Microsoft remains a cool brand, finds poll

Think Microsoft has lost the cool factor to Apple and Google? Think again. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just under half of 853 respondents between the age of 18 and 29 thought Microsoft is cooler now than it was a year or two ago. Could it be something to do with the proliferation of Windows 8 devices? The software maker, often talked down to in Silicon Valley for failing to catch up with cool Apple and Android products, has captivated a new generation of social media and mobile savvy consumers, and even managed to pip Facebook in the survey. Only 42 percent of young adults thought the world's largest social network is cooler now than in the past, while Microsoft's image was thought to have improved by 50 percent of the respondents.