Weekly #WhyMSFT Round-Up 12/28/2012

Each week, we round up industry news and articles you might have missed. Enjoy this week’s selections.

Good Tidings to our Office 365 Customers
As the new year approaches, Microsoft thanks its customers for choosing Office 365.

MachPanel 4.5 will Support Microsoft Exchange, Lync and SharePoint 2013 Tools
Hosting control panel provider MachSol to roll out version 4.5 of its MachPanel product with support for the Microsoft business tools Exchange 2013.

Microsoft Announces its First Six Retail Stores of 2013
Microsoft announces six locations in the U.S. where the company plans to open its first retail stores of 2013.

Microsoft's Latest Surface Commercial is All About Productivity
Microsoft’s campaign to make the Surface branding a household name is in full swing.

Windows Azure Gets More Competitive with AWS, Launches New Mobile Features, Website Scaling, Data Sync And More
Windows Azure adds eight new features including new mobile services, website scaling, and data sync.