Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is aiming to get its web search tool on more screens -- both on PCs and mobile phones. Although Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) pretty much dominates that space already, Microsoft wants its brand power in as many areas as possible -- even if there is no money to be made.

Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) MSN and its other online businesses used to be a pretty big deal. They sat at the top of the pack with AOL and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). That was before social networking and video sharing and ... Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Microsoft has brought in new blood to try to resurrect its fallen online operations. But it may take more than a transfusion to get the operations back on their feet.

There is some concern at Microsoft that it became overly focused on online software, like mapping, functionality, while allowing marketing to go to hell.

Microsoft really has three online initiatives but they may not be able to all exist together. There is the old portal business that competes with the likes of AOL and Yahoo!. There is a home grown search engine that competes -- though not very well -- with Google. And there is the Microsoft Live business that helps tether users of Windows and Office to the Internet and get additional interoperability and functions for software that is installed on PCs.

It could be argued that the search feature is the core of the online connection of Office productivity software and Windows operating system users. It is part of the overall efficiency of the Internet. So, search and Live can probably live together and be part of the same overall operation.

This leaves MSN, which has little to offer beyond what users get from AOL and Yahoo!. Since most of the services from these "portals" are free, MSN has to count on advertising revenue to fuel its income. And, as Yahoo! investors have found out recently, that is easier said than done.

Microsoft has two promising online businesses and a portal operation that is running far out of first place in that segment of the market.

Maybe AOL or Yahoo! would buy MSN. It is hard to see what Microsoft should do with it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Someone on Wall St. must have thought the Zune would not sell well. Or that Vista could be delayed again. Short interest in Microsoft rose a breathtaking 43% to 144.3 million shares. That is on top of a 30% increase in October. The trading days needed to cover the position based on the stock's average volume is now 2.5. That is substantial position for a stock with Microsoft's market cap and volume.

Microsoft's stock recently hit $30. It has not been that high since late 2004. With Vista around the corner, there is an impression that Microsoft's core desktop franchise will help. Although early sales of the company's multimedia Zune player have been slow, Microsoft has said that it is in the business to stay and is willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars on the product.

And Microsoft's statements about its Zune commitment seem true. It chased Sony's Playstation for years, and now there are rumors that the company's Xbox game console is outselling its Sony counterpart.

Investors are still left with enough worries. A run-up of 40% over the last year may be too much for a company with a market cap of over $290 billion. While it is likely that Vista will generate tremendous cash flow and that the Xbox is a formidable competitor in the gaming business, the future of Microsoft's online Live software initiative, MSN, and Xune costs are still in doubt.

And, those worries may be enough to cap the stock's rise and bring in the shorts.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

With Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) coming out of the dark a little and releasing its new search portal www.live.com to the world, will the world notice? Live.com features Microsoft's new AdCenter ad platform meant to try and replicate Google's success in the ad market as well as recruit new users of Microsoft's online offerings.

If the world does notice, it will be when Windows Vista is released, as I am sure there will be a million hooks into Live.com from within Vista. Microsoft needs to bridge its local software with the online world and Microsoft Office Live is a major proving ground.

Well, just how alive is live? Being the successor to MSN Search, it will start out as a distant third place to Google and Yahoo! in online searches. Live.com must not only be available and work almost without fail, but Microsoft is also going to have to market and advertise this service heavily if it expects to gain any headway on Google.

But I found Live.com to be very lively. I've tested it and the interface is slick, the results are great and fast, and the presentation is very good. These things -- however -- will not make up for the fact that Google beat Microsoft by years to this party. Is Live.com going to be relevant and popular with consumers, regardless of how good it is?

That is the billion-dollar (advertising) question. Microsoft surely hopes this is not just a product that will become less relevant as time goes by. Microsoft has been in a mode of "catch up" lately, and this may seem, to many, as just another "me too" product. Google's enormous brand equity won't be easy to battle, even for the world's largest software company. If Windows Vista goes wild with sales soon, Live.com may get the attention it is seeking. Until then, I'll be watching and waiting.

Amazon looks to be the first major web player to ditch Google as its primary search partner.  There is no official news yet but netizens are beginning to report that their A9 searches and Alexa searches are returning Windows Live (MSN search) results.

This comes on the tail of many web retailers taking a defensive stance to Google's release of Google Base, which lets retailers circumvent eBay and Amazon as aggregators and sell directly to the consumer.

This apparent small victory for Microsoft highlights the coming battle between Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google for search (search-revenue) supremacy.

This appears to be a win for Microsoft, a questionable move by Amazon, and a loss for Google.  When news becomes 'official' how will the markets react?