Nov 21 2008   6:00AM GMT

News roundup: Microsoft will not buy Yahoo!, MLB won’t use Silverlight

Posted by: YuvalShavit
General Microsoft news, The Microsoft-Yahoo saga

Here’s the Microsoft news we’ve been seeing around the Web….

Steve Ballmer emphasized on Wednesday that talks of Microsoft buying Yahoo! are “finished” after speculation started bubbling up again following Yang’s resignation from Yahoo!. But the software giant also lured an executive away from the struggling search company. Meanwhile, Microsoft may sell bonds for the first time ever.

Silverlight suffered a blow on Monday when MLB said it would move back to Flash, according to Adobe. That could be especially damaging, since Microsoft’s case for the rich internet application (RIA) framework relies heavily on its video capabilities and adoption by major players like NBC.

Speaking of the Web, you won’t be browsing it on a final version of Internet Explorer 8 this year, after all. Microsoft announced via blog that IE 8′s release date is now early 2009. Before that, we can expect another beta release in Q1.

Webxchange, an online transaction service provider, sued Allstate, Dell and FedEx for patent infringement. But Microsoft petitioned to have the suit dismissed, claiming that the features — built in Visual Studio — were based on pre-existing technologies and can’t be patented. The three defendants sought indemnification from Microsoft.

And the future is now! thanks to Robotics Developer Studio 2008, which Microsoft started shipping on Monday.