What do you do when you water-damage your MacBook Pro? One owner learned the hard way that a)  you should not water-damage your Pro, and b) do not email Steve Jobs for help about it. Looks like somebody got a dressing down there. To find out what happened, check out the full story after the jump.

Here's something you don't see everyday - a crashed iPhone on actual display in an Apple Store, for all the world to see. While we don't know what caused the crash or the events that led up to it, it's certainly something to note that a faulty product of a company that's built around being glitch and crash proof is presented so blatantly in public view.

It's a bit similar to that incident with Bill Gates demoing Windows 98, eh? Anyway, another thing to note - the camera used to photograph the crashed iPhone is also another iPhone that's docked next to it - and it's somewhat disconcerting that the text captured is almost unreadable.

Almost, as you can probably make out the letters by looking closer, but there's still some blurring. Of course, it may just be the photographer's hand being unsteady, as the details of the wall in the background is captured quite clearly.

Despite this rather awkward stumble, the iPhone's certainly enjoying the limelight, with almost all of its customers very happy with their little gadget of Apple joy. Let's just hope they work out all the kinks soon.

Mat Lu of The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a very useful, and easy to use guide up on how to get the most out of having both an Apple Mac and a Microsoft Xbox 360. Yes, a Bill Gates console and a Steve Jobs computer can get a long with each other quite nicely.

Included in the guide are instructions on how to get the said console and the Mac to talk to each other on a network, tidbits on getting to use Xbox USB Accessories with your Mac, streaming media on your Xbox 360 to your Mac, and how to keep track of your Xbox Live Friends using your Mac.

Now, now, the 1337, er, leet, er elite (there you go), among you are probably going, "But we know how to do this already." Well, think of this as a beginner's guide. Hey, everyone's got to start somewhere right?

What's weird about this is that years ago people thought that this all this interoperability will be a bad thing.

For the complete guide, feel free to head to the article via our "read" link below.

Quite the big "ouch" to the Redmond giant: the Department of Transportation (DoT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7 from its offices. They are considering switching its operation to Macs and PCs running Novell's SuSe Linux.

The rather harsh policy was sanctioned back in January, but through the enactment of a moratorium, the blocking of Vista upgrades is still in effect. 15,000 users at the DoT and 45,000 employees at the FAA have been barred from upgrading to any new software from Microsoft.

The memorandum, dated January 19, was distributed to address concerns about licensing issues, upgrade costs, and backward compatibility with their existing key software and systems. They aren't scrapping Vista altogether if issues could be resolved, although they are considering alternatives to just going Vista all the way.

Aside from educational institutions and research associations, it seems that even the U.S. government is affected by the cost and compatibility problems regarding Bill Gates' new "Wow" product that shuns many XP compatible programs on its questionable platform.

Could Apple be as big as Microsoft five years from now? Well, if 10Layers' analysis is to be believed, then Apple will soon be as big as Microsoft if they consistently churn out hit products. Apple could even surpass the Bill Gates camp (but by 2010 he'll be out of MS), according to the analysis.

So how is this gonna happen? According to the forecast, both companies have been blessed with healthy revenue growth in last five years. The only difference is that Microsoft has grown linearly for this period while Apple is growing at a exponential rate compared to MS' linear path. Confused?

This only means that Apple has been growing much faster than Microsoft, for the past five years. 10Layers explains that "MicrosoftÂ?s revenues have grown approximately 60% from just under $ 30B in 2002 to over $ 44B in 2006. However, while Microsoft has grown linearly for this period, Apple has accelerated with revenues of just under $ 6B in 2002 growing to just under $ 21B in 2006. An impressive 250% revenue growth!"

And since a 250% growth is much bigger than a 60% revenue growth, 10Layers mentioned that if Apple performs this way for the next five years, they would catch MS by 2010 or early 2011. So with that, we could say that there will be a lot financial expectations resting on the sleek shoulders of the iPhone and other future Apple products.

Now we're sure you gadget folks out there have been informed of the "supposed" teaming up of Microsoft with Apple for a pilot player sporting Microsoft's Windows Media software. But since the release of the Zune music player (not without some hiccups as we can recall), some of us had to find out the hard way that it just wasn't meant to be.

The folks from Redmond could have changed history by going down the path less traveled on, because it would have made all the difference - for once. Now that Apple and Microsoft are head-to-head once more, Apple is out for the early win. In fact, 21.1 million iPods (and that's just last quarter's sales) is pretty much a win already when compared to an unimpressive "hundreds of thousands" of Zune players, despite Zune's shove into the iPod market.

