Stories by Shane O'Neill

In Pictures: When Tech Titans Fall from Grace

Here's our list of 14 once-elite tech companies that fell off their pedestals due to unforeseen circumstances, arrogance, ineptitude, or all of the above.

Can Windows 8 Give Developers What iOS and Android Lack?

Microsoft's future hinges on attracting developers to build Windows 8 apps. But by offering financial incentives, supporting a range of programming languages and allowing developers to write code once for multiple devices, those developers may soon f...

In Pictures: The evolution of the tablet PC

We live in explosively innovative times for tablet computing and mobile apps. But it didn't all happen overnight. Most attempts to build a tablet-like computer, going back to the '70s, were not successful. Yet every failure was a lesson learned that ...

In Pictures: Ultrabooks - the newest, thinnest, lightest laptops

Ultrabooks, a term coined by Intel, gave name to the increasingly thin, light, fast and (relatively) cheap Windows laptops popping up over the last year in reaction to the Apple MacBook Air and the iPad-led tablet craze.

Windows XP to Windows 8: Don't go there

A majority of enterprises have migrated to Windows 7 or are planning to do so. But for Windows XP holdouts ready to side-step Windows 7 for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, you are risking a gap in support, stresses research firm Gartner in a new "first ta...

Survey: Value of the cloud, telecommuting overstated

Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Cisco, take notice: Despite the near-constant hype about cloud computing services, most mid-market companies are still viewing cloud as a complement, not a replacement.

Should Microsoft buy Nokia? The pros and cons

A hot-button question lately in the rapidly-growing smartphone market: Can a company succeed at selling smartphones and tablets without owning the software and the hardware?

Browsing and privacy: How to not get tracked

If you're old enough to remember the Cold War, you know what an arms race is. One side comes up with a new weapon, the other side matches it, and then the first comes back with something even bigger and so on and so on. That also describes the ongoin...

Why Microsoft won't buy hardware to compete with Googorola

Chances are Microsoft will not retaliate against Google's 12.5 billion purchase of Motorola by acquiring a phone maker of its own, say industry analysts, mainly because of the company's rich history developing and licensing software and building an e...

Windows 7 migrations: Don't get distracted by XP, Windows 8

Enterprises planning a Windows OS migration are at a bit of a crossroads. There's a lot to consider.

How Windows 8 will challenge enterprise IT

Microsoft has presented the Windows 8 user interface and displayed various devices on which the next version of Windows will run.

Will Skype be another Microsoft license gotcha?

After Microsoft acquired Skype earlier this month for $8.5 billion, most of the questions revolved around how Skype's IM, voice and video calling features will fit into Microsoft enterprise products such as Outlook and Lync.

Microsoft's frenemies: The necessity of partnering up

How do you solve a problem like Apple and Google?

MS Office alternatives: Many are trying, few are buying

When it comes to deploying Microsoft Office alternatives such as Google Apps, Zoho or Lotus Symphony, enterprise IT managers are in a state of intense curiosity but are still not ready for widespread adoption, according to a new Forrester research re...

Microsoft-Skype deal: Three ways it benefits enterprises

At first glance, Microsoft's whopping $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype may seem like a pure consumer play to bolster Windows Live, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect -- or an extremely expensive way to prevent Google from gobbling up Skype first.