This Friday, Microsoft is giving you a chance to learn how to be more productive in the workplace!

Register to watch online this Friday at 9-10am FREE! https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032479051&EventCategory=2&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US#

If you've heard about Microsoft's recent purchase of Skype, you may want to get it now. It will be a separate division of Microsoft, with the current President reporting to Steve Ballmer, but Microsoft is about to make some amazing integrations with their products, and you'll want to get involved and learn how it works now so you'll be prepared to see how it will integrate with Microsoft offerings in the future.

To get Skype, click on the link here to download: Get Skype Now

Microsoft announced it was acquiring Skype for $8.5B, and I think it's amazing to see the flurry of judgments from everyone. Media says both good and bad things about it, and the bad things point out it's a bad deal. I even heard a Microsoft rep mention to a group of people using the word "speculating" about what it meant and how Microsoft would use it. The funny thing is, if you watched the press announcement, or read the official press release, it seems pretty clear on how Microsoft tends to use Skype within its offerings.

First and foremost, Skype is based on a free model, provided you are contacting someone who also uses Skype. That said, Microsoft plans to include it in it's other free offerings, like Hotmail and Live by allowing us to take advantage of phone calls with email. In the corporate world, we have the ability to message, video call and work on documents together, but in Hotmail/Live world, we only have the ability to share documents. This will be a good breakthrough at some point in time when Microsoft can offer others to work together by phone and video.

Xbox will also be a way to use Skype. We can currently watch videos through Netflix. We can chat and video call with others if they have a Kinect device. But what if we can use Skype where we get the technology of Xbox as a base to dial others who may not have Kinect? According to Microsoft, it's in the works.

Windows 7 Phone may soon get an app to use Skype thanks to this acquisition. And since the Windows 7 phone allows us to view our Work information on our phone, at some point we can call others through Skype and discuss documents. 

Speaking of work, we may soon see that we can call others on Skype directly through Outlook in the near future. And we can also use Skype as a phone communication for connecting through Microsoft's latest product for business called Lync, which uses instant messaging capabilities and web conferencing in one.

I personally think it's a great move forward for Microsoft and I look forward to seeing how this evolves in the coming months!

Join us May 13th in celebrating our new syndicated radio show launch of the Microsoft Princess Insider! It's a weekly radio show that will talk all things Microsoft featuring The Microsoft Princess! View and register here

Starting May 17th, a new radio show, called The Microsoft Princess Insider, will air weekly on VoiceAmerica. VoiceAmerica is the world's largest internet radio station.

This will be a weekly show, airing live on Tuesdays at 9am for one hour, and will feature discussions on Microsoft products and their best use for both the home and business.

More details to post shortly. 

I've been anxiously awaiting this announcement! Microsoft is launching a new software that will actually turn your Outlook into a sales tracking tool! Sure CRM has been available for the past 10 years, but this version is the MOST amazing one I've seen (and I've seen the competition) and sure to be a hit. The best part is that I get to demonstrate the final version BEFORE the global launch to anyone who attends our event Jan 19th!

So join me Jan 19th at Microsoft in New York City to see this amazing software in action. Click here for more information

Saturday afternoon at 4pm, Steve Ballmer pulled the plug on the opportunity to walk away with Yahoo. This decision came after talks Saturday morning between both parties.

So what happened? Couple of things. Microsoft was getting pressure not to impose itself on Yahoo in fear its stock would plummet and it would spend too much time rebuilding its image. And Jerry Yang, co-founder and CEO of Yahoo refused to take a price lower than $37/share. Yang knew all along Microsoft would never up its offer that much, and he certainly wasn't going to give it in to Microsoft so easily.

Next Steps: It's going to be interesting to see what happens. Yahoo's stock at this moment of my writing is down 20%. It's going to be tough to bounce back because Yahoo hasn't announced a clear plan or other sustainable buyer. Those of you who own Yahoo stock hopefully bought low so you won't see an immediate loss. My suspicion at this point is that Microsoft waits until Yang comes crawling back, or at least waits a couple of months to see what happens. Overall I think the deal is inevitable, but it ill take some time to let the dust settle and then Microsoft will either lower it's initial bid offer or come back with the same dollar value.

Microsoft announced that Windows XP will still be available after June 30, 2008. Don't breathe a sigh of relief yet.

This announcement is only applicable to the cheapest computers (<$500) and will only be available on a home edition.

Those of you who think you can buy one and upgrade to Business version later to get around this are mistaken. You can only upgrade to a business version if you have a business version. And the full price of software gets expensive quickly!

Advice? Purchase what you really need.

Click here to view the announcement

It's always considered noble to watch a man go down with his ship. But in the case with Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, I'm not sure I'd want to consider this noble.

As everyone is well aware, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to Yahoo. Yahoo, who's arch rival is Microsoft, tried to sweep it under the rug hoping the bid would go away. When it didn't, 7 shareholder lawsuits erupted and Yahoo went behind the scenes to try and corner Google, Rupert Murdoch & AOL into providing a bid. They came up empty.

The Yahoo decides it will meet 1 time, where ultimately Yahoo kicked and screamed and Microsoft sat there and listened.

Time goes by, and Yahoo meets again, only because they know they're going to a proxy fight if they don't. Yahoo agrees to be sold if Microsoft raises the price. Microsoft stands their ground, and in the meantime secured a company who specifically handles proxy takeovers.

If you hear about talks with AOL, it's only to try and get Microsoft to up their offer. And the discussions floating around about the deal going south because of a new Ant-trust law in China taking effect in August? Won't make a difference for Microsoft. China's President loves Microsoft and Bill Gates, and does a lot to foster their economy. There's no way China's President would interfere.

Yang is pigeon-holed to Microsoft. It's only a matter of time before he goes down with the ship.

In case you hadn't heard, Bill Gates will be departing from a full-time post as Chief of Microsoft mid-year. His departure is evident by the keynote speech given at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, where he shows video of his last day. It is a funny must see for everyone! On a side note, he does discuss the future direction on technology and its impact on our daily lives too. Click here to view the speech.

What does this mean for Microsoft you might ask? It will be interesting to see. There is no strong global business strategy as a company, and within the past 2 weeks 5 key execs have jumped ship and are in the process of being replaced. A few months can hold a lot of change, especially since Microsoft's fiscal year ends in June. Guess we'll have to see what the next steps are for them. One thing is for sure though: you won't see a downfall of Microsoft in the near future!