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Microsoft Imagine Cup Grants Awarded To Four Teams from Around the Globe

Student teams from Croatia, Ecuador, Jordan and the U.S. to receive funding and other support services in an effort to create world-changing businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Submitted by Marco Chiappetta on Sat, 01/28/12 - 2:55pm.

When discussing Microsoft, we tend to focus on new product developments, financials, or forward-looking company strategies, but an entity with the size and influence of Microsoft tends to have a much farther reach than just consumable goods. Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is a perfect example. At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that just took place, Microsoft Corp.

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Dying Jobs kept letter from Gates at his bedside

Bill Gates says Laurene Jobs told him of husband's 'respect' for him
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Fri, 01/27/12 - 9:23am.

Shortly before Steve Jobs died in October, he received a letter from longtime business adversary Bill Gates that moved him so much that he kept it by his bedside, according to the Apple founder's widow, as relayed by Gates to a British interviewer.

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2012's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries

Take a look at what was happening back in 1987
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Mon, 01/23/12 - 10:03am.

This morning we have posted Network World's sixth annual collection of the current year's "25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries," which this time around features technological debuts the likes of Perl, OS/2, SPARC, UUNet  and NEXTEL, as well as a geeky selection from popular cultural such as the starts of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "RoboCop."

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Even hold-out juror believed Microsoft acted unfairly

But disagreement over harm to Novell caused hung jury in antitrust lawsuit
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Tue, 12/20/11 - 11:54am.

A fuller picture is emerging of exactly how close Microsoft came on Friday to losing its interminable antitrust tussle with Novell, a defeat that could have cost the company up to $1.3 billion.

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Forbes: "With Vaccines, Bill Gates Changes The World Again'

Magazine cover story details Microsoft founder's new life's work
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Thu, 11/03/11 - 10:45am.

You know that Bill Gates is devoting his post-Microsoft life and fortune to philanthropy, most notably children's health. However, if you're not familiar with the current details and history behind these efforts, as I was not, this Forbes cover story is highly recommended reading:

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Steve Jobs criticizes Obama, Bill Gates, and loathes Android in newly released excerpts from upcoming biography

Steve Jobs doesn't pull any punches in excerpts from his upcoming biography.
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Fri, 10/21/11 - 2:22am.

Steve Jobs first authorized biography, written by acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson, is scheduled to hit stores this Monday. Checking in at over 600 pages, the biography is the first-ever book about Jobs' life written with the Apple co-founders consent and heavy involvement. Indeed, in writing the book, Isaacsonconducted over 40 extensive one-on-one interviews with Jobs on topics spanning his childhood in Palo Alto all the way up to his recent resignation as Apple CEO.

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Steve Jobs chatting with Bill Gates in 1991

An intriguing and candid shot of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates having a discussion at Jobs' Palo Alto home in 1991
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Sat, 08/13/11 - 5:30pm.

Steve Jobs is synonymous with Apple, but that wasn't the case back in 1991 when the photo below was taken. At the time, Jobs was the CEO of NeXT and had been disassociated from Apple for a good 5 years following his mid-80s ouster at the hands of CEO John Sculley. Bill Gates, meanwhile, wasn't yet the richest man in the world and was still a few years away from entirely destroying Apple's market share in the PC market with Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.

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Book Review: Paul Allen’s Idea Man

I don’t read too many non-technical books, but this interesting piece of computer-industry (and much more) history – told by a key player – provides both a (mostly) fascinating read and insights from an accidental billionaire.
Submitted by Craig Mathias on Sat, 07/09/11 - 11:16am.

I've been absolutely swamped the past two weeks, with both a number of projects and a particularly vexing network problem, but I reserved a part of each evening to read a little of Paul Allen's autobiography, Idea Man. I should say from the start that I don't read too many works like this; I stick mostly to books on technology and such. Technical manuals have never been bedtime reading around here. Paul Allen's autobiography, though, is a page-turner, and at times a fascinating look into how we got to where we are today in computing and IT.

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Microsoft: Happy 36th birthday!

The company's story is an important part of Americana. But how much do you really know about it?
Submitted by Microsoft Subnet on Mon, 04/04/11 - 4:24pm.

Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The company's history is an embedded part of Americana. Its leaders are household names. Its products grace just about every household in the land. It's story is the stuff of American legend and myth (a scrappy startup that turned into an international powerhouse).

Smile worthy too: Steve Ballmer as emoticons

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Microsoft To Open Source Windows

Shocking Development Opens Dominant OS To All
Submitted by Alan Shimel on Fri, 04/01/11 - 9:07am.

