Business

When news broke last week that the U.S. would provide $5 billion in financing to cash-strapped automotive suppliers, the overall message was clear: The government is trying to prevent the collapse of the domestic auto industry and the Big Three automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) by ensuring that their top (or Tier 1) suppliers will receive the billions in payments owed to them by the Big Three. But the American public should remember that in this globalized economy, some of these TARP funds will eventually wind up at auto-parts suppliers in China, Europe, Indonesia, Thailand and elsewhere.

Microsoft has not provided details about its retail store strategy. Still, some retail vets are already skeptical.

When Microsoft laid off 5,000 people in January, analysts and pundits pointed to plenty of reasons for the first major layoffs in the company's history. The obvious culprits included the overall economic meltdown, Apple 's continued success and Wall Street's desire to see a leaner Microsoft. But the real cause of the layoffs can be summed up in a single word: netbooks.

Legendary CEOs like Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs are almost impossible acts to follow. Most of the sequels have disappointed the stock market, with some flopping so badly that they were scrapped to make room for the return of the star attraction.

Nortel Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday to allow the financially struggling company to reorganize. What does this news mean for Nortel's future? Read on to find out.

There's no shortage of forecasts for the coming year. We've compiled a slew of predictions -- including the idea that some unemployed IT pros may soon turn to life of crime.

There's no question that the open source community is a passionate one -- and one with significant influence on technology directions and options. We're way past the days when people asked if Linux or Apache was safe to depend on in business. Open source is now a mainstream part of the technology fabric.

What started out as a banking crisis became, in 2008, a story for everyone: retailers, consumers, auto workers -- and tech professionals. Though it wasn't business as usual, some big mergers -- like HP buying EDS -- were executed. Long-awaited products like the Android-based G1 "Google phone" were launched. Standards wars involving file formats like OOXML and hardware technology like Blu-Ray concluded. The battle against spam purveyors like McColo went on ... and on. Microsoft, moving into middle age and struggling to gain ascendance on the Web, was involved in many of the biggest stories of the year. The most influential entrepreneur of our time, Bill Gates, moved on to focus on philanthropy. Here, not necessarily in order of importance, is our pick for the top 10 technology stories of the year.

Is a career in IT worth pursuing? Do you love it so much that as an active participant in the area, you'd recommend your kids follow suit? Or will you be drawing them away with whatever it takes?

The makers of these 10 tech products -- the iPod, BlackBerry, Firefox, Twitter, Windows 7, ThinkPad, Android, Wikipedia, Mac OS X and the "Big Cats," and Red Hat Linux -- all have displayed certain amounts marketing savvy, common sense and fun-loving spirit in settling on their products' names. Here are the intriguing, surprising and sometimes predictable accounts of their creation.