Microsoft has been waging a one-sided dessert war with Mozilla for years, sending the Firefox developer an Explorer-adorned cake in honor of each release of the rival browser. When Mozilla switched to incremental versions of Firefox, the cakes turned into cupcakes. Now, Mozilla is returning the favor, in honor of the release of Internet Explorer 10.

Gmail might finally have a competitor, in the form of Microsoft's new Outlook.com.

It's still in preview, but it's still worth a look -- especially those super-efficient quick views and schedule cleanups.

[bitsandpieces]

The Microsoft Surface may have made strong impressions on debut, but critics are starting to formulate their rebuttals. Citing battery life, high pricing and lack of 3/4G units at launch, Dvice takes an in-depth look at what may go wrong for the Redmond company's big tablet.

[dvice]

While game companies have always toyed with the emotions of eager gamers, IGN now has it on record.

[kotaku]

Microsoft has been busy. With the reveal of the Surface tablet still cooling, the software giant took no time off to present the Windows Phone 8 OS. Some of the new features include a greatly enhanced start screen, and support for higher-definition displays and multi-core processors.

[gizmag]

Microsoft just rolled out a new trailer for Halo 4 at E3, featuring new weapons and baddies, a live-action cutscene, and Cortana going a little bit Hal 9000 as she reaches the age when AIs start to break down.

Halo 4 is due out November 6.

[heyuguys.]

An administrative law judge with the International Trade Commission has recommended that Microsoft be banned from selling the Xbox 360 in the U.S. until a patent battle between Microsoft and Motorola has been resolved. The Xbox 360 was blocked from sale in Germany earlier this month.

Judge David Shaw said he arrived at his opinion because, "Enforcing intellectual property rights outweighs any potential economic impact on video game console buyers," and Sony and Nintendo can handle any extra demand from consumers.

That's probably not going to cut it for Xbox 360 loyalists and developers, though.

The Commission's final recommendation isn't due until August, and President Obama has the authority to override any recommendation they might make.

[blastr.]