Microsoft is risking an $18 billion empire on Windows 8

 Windows has been Microsoft's most reliable cash cow for nearly three decades. The software giant is gambling all of that success on what it deems to be the company's future: a radically redesigned Windows 8.

Windows is the linchpin of Microsoft's empire. Without a significant design overhaul since 1995, the operating system has been essentially printing money for Microsoft. Last year, Windows brought in more than $18 billion in sales and $11.5 billion in profit. On its own, Windows would be big enough to place among the largest 150 U.S. companies by revenue, and its 62% profit margin would rank among the highest in the world.

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    AOL unveils Alto, an email service that

syncs 5 accounts                        

Alto is a new web-based email service that syncs up to five email accounts and you don't even need an AOL address to use it. It's is made to not have your inbox get so full. No more of those seemingly endless email threads, daily deal notifications and newsletter subscriptions most of us have had for a long time.

Investigators find cracks in second Dreamliner engine

Just two months after an engine cracked and failed during test aboard a Boeing 787, federal plane inspectors have found a second engine problem on a different Dreamliner, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that he NTSB should find out the problem as a cracked fan midshaft on a Dreamliner General Electric GEnx-1B turbofan engine, the group posted on its website Thursday. The 787 had not yet flown when investigators identified the engine problem.

Inspectors uncovered the cracked second engine during an inspection of all in-service engines of that type, the NTSB said. The statement included no further details of the discovery. The NTSB, which investigates all U.S. civil aviation accidents, said its investigation of the engine troubles is continuing.