Before the iPad was such a hit, Ballmer didn’t have much nice to say about the usefulness of tablets. Now. Well, the Slate is back in the news. Whether it will be too late for the party remains to be seen.

If you feel so inclined, out can now download Microsoft’s Outlook Social Connector and see the Facebook photo associated with with e-mail accounts of messages you get.

Originally, Microsoft set the release of Service Pack 1 for Win7 as The Deadline. You would no longer be able to downgrade a machine to Vista or XP. Now, they’ve lifted the deadline.

Service Pack 1 beta for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are now available for download from the TechNet site.

CRM (customer relationship management) software is a big business. Microsoft will release their CRM 2011 beta in September to compete with Salesforce.com’s lead.

Windows Azure has been offered as a service since February. Now it’s also available as an appliance to "replace" servers.

Windows Server, and related tools, generates a lot of income for Microsoft. Windows Azure could negatively affect that income so Microsoft is shifting things around to keep the money coming in.

Applied Innovations has started "Applied I Labs" to give customers early access to beta test programs and new technologies. The Microsoft WebMatrix Beta is the inaugural program for Applied I Labs, with Applied Innovations offering free hosting to all program participants.

Wombat Security Technologies’ has released version 2.0 of its Anti-Phishing Phil online training game with updated graphics and content. Security professionals now have the ability to track the performance of their users.

Microsoft has agreements with various governments, they provide access to the source code for their operating systems and other software so it can be checked for security problems.