The cause this time has been its product line, new details about which the company earlier this month.

Specifically, it looks like the free, Express version of the upcoming new product--widely used by many developers to create desktop applications for Windows--will no longer offer support for desktop-style applications. Rather, users of Visual Studio 11 Express will only be able to develop applications.

Metro Only

"Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows 8 provides tools for Metro style app development," notes Microsoft's Visual Studio . "To create desktop apps, you need to use Visual Studio 11 Professional, or higher."

Visual Studio 11 Professional, of course, is far from free, with its $499 price.