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In the technology aquarium, they were the brightly colored, fancy fish that darted around and drew attention to themselves. The bigger fish swam by slowly, patiently waiting for the tank to be all theirs once again. Well, it just about is. That's too bad, right? Small companies, after all, provide i...

In another step toward a more open approach to selling its software, Microsoft has agreed to change its licensing agreement, bringing itself into compliance with earlier court rulings and making it easier and cheaper for other firms to make compatible products. The changes will become available for ...

When it comes to choosing a database, size matters -- not so much the size of the database, but the size of the company. Whereas medium to large companies generally select a complex database and then task administrators and developers with building applications around it, small businesses usually ...

Even as AOL faces intense scrutiny surrounding an ongoing SEC investigation into possible revenue misstatements, the company is moving ahead with marketing initiatives designed to appeal to its members and partner retailers. One such event, a one-day sale April 16th that highlighted some of the ISP'...

Apple's Xserve is a well-designed 1U rack server that has won approval from trade pubs that often dote on IBM and Hewlett-Packard. But the market is already shifting from 1U rack-mount servers to racks of computers-on-a-card, known as blade servers. Apple can play the blade server game, too. It has ...

Intel faces a tough environment, marked by renewed competition from rivals AMD and Transmeta, sluggish sales of PCs, and skyrocketing Pentium speeds for which no mortal can find a use. With the tech world focused on buying less costly gear, is the world's foremost chipmaker in the twilight of its re...

Gateway has announced that its transformation from a PC retailer to a more diversified company accelerated in the first quarter. The gap between the company and its major PC competitors widened, but sales of its specialty products and home electronics rose. The company added to its string of quarter...

Last-minute panic drove millions of taxpayers onto the Web this year, driving traffic to several sites that process tax returns. And despite the massive spike in visitor numbers, top sites performed well, delivering pages in a timely fashion and staying available almost around the clock. Across the ...

Three of the best-known technology companies -- Sun, Apple and AMD -- have posted fresh earnings reports, and while none contained blockbuster successes, most were about on par with expectations. Taken together, the results paint a picture of a slow quarter, but one that companies were able to make ...

Some believe eBay is the perfect e-commerce machine, with lean operating costs, swift strategy implementation and boundless growth opportunities. After all, the auction giant has set the pace for a host of imitators and wannabes -- but as it keeps expanding and launching new initiatives, the compan...

Early this year, a half-dozen major multichannel retailers, including Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and Target, began collecting sales tax on online purchases. The transition came quietly, without much fanfare and, so far at least, without much fallout. Will this promising trend continue in the future, or w...

Providing a potential shot in the arm to the technology sector as earnings season heats up, IBM has reported a relatively strong first quarter, saying two major acquisitions and cost-cutting initiatives undertaken last year have begun to help boost revenue. The company posted net earnings of $1.38 b...

Search engine Google is virtually revered by the Internet community and is often profiled as a pure technology company that does not take commercial interests to heart. But those days are over. In the past two years, Google has inked revenue-generating deals with almost every major player on the I...

Amid widespread reports that Apple Computer is mulling the purchase of Vivendi Universal's music business, Microsoft may be about to join the fray. Published reports say Vivendi has approached Microsoft as part of its effort to find a suitable buyer for the Universal music label. Late last week, App...

Nearly six years have passed since Microsoft agreed to invest $150 million in Apple Computer and continue developing Mac versions of its Office application suite for at least five years. In the intervening period, both companies have experienced many changes, and after the agreement between the two ...