Microsoft

On a recent Friday morning, a classroom of teenagers at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School broke up into small groups and spent an hour not answering questions about Albert Camus's "The Plague. " It wasn't that the students were shy, or bored, or that they hadn't done the reading. They were following instructions: Ask as many questions as they could, and answer none of them. The kids wrote in rapid fire on sheets of butcher paper. "Why is everyone acting normal when people are dropping dead?"

Google's Internet search engine receives more complaints about websites believed to be infringing on Microsoft's copyrights than it does about material produced by entertainment companies pushing for tougher online piracy laws. A snapshot of Microsoft's apparently chronic copyright headaches emerged in new data that Google released Thursday to provide a better understanding of the intellectual property abuses on the Internet. Google has a good vantage point on the issue because it operates the Internet's dominant search engine with the largest index of websites.

SEATTLE -- Not too long ago, Google Inc. seemed little more than a pesky insect to Microsoft Corp.'s 800-pound gorilla. No more. As Google rapidly rolls out products, the company best known for its wildly popular search engine is muscling into the software giant's turf, including its stronghold: the computer desktop. Analysts say Google's aggressive ambitions could pose a formidable threat to Microsoft because it gets to the heart of what drives Microsoft's dominance: its control of the user experience through the Windows operating system.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - When Facebook goes public in the coming weeks, there will be a lot of winners. Among them is one of the stalwarts of the tech industry, Microsoft, which has a small stake in the company. But Microsoft has an even bigger bet on Facebook through an alliance between its Bing search engine and the social network. And that partnership is about to get even deeper. On Thursday, Microsoft introduced a set of changes to Bing that it says will improve searches by tapping into the expertise of friends on Facebook and other social networks.

SEATTLE -- When Microsoft Corp. said it planned to begin checking for pirated copies of its Windows operating system using the method it set up to send security fixes, even some traditional critics could sympathize. After all, piracy of Microsoft's flagship products remains a huge, costly problem, particularly in developing countries such as China and Russia. The Business Software Alliance estimates that 35 percent of software installed on PCs worldwide is pirated. Nevertheless, 18 months after announcing the Windows Genuine Advantage piracy check, Microsoft faces controversy and backlash,...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet powerhouses Yahoo and eBay are joining forces in an alliance that further defines the battle lines in an online brawl with rivals Google, Microsoft, and AOL. Under the multiyear partnership disclosed yesterday, Yahoo and eBay will draw upon each other's strengths in online advertising, payments, and communications so they can connect with even more Web surfers than they already do. Investors expect the deal to...

NEW YORK -- With Microsoft Corp. shareholders on the verge of collectively receiving $32 billion in cash from the software maker's special $3 dividend, investors are wondering what's ahead for one of Wall Street's most popular stocks. The July 20 disclosure of the dividend ended years of speculation about Microsoft and its huge pile of cash. It also attracted new investors to the company's stock. But with the approach of the payout, there are already changes in the marketplace.

SEATTLE -- If Microsoft Corp. doesn't do more to stem Internet attacks, the company risks further alienating customers unhappy with the multitude of threats already facing its ubiquitous software. Sell its own security products, on the other hand, and Microsoft faces a potential backlash from some of its allies -- the companies that now provide an extra layer of security for its Windows operating system, Internet Explorer browser, and other products. With a powerhouse like Microsoft becoming a direct competitor, they could get squeezed out. What a quandary.

SEATTLE -- As a vice president at Symantec Corp. , the leader in security software, Matthew Moynahan applauds Microsoft Corp.'s effort to make its Windows operating system safer from attack. But Moynahan is not so excited about the flood of help-desk calls almost certain to come when Microsoft releases a comprehensive security overhaul of Windows XP next month. His company's Norton antivirus software runs on about 100 million desktop computers. To make the new Microsoft system work smoothly with Norton, customers will need to download a Norton update.

With so many Internet browsers to choose from, who needs another one? Search engine giant Google Inc., that's who. The company's Chrome browser, released yesterday in a beta test version, is designed to make the world a better place for Google's suite of Internet-based software applications. Yet consumers could stand to gain, as well, thanks to Chrome's new features "This is about more than just the browser itself," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft , a research firm in Kirkland, Wash.

