Elizabeth Montalbano

"Windows Live is under some heavy change, reorganization, pullback and general paralysis, and unfortunately my ability to perform, hire and execute was completely frozen as well," laments Niall Kennedy an outgoing Microsoft Corp. manager who was hired to advance the company's Windows Live strategy.

A company in Virginia has technology that can help airport security screeners tell if a container of liquid is an explosive as it passes through airport X-ray machines.

Microsoft is set to integrate Speech Server, its interactive voice response and voice-recognition software, into Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 in its plan to provide a centralized hub for corporate instant messaging, voice over Internet Protocol, video conferencing, and other communications applications.

Microsoft Corp. has not released its PowerShell scripting technology in commercial products yet, but a group of hackers has already written a prototype virus for it.

These days Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer has a lot on his mind and on his plate. As the "full time champion of innovation" Balmer has got to lead Microsoft successfully into a range of new markets, while ensuring that demand for its core products (Windows and Office) don't flag. But the CEO isn't balking at the prospect of stepping into Bill's boots.

Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said Thursday he would step out of his daily role at Microsoft in July 2008 so he could take on a full-time role at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity organization he runs with his wife.

Microsoft Corp. has decided to delete from its next version of Office an automatic way to save documents in PDF (Portable Document Format) after Adobe Systems Inc. threatened to take legal action.

Adobe Systems Inc. has threatened legal action against Microsoft Corp. in Europe over Microsoft's use of Adobe's PDF (Portable Document Format) software, but it's unclear whether it will be in the form of a complaint to the European Union or a formal antitrust suit, sources close to Microsoft said.