MICROSOFT

Google Doodle is a celebration of Alexander Calder and HTML5.

Apple's star device iPad is the undisputed leader in the consumer segment of the tablet market and is now on the roll to capture the enterprise tablet segment as well.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday as a profit miss from Caterpillar and disappointing sales from Microsoft overshadowed strong profits from GE and McDonald's and a new deal to help Greece.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday as Caterpillar's profit missed estimates, offsetting a strong report from GE and an agreement on a Greece rescue package.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday as Caterpillar's profit missed estimates, offsetting a strong report from GE and an agreement on a Greece rescue package.

Stock index futures cut their gains and turned negative on Friday as Caterpillar Inc fell following its results.

Adobe is facing intense rivalry from HTML5, which could make its Flash less relevant and in turn spell tough times ahead for Creative Suite.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.24 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.37 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.23 percent at 0927 GMT.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Friday are: Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices, Caterpillar, General Electric, Schlumberger, Verizon Communications, McDonalds, Xerox, Dover, FLIR Systems, Honeywell International, Reynolds American and Rockwell Collins.

Sales of Microsoft Corp's flagship Windows software disappointed for the third straight quarter, taking the gloss off better-than-expected earnings that were aided by an unusually low tax rate.

Microsoft Corp smashed Wall Street's earnings estimates once more, helped by strong sales of its Office software and Xbox game console, but its shares held steady on concerns about soft PC sales reducing demand for its flagship Windows product.

Microsoft Corp smashed Wall Street's earnings estimates once more, helped by strong sales of its Office software and Xbox game console, but its shares fell on concerns about soft PC sales reducing demand for its flagship Windows product.

Microsoft Corp reported a greater-than-expected 30 percent increase in fiscal fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by sales of its Office software, but profit from its core Windows product fell on soft personal computer sales.

Nokia fell to a loss in the second quarter as it faces tough competition from Apple and Google's Android-powered smartphones, and recorded a restructuring charge. However, excluding one-time items, it managed to beat analysts' expectations.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening on Thursday ahead of key weekly jobless claims data and corporate earnings.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Thursday are: Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Advanced Micro Devices, AT&T, Sandisk, Pepsico, Baxter International, BB&T, C R Bard, Western Digital Corp, VF Corp, Travelers Companies and Sherwin-Williams.

Tablets using Microsoft Corp software saw stronger sales than the high-profile Playbook from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion in the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.

Microsoft Corp is expected to post a 9 percent increase in fiscal fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by solid sales of its Windows and Office mainstays, but investors may be distracted by evidence of flickering computer sales, which are key to its success.

RIM suffered another loss on Tuesday when its lead PlayBook developer defected to Samsung.

U.S. stocks were flat Wednesday as investors obsessed over the debt ceiling. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16 points, or 0.1%.

Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) string of outage woes continues with another outage on Tuesday.