Microsoft's to-do list in the software development space includes continued or new investments in multiple areas, including cloud computing, the Web, parallel computing, devices, and agile and distributed development, a company executive said in a blog entry on Tuesday.

Microsoft has purchased assets in a company that specializes in parallel computing, a function used mainly in supercomputing that Microsoft aims to develop for a broader audience, the company said Tuesday.

Intel has acquired software company RapidMind in an effort to push development of programs that can exploit the power of Intel's multicore processors, the company said Friday.

Intel on Friday said it is inviting programmers to develop programs that can take advantage of the parallel computing capabilities on its future multicore processors.

The dramatic increase in compute power unleashed by multicore processors will enable applications that blend virtual representations of the real world with information that meets users' contextual needs, Microsoft's top researcher said at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Thursday.