ActiveSync for Hotmail is starting to be enabled!  And once iOS4 comes out you’ll be able to have several ActiveSync accounts on your Apple mobile device at once. Awesome.

More from WMExperts.

Here’s what developers apparently love, according to a recent survey.  Hat’s off to Microsoft: you’ve come a long way, guys.

Microsoft’s Steen thinks Microsoft’s latest small-business plan is right on target.

Looks good to us, provided they can sell the cloud.

We’ve been reporting the slow demise of Adobe Flash since Steve Jobs gave it the firm heave-ho on all Apple mobile devices some time ago.  Now it appears Microsoft is about to do the same, starting with Internet Explorer 9.

Is this Microsoft’s way to get closer to Apple, a logical first step to keep them from having to explain a lack of Flash support in the upcoming Windows 7 Mobile OS, or simply a logical vote for open standards.

Dont’ forget to give Microsoft some props.  Even Fake Steve Jobs knows they’re deserved.

There’s something inexplicably pitiful about a company as dominating as Microsoft being completely unable to make up its collective mind on branding.

What this unexpected name change says is the company doesn’t even trust its own decision making.

Microsoft lacks a collective confidence and decisive leadership that stands by things as important as marketing and branding decisions.  Do you think Steve J really cares about all the humor regarding the iPad name?

Yes he does.  All the way to the bank.

Boy Genius Report is sharing the very first glimpses of the next version of Office for Mac.

The short story from our quick look:

• Ribbon rears its head
• Outlook for Mac replaces Entourage as expected
• Sharp looking calendar, contacts, and notes applets in Outlook
• Buttons look reasonably clean in Word, but still Microsoft cluttered

One more thing.  I just don’t get the Ribbon interface.  And the more I use Office for Mac, the more I miss Apple iWork and there’s nothing I can’t do with it, including saving in an Office-native format.

But if spending more money’s your thing, who am I to stop you?

Most notable among Microsoft Windows Live Sync features:

• 25GB of space
• the ability to sync pretty much any folder on one computer with a folder on another computer

iDisk isn’t even good at multi-computer sync, and the concept of having keeping to local folders in sync via the Internet contracts with Apple’s cloud based folder sync paradigm.  And trust us, when you’re happy with your server’s ability to preserve your data yet unwilling to throw it onto the net in an exposed fashion this is a big selling point.

David Pogue covers Microsoft’s Live Sync service, and the upcoming Mesh, in more detail here.

It seems Apple’s been making calls on their competitors long before their recent suit against HTC.  The technologies in question?  Multitouch seems to be the most important IP Apple seeks to protect, while dozens of other iPhone-related patents also are in place.

From the report:

• “The HTC suit, which is recognized as a proxy battle against Google, is causing OEMs to re-examine the strategy of relying overmuch on Android, lest it prove vulnerable in terms of core IP,” he wrote. “This concern comes atop pre-existing misgivings about Google’s end-game in wireless. (to commoditize the OEMs? To arrogate all value-added services?)”  The conflict, Reiner said, has created an opportunity for Microsoft’s newly unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series, due to launch this fall. Microsoft has also told potential customers it would support them legally if they, like HTC, were hit with a lawsuit over intellectual property.

Now we get to see just how much Microsoft will ante up against Apple’s patent base at a time the two seem to be building alliances.  Looks like we could be headed for another settlement similar to the technology agreement made over a decade ago between the two which sent millions (and a commitment to continue updating Microsoft Office for Mac) to Apple.

As for Google, that relationship seems headed south.

More: Apple’s patent ‘warning shots’ prove disruptive for handset makers.

The caché of bringing supercomputer monster Cray to the cloud computing fray has Microsoft talking with the large scale computer maker about playing a pivotal role in the next phase of Microsoft’s Azure services platform.