The social network that Google built is the latest of a startling number of much-vaunted services that Google, Apple, and Microsoft launch only to later shut down early. AppleInsider talks about what we've lost and what, if anything, has replaced it.

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Microsoft is throwing in the towel on the Apple TV permutation of Minecraft due to low user numbers, according to a splash screen that -- ironically -- has been displayed in-game for weeks without mention from mainstream media.

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Across the last couple years, Apple's new Macs have been roundly criticized for raising their prices using flashy -- rather than purely utilitarian-- new features like the Touch Bar, while delivering only incremental improvements in performance due to a reliance on Intel's processors. Yet when Microsoft follows the same playbook, suddenly high prices are reasonable, flashy but unnecessary features are a sign of innovation, and big performance gains aren't really necessary.

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Users of Boot Camp may want to hold off on the October update for Windows 10, as users are reporting instances of file deletions and issues with Intel drivers, both of which are causing problems for some using Microsoft's operating system on their Mac.

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At a Tuesday press event Microsoft revealed three new computers in its touch-capable Surface line, leading with the Surface Pro 6, a competitor to both iPads and MacBooks.

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The big five tech companies in the U.S. spent $80 billion on "big ticket physical assets," twice the level of three years ago, and much more combined than established companies like General Motors.

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Microsoft is bringing 'Minecraft: Education Edition' to the iPad, allowing the version of the block-based construction game for schools to be used via the iPad, giving educators another way to use the game in the classroom.

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Apple's remarkable success in iTunes and its App Stores bears striking similarity to another example of a platform developer investing in its own ecosystem: transit Value Capture. App Store Value Capture has changed the game for Apple, and is now fueling a faster rate of revenue growth for the company than all of its hardware segments combined.

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McDonald's new flagship store is making a clear effort to mimic the Apple Store. AppleInsider takes a look at the plan, and also a takes a look back at Microsoft, Sony, and others who have "borrowed" elements of the Apple Store aesthetic in retail.

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Every time Apple has entered a new market segment, the wailing sirens of punditry have scrambled to scream out their logic of how impossible it will be for the company to ever get established, to meaningfully change the rules, and to succeed commercially. And at the same time, those same critics frequently throw out the idea that Apple doesn't even have to try to succeed in hardware, because its audience of raving fans will blindly buy any overpriced, underperforming thing the company releases. In both cases, they're wrong, here's why.

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Bill Gates and Steve Jobs came together 21 years ago, when Microsoft agreed to invest $150 million in Apple stock. The deal shocked Apple purists, but it helped put Apple on a firm footing for a few reasons -- and made its historic run possible in the second Steve Jobs era.

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Microsoft has become the latest movie storefront to join Disney's Movies Anywhere, allowing for video content bought from online storefronts like iTunes and Amazon to be watched via Microsoft Movies & TV apps for the Xbox One game console and Windows desktops.

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Despite getting lighter, thinner and faster, Apple's iPad tablets and MacBook notebooks haven't dabbled into entirely new desktop computing form factors and experimental hardware concepts the way Microsoft has with its Surface business segment -- and for good reason. Here's a look at why.

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Microsoft is at it again with yet another Surface hardware release. But, as with the rest of the Surface line, it doesn't look like the Surface Go will make much of an impact in the markets it seems to be aiming for.

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Microsoft is angling for a bigger piece of the tablet market with Surface Go, the smallest -- and cheapest -- of the company's two-in-ones to pack the usual assortment of hybrid internals into a sleek reference design.

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Microsoft is reportedly developing iOS and/or Android clients for Movies & TV, a native Windows equivalent of Apple's iTunes Store.

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Microsoft's long-rumored "Andromeda" device will be a "pocketable" Surface product, further smearing the line between phones, tablets, and laptops, according to a leaked internal document.

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Representatives from a number of major tech firms will gather in San Francisco on Wednesday to address growing concerns over consumer privacy, driven to the forefront by new European regulations and public uproar over scandals like Cambridge Analytica.

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Microsoft on Tuesday issued a new preview of the next Office for Mac, intended only for commercial clients in its volume purchase program.

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Microsoft is reportedly looking to challenge Apple head-on in the tablet market by once again producing a cheaper Surface option, which would compete against Apple's $329 entry-level iPad.

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