Microsoft

People who want to take Office 2013 for a spin can download a 60-day evaluation edition.

The version available is the full Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 suite, which includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, and Lync. The software contains all the features in the paid edition, so you won't miss out on anything.

You will need a Microsoft account in order to access the download page, but otherwise there are no strings attached.

Here's how you can grab the free trial version:

Head over to the Office Professional Plus 2013 download page on TechNet. Click … Read more

It's something that might almost seem obvious.

But it takes someone of Steve Wozniak's wonderful unedited disposition to say it: Microsoft might currently be more forward-thinking than Apple.

In an interview with TechCrunch's affable rabid soccer fan (Spurs is his team) and forward-thinker Andrew Keen, Woz was very open to the idea that Redmond might have been spending quite some time lately trying to create more "wow" products than Apple.

Woz was moved less by Surface, it seemed, than by the idea that Microsoft was working on technology that made simultaneous translations. Yes, a lot … Read more

After Dell reported lackluster earnings today, executives made a case for the company's Windows 8 tablets at businesses.

Dell's earnings fell sharply today, with net income in the quarter ended November 2 sinking 47 percent to $475 million compared with the $893 million reported in the same period last year. Revenue was off 11 percent.

So, what is Dell doing about it? Well, it's trying to transform itself into a supplier of IT services.

But before it can do that, it's still trying to sell lots of PCs -- and now Windows 8 tablets.

Those tablets … Read more

Better mobile support and more desktop options give SkyDrive users a bit of a boost today, as Microsoft updates its cloud storage service.

The desktop improvements include the ability to share SkyDrive files with one click from Windows 8's File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer in previous versions of Windows,) and selectively sync folders from a Windows or Mac. This can help keep small-drive devices from filing up too quickly.

Android and Windows Phone apps have been updated, too, so that you can now more easily browse files in your SkyDrive. You'll also be able to control … Read more

Lenovo has bumped up the specs on its latest home theater PC but kept it as compact as ever.

Announced today, the new mini IdeaCentre Q190 is an upgrade to Lenovo's current Q180. And based on its features, it does qualify as a true upgrade.

The Q190 offers a 3rd-generation (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core i3 processor, a hard drive as large as one terabyte, a 24-gigabyte SSD cache, and as much as 8GB of memory. The PC can also be outfitted with Windows 8 Pro.

In comparison, the Q180 comes with an Atom chip, a 750GB hard drive or … Read more

Hewlett-Packard isn't overly impressed with Microsoft's Surface tablet.

Speaking in an interview published yesterday with IDG Enterprise, HP PC business chief Todd Bradley said that his company could "hardly call Surface competition," adding that the Microsoft-branded tablet is quite flawed.

"One, very limited distribution," Bradley said, listing what he feels are the Surface's greatest flaws. "It tends to be slow and a little kludgey as you use it....It's expensive. Holistically, the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has chosen to believe."

Microsoft … Read more

Former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky has sounded off on claims that he tried to take over the company's Windows Phone and developer businesses.

Hal Berenson, president of True Mountain Group, a company that provides technology and management consulting, wrote in a blog post earlier this week that he'd heard from Microsoft employees that Windows chief Sinofsky was waging battles over the last several months to take control of the company's Windows Phone and Developer divisions. His actions were turned away by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and other top executives, leading to his departure, Berenson claims.

Sinofsky rebutted … Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- It's been a busy couple of months for Microsoft, what with two of the company's more important product launches, not to mention the surprise resignation of its Windows chief just this week. But for CEO Steve Ballmer, it's pretty much business as usual.

In his first public appearance since the resignation of Steven Sinofsky, Ballmer did "the vision thing" for a Silicon Valley audience as he fielded questions from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman during a discussion about the state of the technology industry at the Churchill Club.

Ballmer got the Sinofsky … Read more

In conversation with LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman at a Churchill Club event, Steve Ballmer gave his assessment on Microsoft's competitors in the mobile space. "The ecosystem of Android is a little wild," he said, noting compatibility and malware issues due to the fragmentation that comes from having multiple variations of Android, on devices from Amazon, Samsung, Google and other hardware makers.

Read: Ballmer praises Sinofsky's "amazing contributions," sheds no light on exit

"Conversely, Apple's system looks highly controlled and quite high prices," the Microsoft CEO … Read more