E-mail evidences, presented at a private anti-trust class action against Microsoft in Iowa, confirmed the idea of a team-up. According to the e-mails from Windows chief Jim Allchin, there are suggestions that he talk to Apple CEO Steve Jobs to get the iPod to work with Microsoft's media software for fear that the iPod would "drive people away from the Windows Media Player."

Also interesting to note is Jim Allchin's e-mail regarding the statement that he "would buy a Mac" if he "was not working at Microsoft." The funny part is that the e-mail was sent to two people, one being Bill Gates himself (ouch!). We remember another time that Microsoft employees felt kinder to Apple than usual.

But as noted earlier, Microsoft decided to go its own way. You can admire their courage, but up against the iPod? That's just suicide.

"Redmond, start your photocopiers", "Redmond, we have a problem". Just some of the jib-jabs that Apple has thrown at the MS camp over the years, actually to be really specific, these statements were seen on Apple posters during the 2004 annual developer's conference in San Francisco, when its Tiger operating system was unveiled and its fiercest rival, Microsoft, was working on its next-generation Windows operating system, Vista, known then as "Longhorn.''

Now, with the delayed release of the Windows Vista and the unveiling of the Leopard this August at the World Developers Conference, it won't be surprising if Apple is again up to some serious psychological war - in the form of posters, sidecomments, taunting and all that. Which makes me think, what other blows could Apple dish out to the Bill Gates camp?

And if you think MS is ignoring these, no they aren't. According to Greg DeMichillie, senior analyst with Directions on Microsoft, "there will be another round of, 'Why can't Microsoft get Vista out?' which Microsoft would just assume not happen...It's a bit of an embarrassment for the company". It seems that Apple's well-honed and innovative marketing strategy could be the tech version of a slow striptease. With that, let's see what other tricks and wisecracks Apple has for MS.

Apple Computer is looking to outshine rival Microsoft Corp. yet again. Same company, different scenarios. This time, it is for the inevitable battle between the two companies' software operating systems -- Leopard and Vista.

With over a month to go before Apple releases their latest software operating system, Leopard - the next version of Mac OS X, rumors have been sprouting like mushrooms. Apparently there are a couple of screens that depict some features of the software.

With Leopard hitting the market about the same time as Microsoft's Vista, it isn't surprising if there are backfence talks that says Apple has been keeping a close watch on the Bill Gates camp. Allegedly, Apple has been developing a handful of features for Leopard that will specifically rival those available to Vista users.

Heard through the grapevine that one of Leopard's features is OS-level integration of a geographical mapping technology, similar to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. The technology will presumably allow Leopard users to scour the globe through satellite imagery and whisk up driving directions on the drop of a dime. Another rumored feature of Leopard is the unification of Apple's Address Book and iCal applications into a single app. This is coupled with the absence of the traditional iCal icon in the Mac OS X Dock.

But the juiciest morsel of rumors surround Apple's Boot Camp and where the company may or may not take the technology. It seems that some sources are saying that the technology is being groomed as a rival to Microsoft's Virtual PC Express. The similarities do not end there it seems that Apple is also rumored to be contemplating for a "more marketable" name for its next-generation OS just like what Windows did for the Vista (it was formerly known as Longhorn, if you don't remember).

Apple plans to unveil Leopard for the first time at its World Wide Developers Conference, which runs from August 7-11 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif. By that time, these rumors would either have been confirmed or trashed, we'll see.

Apple People has always looked down on the lack of artistic finesse of PCs. Now they take it one notch higher by using the Mac as a stylish wall decor. Here, a Dell 2005FPW 20" LCD is attached to the wall using a standard wall mount. The LCD is then connected to a hidden Mac Mini. The Mac Mini is under the desk virtually unseen. The laptop, oh excuse us, the notebook on the desk is a MacBook Pro. Add a lamp that screams "chic" and voila...Techno Art! This is something Bill Gates could build when he goes on full-time retirement.

Bill Gate's desk is still warm but looks like Microsoft is already changing corporate directions. Two weeks ago, MS denied rumors the company was planning a coup to topple Apple's monster hit iPod. The day after Bill Gates announced his semi-retirement phase, insiders whispered the software empire is indeed building the iPod killer.

The buzzing says MS is not only developing a music and video device but its own music service to rival Apple's iTunes. Handling the reins of this project is MS rising star Robbie Bach, former overlord of the Xbox video game business. The company, according to sources, has already held licensing discussions with the music industry and has been showing off a demo version of the still brandname-less device.

Meanwhile, iTunes' counterpart (also in demo stage) has been described by someone who has seen it as an improvement over Apple's music service. "They have been developing technologies that have really good music discovery and community...iTunes is the 7-11 (of music stores). You don't hang out there."

Sources said Microsoft has not made any plans regarding the launch of the entertainments device and music service.