As Ballmer departs, tech world awaits white smoke from Redmond

	Preston Gralla: Feeling lucky and looking to make a mint? Bet on Tim Cook as Microsoft's new CEO. | Microsoft declares Windows 8.1 ready for OEMs even though work's not finished
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	As Ballmer departs, tech world awaits white smoke from Redmond Mere days into the Steve Ballmer Successor Watch, guessing his successor has become a tech industry pastime. Read More   WHITE PAPER: Plantronics, Inc. Making Voice a Successful Part of Your UC Rollout You've thought long and hard about the investment you're making in Unified Communications. We've compiled ten steps to streamline the audio aspect of your UC deployment. Putting an audio strategy in place now can help you plan, deploy and eventually drive higher adoption rates. Download our workbook now! Read Now! In this Issue Preston Gralla: Feeling lucky and looking to make a mint? Bet on Tim Cook as Microsoft's new CEO. Microsoft declares Windows 8.1 ready for OEMs even though work's not finished Bookmaker handicaps Microsoft CEO race Developers flay Microsoft for withholding Windows 8.1 RTM Preston Gralla: Did Bill Gates help push Steve Ballmer out the door? Preston Gralla: Why Bill Gates Can't Save Microsoft Preston Gralla: Now that Ballmer's leaving, should Microsoft sell off Bing? Ballmer's exit revives demands for Office on iPad, Android tablets Dell commits again to Windows 8 for business tablets Microsoft will craft XP patches after April '14, but not for you WHITE PAPER: EMC Corporation   Top Five Reasons Why EMC VNX is Simple With the VNX Series, you'll achieve new levels of performance, protection, compliance, and ease of management. Gain high-performing unified storage with unsurpassed simplicity and efficiency, optimized for virtual applications. Learn More Preston Gralla: Feeling lucky and looking to make a mint? Bet on Tim Cook as Microsoft's new CEO. If you're a fan of longshots, a U.K. bookie has a deal you can't pass up: He's taking bets on who will be Microsoft's new CEO, and has given odds on Apple CEO Tim Cook taking the helm. The odds are long, but the payoff could be big. Read More   Microsoft declares Windows 8.1 ready for OEMs even though work's not finished Microsoft today declared Windows 8.1 ready for computer and tablet makers, saying the update had reached its RTM, or "release to manufacturing" milestone. Read More   Bookmaker handicaps Microsoft CEO race Adding insult to injury after Wall Street boosted Microsoft's stock price when CEO Steve Ballmer announced he would retire, now a U.K. bookmaker is taking bets on Ballmer's replacement. Read More   Developers flay Microsoft for withholding Windows 8.1 RTM Windows app developers today took Microsoft to task for the company's decision to withhold Windows 8.1 until mid-October. Read More   Preston Gralla: Did Bill Gates help push Steve Ballmer out the door? Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer may have been joined at the hip for their decades together at Microsoft, but there's some evidence that Gates may have been a key participant in getting Ballmer to resign. Did Gates help show his old friend to the door, or did he remain until the end a big backer of Ballmer? Read More   WHITE PAPER: Crittercism   Getting Agnostic about Mobile Devices Businesses pay an increasingly high price when it comes to mobile app failure. This paper offers proactive steps to: - Accurately measure an app's performance – downloads don't cut it - Design, develop and test for mobile app performance - Deploy preventive maintenance to reduce failure - Calculate the cost of mobile app failure Read more! Preston Gralla: Why Bill Gates Can't Save Microsoft CEO Ballmer and his predecessor shared a vision of how Microsoft could stay on top by focusing on Windows. Read More   Preston Gralla: Now that Ballmer's leaving, should Microsoft sell off Bing? With Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the way out, there are increasing calls for other dramatic changes at Microsoft, including selling off its money-losing Bing search engine. Should Microsoft sell off Bing, or would doing that do serious harm to Microsoft's future? Read More   Ballmer's exit revives demands for Office on iPad, Android tablets Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's announcement last week that he will step aside in the next 12 months has renewed calls by analysts that the company offer Office on Apple's iPad and tablets powered by Google's Android. Read More   Dell commits again to Windows 8 for business tablets Windows 8 may be seeing sluggish demand, but Dell believes its the best OS for business tablets and plans to roll out more products built with the operating system later this year, a senior executive said Tuesday. Read More   Microsoft will craft XP patches after April '14, but not for you Just because Microsoft doesn't plan on giving Windows XP patches to the public after April 8, 2014, doesn't mean it's going to stop making those patches. Read More
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