How much is Marissa Mayer paid for her new job?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Yahoo coughed up a lot of cash to land its hotshot new CEO.

Marissa Mayer’s compensation package could be worth an eye-popping $71 million over the next five years, according to regulatory documents Yahoo filed on Thursday.

Mayer’s pay package is by far the most lavish that the company has offered to its recent string of CEOs. On top of a $1 million annual salary and $2 million target bonus, the deal includes a rich combination of stock grants and options.

Mayer is getting a stock grant valued at

Microsoft Surface Tablet: 5 Questions

Microsoft's new Surface tablet looked good at its introduction, but questions about pricing, arrival, connectivity, and more remain unanswered.

Microsoft left a lot of unanswered questions after following Apple into the tablet hardware business Monday with its new Windows 8-based Surface PCs/tablets. The software maker introduced the new family of devices during an event in Los Angeles.

Microsoft said the new Surface tablets are meant as companion hardware for Windows 8--the most dramatic overhaul of the OS since Windows 95. Company CEO Steve Ballmer said: "We wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovation." Windows 8 is expected to be available in the fall.

The Surface brand was originally used for a tabletop touchscreen computer Microsoft launched in 2007.

Windows 8's delivery date: October 26

The latest tidbit is Windows 8's exact availability date is going to be October 26. (The last we heard at the Microsoft Partner Conference a week ago is it would be in "late October.")

October 26 will be the date Windows 8 will be available preloaded on new PCs and also to those purchasing it through one of the upgrade programs Microsoft has announced recently. Based on previous Microsoft statements, it also seems October 26 will be the date that Windows RT-based Surface PCs/tablets from Microsoft will be available via the Microsoft Stores and select online outlets.

Microsoft officials shared the exact date

YouTube lets people blur faces in videos

SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube on Wednesday began letting people blur faces in videos they upload to the website, which has become a major platform for sharing clips of dramatic news events.

"Today we're launching face blurring -- a new tool that allows you to obscure faces within videos with the click of a button," said Amanda Conway, policy associate at the Google-owned video-sharing service.

"As citizens continue to play a critical role in supplying news and human rights footage from around the world, YouTube is committed to creating

Apple has to publish notice that Samsung didn't copy the iPad

A UK judge ordered the iPad maker to put a notice on its website and in the British newspapers informing folks that Samsung did not rip off the tablet's design.

A U.K. judge ordered Apple to publish a notice on its UK website and in British newspapers informing the public that Samsung did not copy the iPad's design, Bloomberg reported today.

Judge Colin Birss said the notice should explain the court's July 9 decision that Samsung's Galaxy Tab tablets do not infringe on Apple's design.

The notice is to be posted for six months and published in several newspapers and magazines to save Samsung's image. Apple's lawyer tried to argue that

Has Intel found the Ultrabook pricing sweet spot at $699?

Intel might have finally pinpointed a lower and sufficient price tag for its Ultrabooks that could lure customers away from the primary competitor in this market: Apple's MacBook Air.

During the second quarter earnings call with investors on Tuesday, CEO Paul Otellini said that "we are very confident that we'll see $699 systems at retail this fall."

When the Ultrabook concept was first introduced with the promise of more than 60 designs in the pipeline, the general average price was

Firefox 14 unleashed with focus on security

Mozilla has released Firefox 14, the latest version of its desktop web browser, which brings new features such as safer web searches, new API support and full-screen compatibility on OS X 10.7 Lion.

The open-source browser update arrived for download on Tuesday, building on a beta put out at the beginning of June. A beta of the next iteration, Firefox 15, is already available for public testing and is scheduled for full release on 28 August.

The key change in Firefox 14 is a focus on making browsing more secure; for example, it uses secure Google searches by default to protect user data when a computer is connected to a shared Wi-Fi network. Mozilla said it will extend this feature to include other

Windows 8 moves to IPv6 Internet

Summary: It went largely unnoticed at the time but Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will default to using IPv6 given a choice of network protocols. Here's how it will work.

Like it or lump it, we're moving to IPv6 for our Internet connections. For now, less than 2% of the world's Internet population is using IPv6, but as the last IPv4 addresses grains of sands run out, Microsoft knows that its Windows users need to start switching over. That's why, starting in Windows 8, “Windows prefers native IPv6 connectivity over IPv4 connectivity, if both connection modes are available.”

In a blog posting, Steve Sinofsky, Microsoft's president of Windows, explained the basics of why we have no choice but to move from IPv4 to IPv6:

Windows 8 PCs, Tablets Arrive In October

Microsoft makes it official after months of speculation--computers running its new OS will be in stores in time for the holiday shopping season.

Microsoft on Monday for the first time revealed a shipping schedule for its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system.

The OS will be released to manufacturing in the first week of August, and new systems running the software will be generally available to the public by the end of October. The news was announced by Tami Reller, CFO for Microsoft's Windows group, at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto.

Enterprises will be able to start downloading final Windows 8 bits "as early as August," said Reller, who added that more than

5 things Marissa Mayer will change about Yahoo

Google's main products were driven by data, not art. Can the new Yahoo boss adapt that mindset from Google?

Now we know why Yahoo chose not to appoint interim CEO Ross Levinsohn as its full-time leader: the company got Marissa Mayer instead. Mayer, the head of the Google Search group and the 20th employee at the search company, will start immediately at Yahoo.

Google and Yahoo started as similar companies. Both were search giants, but at different points in their respective histories they diverged. The subsequent tale of the tape shows that Google's direction -- guided by strong leaders -- was the more successful path.

Here's what we can expect Mayer will bring to Yahoo.

Microsoft takes steps to drown Google Apps before it's too late

According to a new report, the company is doing everything from cutting prices to increasing commissions to resellers to stop enterprise customers from using Google Apps.

Microsoft might be a little more scared of Google Apps for Business than it's publicly letting on, according to a new report.

The software giant has, over the last several months, made several moves to stop enterprise customers from adopting Google Apps, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported on those decisions today. Microsoft has cut pricing on its cloud-based alternative, Office 365, as well as increased commissions it pays to resellers to make the prospect of switching to Google's service less palatable.

According to the Journal, Microsoft has established a "Google Compete" team designed

Signs point to OS X Mountain Lion launch on July 25

Apple will be holding "overnights" in its stores on July 24 to prepare for a July 25 launch of Mountain Lion, according to a new report.

Apple could be planning to launch OS X Mountain Lion on July 25, according to a new report.

According to 9 to 5 Mac, citing sources, Apple has informed some employees at its retail stores that they'll need to plan for an "overnight" on July 24. Overnights have become a key indicator that something new is coming to Apple's retail stores. Overnights allow employees to work outside their stores' open hours to prepare their location for the next day's new sale. Sometimes, that means Macs and iPhones. Other times, it's Apple's many other products.
If 9 to 5 Mac's sources are to be believed, this time around, it means OS X Mountain Lion.
Apple has publicly said that