1. and : In what will certainly be considered a key positive feature to some users -- we will refrain from naming names here -- Microsoft confirmed that users will be able to remove Internet Explorer 8 and an expanded list of integrated applications and features from Windows 7. In related news, the second post-beta build of the operating system leaked onto the Web.

2. : President Barack Obama offered up a surprise this week, naming Vivek Kundra the first federal CIO. Kundra earned high marks as Washington, D.C.'s, CTO, putting the nation's capitol on the map as a leader in government use of technology.

3. and : Demo has become one of the more interesting IT shows in recent years, showcasing emerging technologies, while even a shrunken Cebit remains enormous. Both shows were this week and Network World offered a round up of news from each, complete with a slide show out of Hanover.

4. : In the morale-boosting (insert eye-rolling emoticon) news story of the week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said she prefers Google Maps to Yahoo Maps and that Yahoo Maps is not as good as it should be. OK, so that second part is not much of a news flash, but from other comments made by a Yahoo executive at the conference, it does not sound likely that Yahoo is going to improve its maps anytime soon. Bartz also let it be known that she told Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that any future negotiations between their companies have to stay confidential. Good luck with that. Although there is reason to believe that Ballmer might just have met his match in Yahoo's blunt new CEO.

5. : While developers are being laid off, job postings related to Linux development are up, so the Linux Foundation decided to offer training along those lines. The foundation also announced that it is taking charge of the Linux.com information site.