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Right on time, businesses with the inside track to Microsoft's account team and partner program can now snag the latest version of Redmond's content production software suite, Office 2013. What's that? You've got the hook up, but you were also hoping for Exchange Server 2013, Lync Server 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, Project 2013, and Vision 2013? You'll be happy to hear that those are also available today -- the already announced "first quarter 2013" release window for Office 2013 stands, when it'll become widely available both digitally and at direct retailers.

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Microsoft today added another $250 million to its Partners In Learning Project, a global professional development program it has created to equip teachers with the skills they need to teach IT and other future-looking subjects. Microsoft has been running this program since 2003 and to date has invested $750 million in the project.

It is a bit of soft diplomacy/marketing for Microsoft — education, after all, is one of Microsoft’s target verticals for its software and IT services businesses. Projects have included teacher training in IT and other “21st century skills,” as it calls them, and it also works with governments on digital inclusion programs and links up with its YouthSpark education initiative.

Microsoft today made Skype 4.2 available for Apple's iOS devices via the App Store. The key change to Skype is the addition of support for Microsoft's Messenger, Hotmail, and Outlook.com services. iOS device users can sign in with a Microsoft account and merge their Skype and Microsoft contact databases. The app also allows iOS device users to conduct instant message chats with Windows Live messenger accounts. Other new features include the ability to edit IM messages, add animated emoticons, and create a new account from within the app itself. Skype 4.2 for iOS is a free download from the App Store.

Microsoft said it believes it has identified a problem that was causing some Windows Phone 8 devices to reboot without warning.

The company said it hopes to deliver an over-the-air software fix next month.

“We’re continuing to investigate some reports of phones rebooting and have identified a cause with our partners,” Microsoft said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are working to get an over-the-air update out in December.”

Skype has just updated its iOS app, making it much easier to merge Skype accounts with your Microsoft account.

Microsoft recently decided to phase out Windows Live Messenger in favor of Skype, finally putting the $8.5 billion acquisition to good use, which allows users to Skype with Messenger, Hotmail, and Outlook.com contacts.

To enjoy the update, users can sign into Skype with their Microsoft account and all the information, including history and contacts, will immediately be merged with their Skype account.

Microsoft is busy preparing its next-generation Windows client, shortly after shipping Windows 8 in October. The Verge has learned from several sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans that the company is planning to standardize on an approach, codenamed Blue, across Windows and Windows Phone in an effort to provide more regular updates to consumers.

Originally unveiled by ZDNet, the update on the Windows side, due in mid-2013, will include UI changes and alterations to the entire platform and pricing. We’re told that Microsoft is aiming to make Windows Blue the next OS that everyone installs. The approach is simple, Microsoft will price its next Windows release at a low cost or even free to ensure users upgrade. Once Windows Blue is released, the Windows SDK will be updated to support the new release and Microsoft will stop accepting apps that are built for Windows 8, pushing developers to create apps for Blue.

A dozen of Windows 8 users are complaining that a Windows 8 update causes the Start Screen to freeze, while all the other apps fail to respond.

While Microsoft is yet to confirm the problem, it appears that most consumers affected by the issue have deployed an official Windows 8 update, although some of them are actually claiming that all problems appeared two or three days after the update has been installed.

Four years is a long time. Most people only need four years to graduate high school or college for instance. Microsoft launched its Surface tablet running Windows RT about a month ago. When the tablet launched there was no official support policy for Windows RT. Most large enterprise buyers want to know that Microsoft will continue to support a platform for multiple years before they start purchasing and rolling devices out in quantity.

It appears that Capcom is bringing Resident Evil: Revelations to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Resident Evil: Revelations was announced as a Nintendo 3DS exclusive and released earlier this year. Since the game uses a version of MT Framework, the same engine used for Dragon’s Dogma and Resident Evil 6, a HD port shouldn’t be too difficult.

To celebrate the launch of the video game Halo 4, Microsoft tied a gigantic Halo 4 glyph underneath a helicopter and flew it over London. According to Microsoft, the glyph symbol is one of the largest and brightest man-made structures ever to be flown over capital city. Gigantic glyph was 50-feet in diameter and weighed over 3 tons. 

Microsoft is working towards retiring its Windows Live Messenger client in favor of Skype. The Verge has learned through several sources that Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger service will be retired in the coming months and integrated into Skype. Microsoft has slowly been moving people over to the Messenger backend for Skype over the past few months, with around 80 percent of all IMs sent on Skype being handled by Messenger.