It's 2013, but in the minds of many people, it will always be 1999 for Microsoft. Try as it might, the company has a hard time shaking its image of a 'closed shop' software company that exists mainly to slap copies of Windows and Office on as many PCs as it can.
But Microsoft is trying very hard to shake that image – and leading the charge, in a suburb of Tel Aviv, is the anything-goes Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure. There, 13 of Israel's best start-ups – gathered from a total of 1,000 applicants – are working on everything from retail apps to software that trains medical personnel to digital signage technology.
To read the original article: Microsoft's Israel accelerator hits second round of start-ups as India and China take note | ZDNet
