Software: Features

Google did its best to court developers at this year's I/O conference with a much-needed integrated developer environment, API for better games and the ability to more easily translate apps. Their allegiance will become increasingly important as smartphone and tablet hardware sees fewer dramatic improvements.

Windows 8 faces a number of hurdles in the enterprise, but the biggest reason it won't replace the current corporate champion, Windows 7, is simple: IT shops don't think it's worth the upgrade hassle.

It became clear at Google I/O this week that Google is quietly but assuredly implementing CEO Larry Page's strategy to use Google+ to transform the entire Google experience.

Google laid out its plan for the future of search at Google I/O, talking about a search engine for mobile and desktop that not only answers your questions but has a conversation with you and offers information before you even ask for it.

At Google I/O on Wednesday, Google unveiled a streaming music service that will compete directly with the likes of Pandora and Spotify -- in what is said to be a growing market, however.

Computers just aren't selling like they used to, and many critics, analysts, and longtime Windows users point the blame finger at one culprit in particular: Windows 8. Nobody's using Windows 8, they say. It's worse than New Coke, they say. PC shipments are cratering and it's all Windows 8's fault, they say.

Microsoft on Friday called some media coverage of its plans to update Windows 8 sensationalist and an effort to drive website page views.

Size (and mobility) matters. As desktop PCs lose ground to tablets and smartphones, and the Cloud becomes a more mainstream means for software deployment, desktop applications are being elbowed aside by mobile apps and Web services, resulting in a significant shift in the way software is created.

Big Data is poised to help marketers reach and engage customers and prospects in ways that businesses are only now starting to understand. Enterprises that don't embrace analytics may soon see embattled customers voting with their wallets.

Sometime soon, Microsoft will tell Windows 8 users whether they will have to pay for the upgrade code-named "Blue," and if so, how much. Analysts don't expect it to charge anything for the update.

One of Microsoft's top Windows executives this week said the company remains bullish about Windows RT, but analysts remain suspicious of RT's chances unless Microsoft makes changes.

SAP's Sapphire conference kicks off next week in Orlando, setting the stage for the company to sell customers on its visions for cloud-based applications, in-memory computing and mobility.

Microsoft's Tami Reller, the CFO and head of marketing for the Windows division, went on a mini publicity spree. But she didn't say very much.

BMC has agreed to be acquired by a private investment consortium headed by Bain Capital and Golden Capital, in a deal worth about $US6.9 billion.

Choosing open-source software is more complicated than picking traditional software. Is your IT department prepared to contribute code fixes to the community?

Vendors are falling all over themselves to develop smartwatches. Will this be yet one more example of Microsoft getting to a market first and then failing to cash in?

Just about anyone in the office can introduce open-source code into the company's IT infrastructure. Yet CIOs face real dangers if they're not properly managing their open-source assets.

It's been two years since Chromebooks running Google's Chrome OS appeared on store shelves. So far, Google's plan - to turn your Web browser into an operating system and websites into desktop-app replacements - does not appear to be catching on

Apple's record-setting $17 billion bond offer this week stood in stark contrast to the company's darkest days, when in 1996 its millions in notes were rated as junk because investors wondered if the company would survive a thrashing by Microsoft

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins' prediction that tablets would decline in popularity provoked debate on what will happen over the next five to 10 years to smartphones, tablets and laptops -- even wearable computers -- and what devices users might eventually prefer.