It was a pretty eventful year for Microsoft, from Windows Phone 7 to Azure to Bing and the pre-beta developers preview of Windows 8. There were a lot of other events that didn’t really get a lot of the spotlight. Seattle Times has a nice A-Z writeup of the events that helped shape Microsoft’s very busy 2011. I’m hoping for more positive news in 2012!

Of course, the ‘Z’ has to be an obituary. And what ‘Z’ product does Microsoft have? Yes, the Zune. Rest in peace, you were a worthy competitor to the mighty iPod.

Z= Zune. RIP, Zune Player. There were a few days in October when we didn’t know your fate: First, Microsoft seemed to say you were dead, then not dead, then, finally, definitely dead. Your spirit lives on in the Zune music and video service in PCs, Xbox, Windows Phone and existing Zune players.