Microsoft is continuing its retail expansion with a store in Costa Mesa, Calif., due to open up this spring. It will be the company’s eighth.

While Microsoft still hopes to one day rival the iPhone, the company’s Office unit is the latest part of Redmond to acknowledge that, for now at least, the iPhone reigns supreme. Microsoft is releasing on Tuesday a version of its OneNote note-taking application for the iPhone.

In a clear shot at Salesforce.com, Microsoft has rolled out a cloud-based version of its new Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 release. The online software targets what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the heart of almost every successful business: Sales professionals.

News Analysis: Microsoft might be down, but it’s not out of the tablet market just yet. With the right moves, Microsoft might be able to catch up to Apple and perhaps even overcome the iPad’s dominance.

Microsoft on Thursday released WebMatrix, a free Web development tool that it claims lets website developers of all skill levels create, customize and publish websites to the Internet easily. It also announced an ecosystem of 40 open source application partners around WebMatrix.

Microsoft Tuesday patched three vulnerabilities in Windows, one that could be exploited by attackers who dupe users into visiting a malicious Web site.

Microsoft is asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to deny Apple a trademark on the name “App Store,” saying the term is generic and competitors should be able to use it.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has ousted the head of the company’s server unit, marking the latest in a series of high-level departures as the software company tries to regain its leadership in the technology sector.