What's eating Microsoft?

Why does Steve Ballmer need Yahoo to fight Google? To ward off the edgier and sometimes free rivals nibbling at profits for Microsoft's core businesses.

Operating system

Windows still leads in market share, but with no special thanks to Vista, whose debut was minimally received after a maximal wait, and whose adoption has been moderate, at best. Mac and Linux, on the other hand, continue to grow their niche presence, respectively helped by the iPhone's cool factor, and both Linux's appearance on cheap laptops and software like Wubi that installs without extra drive partitioning.

Photo Credit: Microsoft