AP - Microsoft Corp.'s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time.

AP - Google Inc. has jettisoned a substantial number of temporary workers in a recent austerity drive spurred by the recession, although the Internet search leader still intends to spend billions of dollars during the next two years on product research, development and acquisitions.

AP - As he's done for the last decade, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs took home his customary $1 annual salary in 2008, but the economic meltdown and Apple's falling stock price whacked half a billion dollars off the value of his personal holdings in the company.

AP - Even after sharply reducing its outlook for the fourth quarter, Intel Corp. said Wednesday that it would miss its revenue projection by about $500 million, a sign that PC makers and buyers are being more tightfisted than it seemed only two months ago.

CNET - LAS VEGAS--With Bill Gates now a Microsoft part-timer, company CEO Steve Ballmer is filling in at this year's opening keynote for the Consumer Electronics Show.

AP - Banking on the idea that consumers want new ways to tap their ever-growing collections of music, photos and videos, Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled a media hub Wednesday that lets people access and share songs, pictures and movies all over the home — and from afar, over the Internet.