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For once, Microsoft does a better job than Apple in just getting out of the way.

As power costs rise and the progress of connecting rural areas to mobile services remains slow, Kenyan mobile telecom provider Safaricom has set up 100 base stations powered by solar and wind energy at a cost of 250 million Kenya shillings (US$3.8 million). The base stations are in remote locations such as Lokichoggio, Kapenguria, Kakuma and Lodwar in Northern Kenya, and are meant to increase network coverage and capacity countrywide, said Michael Joseph, Safaricom CEO.

Need to support users who only need to upload and/or download files to your server? Set them up with an sftp-only account.

The Nokia N96 ($775, unlocked) caused a lot of international buzz when it debuted earlier this year. Finally, ten months later, a U.S. version has shipped, but it wasn't worth the long wait.

For graphics software giant Adobe, this was a week of forced time off for employees as the firm copes with the fierce economic downturn.

Just about everyone in the world has submitted to Apple's whims when it comes to the iPhone ... but the world's biggest market has turned out to be a bit of a trick.

Is it too much to ask for tech writers to be familiar with basic wireless technology?

In just a few short days, Bill Gates will enter retired life and leave active duty as the head honcho of Microsoft. For years, he has told us that this day would come, but he was never willing to admit when and for a long time, I figured it never would. Gates is not only a workaholic, but someone who loves his company more than any other CEO I've ever seen and has a competitive streak that's second to none. If it weren't for Google and Apple, he would have been gone a long time ago.

Botnets have long used a variety of configurations, in part to disguise their control mechanisms. But as user-friendly but insecure applications continue to become available -- especially social networking programs -- hackers have an ever growing number of security holes to choose from. They're also getting smarter about building resilient architectures, according to botnet hunters who have monitored recent activity. Here are four reasons the botnet fight is getting harder, and what to do about it:

MIcrosoft says some "in-place" upgrades from Windows Vista to the new Windows 7 may take some users more than 20 hours to complete. Yes, 20 hours.

People in most markets Lenovo serves, including Singapore, China and the U.K., will be offered the company's new IdeaPad netbooks with either Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS, but users in the U.S. won't have that option.

You don't have to wait for iTunes to join the DRM-free music revolution. Plenty of online music stores offer huge selections of DRM-free music at reasonable prices. Even better, these songs are sold in formats compatible with iPods, Zunes, and most portable audio devices. Here are 10 sites worth a look.