Paul Thurrott

Because how could it possibly be July already, this edition of Short Takes focuses on HP’s new PC as a Service scheme, an Office 365 outage in the US, Dell’s decision to kill its Android tablet line, Oracle’s big court case loss, Elizabeth Warren’s trust-busting, and so much more.

Because I said so, that’s why, this edition of Short Takes focuses on whether Microsoft should rebrand itself, more changes to Product Activation, end of life for Surface 3 and Band 2, Sony’s alleged surprise at Xbox plans, and more.

Because it’s the end of the world and I feel fine, this edition of Short Takes focuses on the real reason Microsoft paid so much for LinkedIn, Bill Gates wakes up to take LinkedIn, Microsoft buy a bot chat firm, Google employees fight sexism, and more.

Yesterday, Microsoft pulled the trigger on the blockbuster purchase of LinkedIn in an all-cash deal valued at an incredible $26.2 billion. This isn’t just Microsoft’s biggest acquisition ever, it’s one of the biggest tech acquisitions of all time. And it raises plenty of questions.

Because the altitude is killig me, this edition of Short Takes focuses on a new Windows 10 site for business apps, Google and Lenovo team to put augmented reality in phones, Surface Hub chief leaves Microsoft, DOJ backs Samsung, and much more.

Because even Satya Nadella isn’t moving quickly enough, this edition of Short Takes focuses on a misreport about “Get Windows 10” changes, Microsoft is not building a driverless car, excitement about coming Xbox hardware, Huawei’s plans for world domination, and more.

This week, Microsoft announced Office 365 Advanced Security Management, a set of tools that will provide organizations with better visibility and control over their Office 365 environments. Some of this functionality is available immediately, while the remainder will ship by the end of the third quarter.

In a bid to counter the Silicon Valley-centric nature of tech venture capital, Microsoft has created its own venture group. Dubbed Microsoft Ventures, this group will identify strategic and financial investments much earlier than has been the case so far, and will focus largely on cloud technologies.

Because Microsoft has finally killed all that was special about Nokia, this edition of Short Takes focuses on the Finnish government lashing out at Microsoft, China pirates unhappy about the forced Windows 10 upgrade, Microsoft’s ban of dumb passwords, Microsoft’s and Facebook’s transatlantic subsea cable, and more.

Microsoft announced this week that has awarded 12 recipients with Affordable Access Initiative grants so that they can help bring affordable Internet access to underserved markets around the world. And in doing so, the software giant is taking a decidedly different approach than its competitors.

Because Google is apparently taking over the world, this edition of Short Takes focuses on Microsoft’s Bing Concierge Bot, two weeks of Google v. Oracle at trial, Google claims that Chromebooks outsold Macs in the US in Q1, Google appeals French order to take “right to be forgotten” worldwide, Google patents fly paper for pedestrians.

Because the PC market is shrinking and I feel fine, this edition of Short Takes focuses on Google’s fear of Microsoft smart phones, Windows 10 Mobile is always behind, Microsoft expanding its Ireland-based datacenters, Facebook is accused of liberal bias, and Apple has invested $1 billion in a Chinese Uber competitor.