Microsoft: All Kinds of Cross-winds

So, Microsoft today says it will start to tip-toe into letting businesses use Office applications over the Web -- just as details from a class action lawsuit over Vista are bubbling up and showing why Vista is so bad. Vista is apparently so bad, Microsoft has had to make historic price cuts to move the operating system. At the same time, Asus is creating a ton of excitement for its cheap little EeePC computers -- which may become the first successful computer line to run on a Linux-based (i.e., not from Microsoft) operating system.

While all that is going on, CEO Steve Ballmer is over at CeBIT, the giant trade show in Hanover, Germany, where he told reporters that Microsoft's bid for Yahoo makes sense at the price Microsoft said it is willing to pay. Since he's over there in Europe, where the European Commission is on Microsoft's tail like a hound after a rabbit, Ballmer let folks know that he thinks Microsoft has made fixes that will keep it out of trouble on the continent.

Ah yes -- Microsoft also settled a patent suit with a company called Visto, which claimed Microsoft infringes on its patents for mobile email. Visto will get "cash and non-cash consideration," which is all the lawyers will say.

Some Mondays are better than others, huh?

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