In an announcement which underscored that the upgrade to the Windows 8 operating system - which will be released this fall - will be much cheaper than what Microsoft usually charges for OS upgrades, the company said on Monday that customers running Windows XP or a more recent Windows version will have to shell only $40 for an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.

Microsoft's $1.2 billion acquisition of Yammer, which is commonly referred to as `Facebook for the Workplace', is an indication that the software company will apparently bring about a notable shift in the way bigwig companies select as well as use software.

With Yammer being a well-known social network for businesses, a Wall Street Journal report has noted that the Yammer acquisition by Microsoft underscores the fact that the software giant is apparently "trying to plug holes in its ubiquitous Office software."

Rebuffing last-week reports which hinted that Microsoft is apparently working on its own Windows Phone 8 smartphone first as a "flagship" device for the new version of its mobile OS, Greg Sullivan - senior marketing manager for Windows Phone - said on Monday that Microsoft currently has no plans to manufacture its own company-branded smartphone.

The reports about the possibility of Microsoft's own Windows Phone 8 handset started making rounds last week, close on the heels of Microsoft's announcement of its own Windows 8 tablet, `Surface.'

In a Monday announcement, which confirmed long-running rumors of a Microsoft-Yammer merger, Microsoft revealed that it had agreed to acquire the San Francisco-based corporate social-network operator Yammer for $1.2 billion in cash.

Yammer specializes in social networking for businesses, and offers Facebook-like features to over 200,000 companies including Ford Motor and eBay. Often referred to as `Facebook for the workplace', Yammer offers the companies a social network that has essentially been designed to be increasingly attractive to the employees.

With more details gradually leaking out about Microsoft's recently unveiled Surface tablet, experts are of the opinion that the device, which Microsoft is touting as a potential iPad challenger, might turn out to be a flop.

Two of the key reasons why the Microsoft Surface tablet is being projected to be a failure are: firstly, the underlying principle of the device itself is apparently flawed; and, secondly, The Surface's attempts to replace the tablet and the laptop which actually result in a situation in which it will neither remain a stand-alone tablet nor a notebook.

According to a new Bloomberg report, the much-raved-about Microsoft Surface tablet, which will run the company's next-generation Windows OS, would probably be a Wi-Fi-only device.

The report, citing two unidentified sources `in the know' of the specifications of the Surface tablet, has revealed that the initial devices - which will hit the markets later this year - will come with only a short-range Wi-Fi connection; sans any mobile-handset network connection.

Microsoft's June 20 unveiling of its Windows NT Kernel-based Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system underscores the company's vision for the future of its mobile OS; with the new software marking a notable improvement over its predecessor, Windows Phone 7.

The upgrading of Windows Phone 8 from the legacy CE kernel implies that the users of Windows-based devices will experience the same smooth functioning of the software across an array of products, including PCs, smartphones, and tablets.

In a recent statement, Microsoft has revealed that it has brushed aside a patent settlement offer by Motorola - which has been acquired by Google - in disputes which are threatening to stall the US imports of Android-based devices and Xbox game consoles.

The patent-infringement scuffle between Microsoft and Motorola chiefly pertain to Microsoft's ActiveSync technology, which facilitates the automatic calendar updating process on some Android handsets.

Software giant Microsoft has recently marked its foray into the computer hardware arena, with the announcement that it is developing its own tablet device - the Microsoft Surface Tablet.

The Surface tablet will comprise Microsoft's own line of Windows 8-based tablet computers, which will be designed and manufactured by Microsoft; without the involvement of any of the company's hardware partners including HP, Dell, Asus, or Lenovo.

At a press event held at Milk Studios, Los Angeles, on Monday, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer announced the software company had ventured into the tablet arena with its own tablet device - dubbed `Surface' - which will take on the Apple iPad.

With Ballmer terming the `Surface' tablet as a part of a "whole new family of devices" which are being developed by Microsoft, it is quite evident that the unveiling of the tablet underscores the company's new strategy, aimed at helping it gain some lost ground in the mobile market.

A recent TechCrunch report has revealed that software giant Microsoft is developing a tablet - which will focus largely on entertainment - in partnership with Barnes & Noble (B&N).

A number of reports from other sources - including CNET and The Verge - have also substantiated TechCrunch's revelation about the Microsoft tablet, with B&N partnership; with there also being rumors that the tablet will boast the Xbox streaming advantage.

According to AllThingsD's Thursday report, a forthcoming Los Angeles event, which Microsoft has scheduled for Monday, will witness the software company making a "major" announcement, apparently about its tablet strategy.

While some earlier reports had revealed that Microsoft would seemingly venture into the booming tablet market through its traditional hardware partners, the company has now reportedly decided to make a more direct foray into the tablet business.

According to a new Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, citing an unidentified source `in the know' of the proceedings at Microsoft, the software giant is working out an over $1 billion acquisition deal for software company Yammer.

While the WSJ source revealed that Microsoft is in talks with Yammer - which develops private social networks for firms - for acquiring the company, the report carried no indication about when the Microsoft-Yammer deal is likely to come through or formally announced.

In an across-the-board keynote address at Microsoft's 20th annual TechEd North America conference on Monday, Satya Nadella - president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business - chiefly tried to attract the attention of IT managers to the company's Windows operating system, pitching it as the best OS for building clouds.

The keynote address clearly underscored Microsoft's attempts to position Windows Server 2012, Windows Azure and server-side products as the most notable components of what, according to the company, will be "the era of the cloud OS."

In its latest forecasting report released on Wednesday, market research firm IDC has predicted that Windows Phone will overtake BlackBerry in the worldwide smartphone market and will outperform the Apple iOS to emerge as the second-ranking smartphone platform by 2016.

Going by the IDC predictions, the smartphone market share of Microsoft's Windows Phone - which barely had a 2.2 percent market share in smartphone shipments in the 2011 first-quarter - will grow to a notable 19.2 percent in