In a shocking move that has stood the entire tech world on its head, Microsoft announced on April 1, 2011 that it will open up the source code to Windows. It will heretofore be licensed under the GPL. Will pigs fly next?

In the open source community many are doubting Microsoft's intentions in open sourcing their crown jewel. They frankly don't know what they will do with themselves without Microsoft to vilify .

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If you had bought 100 shares of Microsoft 25 years ago ...

Sunday marks 25th anniversary of company's initial public stock offering
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Thu, 03/10/11 - 8:52am.

It's Thursday, March 13, 1986: Microsoft, founded more than a decade earlier and already a powerhouse in the world of personal computer software, executes an initial public stock offering that will raise $61 million for the company and leave 30-year-old co-founder Bill Gates unfathomably wealthy.

(2011's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries)

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Microsoft Lync Official Launch in New York City

Read all about the experience happening live at the Microsoft Lync Launch event in New York City with special guest Bill Gates led by Microsoft Corporate Vice President and head of the Microsoft Business division, Chris Capossela and Vice President, Gurdeep Singh Pall, head of the Microsoft Unified Communications Group!
Submitted by jschurman on Fri, 11/19/10 - 12:20am.

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Steve Ballmer reveals his secret Twitter account

Microsoft CEO joins Twitter - quietly
Submitted by Jon Brodkin on Tue, 11/09/10 - 11:29am.

"Quietly" is not a word that would usually describe any action performed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But quietly is exactly how Ballmer has conducted himself on Twitter, a site he joined over a year ago unbeknown to most of the technology world.

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Bill Gates, Microsoft call on you to contribute to education reform

Bing Maps app matches viewers of Waiting for Superman movie with needy schools in the viewer's area.
Submitted by Microsoft Subnet on Mon, 09/20/10 - 6:15pm.

Bing Maps app matches viewers of Waiting for Superman movie with needy schools in the viewer's area.

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Facebook CEO Zuckerberg latest in long line of geeky Simpsons guests

Facebook CEO preceded by geeky luminaries like Stephen Hawking and Jeff Bezos
Submitted by Alpha Doggs on Thu, 07/22/10 - 1:43pm.

New York Magazine is reporting that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will guest star as himself on an episode of The Simpsons  in which he advises Lisa Simpson on entrepreneurship.

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Top 10 Apple iPhone 4 Press Conference Responses and Why Microsoft Is To Blame

A "bumper" case and hardware fix in new phones are most likely what's in today's announcement, but lets have a little fun making up some other crazy possibilities.
Submitted by Mitchell Ashley on Fri, 07/16/10 - 10:19am.

Here's a tongue-in-cheek look at the top 10 possible announcements Apple will make at today's iPhone 4 press conference.

1. A $29.99 “bumper” case available in August will solve the antenna problem.
2. The “bumper” case will be given free to all customers.
3. iPhone 4 purchasers will be given a $30 credit for the Apple store or iTunes.
4. The IOS 4.0.1 patch fixed all the problems.
5. This was due to user error – customers were touching End (hang up) when they believed they touched Call.

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Microsoft was against software patents before it was for them

In the wake of Bilski ruling, a look back at Redmond's evolving policy
Submitted by Robert Mullins on Mon, 06/28/10 - 5:23pm.

The U.S. Supreme Court today basically put off for another day the issue of whether software applications are patentable. In Bilski et al v. Kappos, the court ruled 5-4 that Bernard Bilski and his partner, Rand Warsaw, were not entitled to a patent for their software that helps commodities traders in the energy market hedge against the risk of price changes.

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Imagining a world without Microsoft

Article details how Ross Perot almost bought the company in 1979
Submitted by Robert Mullins on Mon, 04/26/10 - 4:01pm.

Imagine for a moment a world without Microsoft as we know it today. Remake "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Bill Gates instead of Jimmy Stewart discovering how the world would be different if he hadn't been there.

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Gates calls for ‘energy miracles’

Fireflies emphasize call for energy sources that produce no carbon
Submitted by Microsoft Subnet on Tue, 02/16/10 - 5:09pm.

Last year, Bill Gates released mosquitoes into the audience at the TED conference while he talked about fighting malaria. This year, he held up a jar of fireflies to emphasize his point that the world needs sources of energy that produce no carbon.

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Bill Gates isn't a fan of the iPad

In a recent interview, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates spilled his thoughts on Apple's iPad
Submitted by Yoni Heisler on Sun, 02/14/10 - 8:56pm.

Over the past few years, Bill Gates has been as big a proponent of tablet computing as anyone, and he once remarked in 2001 that the tablet form factor would be the most popular PC device in America within 5 years. It must therefore bug Gates to no end that for most people in America, Apple's iPad will be their first introduction to a tablet style device.

Or maybe not.

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