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will open a store in The Shops at Prudential Center in Boston, as it tries to catch up with rival Apple Inc. in establishing a closer retail presences with consumers. The Redmond, Wash., computer giant has so far opened 15 retail stores in the US since 2009, with the one at the Pru its first in Massachusetts. The stores feature a selection of personal computers running the company's Windows 7 software, as well as smartphones running Windows Phone 7 software, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 videogame console.

The West Coast software giant Microsoft Corp. is enlarging its East Coast footprint with a new research facility in New York City and its first retail store in Massachusetts, opening at the Prudential Center. The New York laboratory will be overseen by officials at Microsoft's Cambridge operations and is the 13th such facility in the country. It will have 15 computer scientists and academics, at least three of whom were formerly with Yahoo Research, who may look into such topics as the future effects of social media or advancements in machine learning.

A court in Germany ruled Wednesday that Microsoft infringed two patents held by Motorola, in a case that could affect sales of its popular Xbox 360 console and the Windows 7 operating system. The patent spat between the two companies centers on technology used for video compression that is owned by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which Google is in the process of buying for $12.5 billion. Following earlier complaints from Microsoft and Apple Corp., the European Union's competition watchdog has opened two separate probes into whether Motorola...

Microsoft agreed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Barnes & Noble's Nook division on Monday, giving the bookstore chain stronger footing in the hotly contested electronic book market and creating an alliance that could intensify the fight over the future of digital reading. The deal, which gives Microsoft a 17.6 percent stake, values the Nook unit at $1.7 billion - roughly double Barnes & Noble's entire market value as of last Friday - and bolsters the bookseller's efforts to make its digital business the linchpin of its future growth.

THE DEAL: Microsoft provided an infusion of money to help Barnes & Noble compete with top electronic bookseller Amazon. In exchange, Microsoft gets a long-desired foothold in the business of e-books and college textbooks. HOW IT WILL WORK: Microsoft Corp. is making a $300 million investment. It will take a 17.6 percent stake in a subsidiary being set up for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses. THE SIGNIFICANCE: The agreement underscores the importance of electronic bookstores as traditional booksellers and technology companies...

Books and bits united Monday as Microsoft provided an infusion of money to help Barnes & Noble compete with top electronic bookseller Amazon. In exchange, Microsoft gets a long-desired foothold in the business of e-books and college textbooks. With Microsoft Corp.'s $300 million investment, the two companies are teaming up to create a subsidiary for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses. Microsoft is taking a 17.6 percent stake in the venture. The agreement underscores the importance of electronic bookstores as traditional booksellers and...

BRUSSELS - Networking company Cisco said yesterday that it is challenging Microsoft's $8.5 billion takeover of Skype at the European Union's top court to ensure Microsoft will not block other video conferencing services. Microsoft completed the deal in October shortly after the European Commission, the EU's competition regulator, cleared the takeover. Microsoft Corp. hopes that owning Skype will allow it to better compete with other tech giants including Apple Inc. or Google Inc. But for Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, the Skype deal...

Microsoft is aggressively recruiting software developers who were working on HP's now-defunct WebOS, in hopes of getting them to write software for Windows Phone 7. And it seems to be working. Here's a report that 500 WebOS developers have already signed up. Microsoft's great, hidden strength has always been its excellent relationships with software developers. They made it easy to write lots of great software for Windows. If they can do the same for Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's bid to become a player in smartphones might still succeed...

SEATTLE - A plan by Facebook to acquire a broad range of patents through a deal with Microsoft is on its surface yet another twist in the battles over intellectual property engulfing the tech business. But the subtext of the deal is a different story, showing how two of technology's most powerful players are teaming to create a greater balance of power on the Internet - a market that has been tilted decisively in favor of one company, Google, for years. "This is almost certainly a move against Google," said Rebecca Lieb, an analyst at Altimeter Group, a research firm.