever, entertaining ads bashing the competition? Think again. A new Lenovo ad cleverly shows why the Lenovo X300 is sleeker and more useful than the Macbook Air. I've got the video in my blog.

This weekend I came face to face with one of the real reasons Vista sales have been flagging: My 18-year-old son and I could barely set up a new Vista machine for my 80-something father. If two techies struggle to get Vista working, Microsoft is in trouble.

Steve Ballmer must take elocution lessons from President Bush: Microsoft today backed away from Ballmer's comments that Microsoft would consider extending the life of XP if customers asked for it. I guess it's just one more example of Ballmer suffering from foot-in-mouth disease.

Steve Ballmer today hinted that Microsoft will indefinitely extend the life of XP, and not end it by June 30, as the company had previously said. Does this mean that Microsoft is throwing in the towel on Vista?

Microsoft made it clear today: Its future is not in Windows or Office. Instead, it's in the Internet and computing clouds. If it can deliver on the promise of its just-announced Live Mesh, the company will be able to fight off Google, and leave Apple in the dust.

Microsoft is most likely banking on being saved by Windows 7, after its stumble with Vista. But there are early indications that Windows 7 won't be the savior that Microsoft has been hoping for.

Apple zealots have one more reason to hate Microsoft: A new study concludes that the Microsoft brand is more respected and more valuable than Apple's. It looks as if Apple's Windows-bashing ads haven't paid off the way that Steve Jobs had hoped.

Steve Ballmer recently confirmed what much of the rest of the world is saying: Vista still needs work. He admitted in a speech at Microsoft's 's Most Valuable Professionals conference in Seattle that Vista remains a "work in progress."