In today's podcast: Yahoo responds to Icahn; OLPC puts Windows XP on the XO laptop; and Sharp reveals fuel-cell prototype.

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It's IT Blogwatch: in which billionaire investor Carl Icahn starts a proxy fight to restart the Microsoft/Yahoo merger talks. Not to mention a bizarre German street performer...

Juan Carlos Perez reports:

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"Somebody messes with me, I'm gonna mess with him," says Robert De Niro, playing gangster Al Capone in one of my favorite movies, The Untouchables. That line popped into my head while reading Mike Manos' vigorous, occasionally-mulish rebuttal to my article last week with, admittedly, the rather provocative title, '6 reasons why Microsoft's container-based approach to data centers won't work' (and, yes, the even more goading kicker, 'Are you listening, Microsoft?')

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I've just put the beta of OpenOffice 3 through its paces, and found that the office suite can do just about anything that Microsoft Office can do, supports a wide variety of formats...and, of course, is free. Given all that, who needs Microsoft Office? Check out my blog for details and screenshots.

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KOS, GREECE -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates showed off a Microsoft Research project at his annual CEO Summit today called TouchWall.

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Earthlink partnership with Philly crashes and burns, defeated by mocha lattes and Big Macs

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When I recently explained one of the many reasons why I prefer desktop Linux to Windows, even over my favorite desktop Windows, XP SP3, I got a lot of people telling me I was full of hooey because I barely even mentioned Mac OS X.

Good enough, here's my take on Apple's Mac OS X.

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I'm a long-time Outlook user, and I've tried more add-ins than I care to count. I just started using a free one called Xobni, and I'm here to report it's the best add-in I've ever tried. This is one of the few that actually delivers, and does it in a big way. I've got details in my blog.

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Dear me. Just because I recently talked about Windows XP SP3's virtues and vices, some people seem to think I've turned away from my beloved Linux systems. Nope, I'm still a rock-solid Linux desktop user.

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Worried about the explosive growth of Linux on inexpensive, ultra-portable PCs like the Asus Eee PC, Microsoft has launched a campaign to offer Windows XP at steep discounts to makers of low-cost portables. Insider documents reveal that Microsoft is also trying to make sure those portables don't become so powerful that they cannibalize sales from higher-end Windows PCs.

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