Six news items to get you ready for weekend cocktail parties and other current events chatter:

1. New CEO at Microsoft? Betting on the new boss is always a fun parlor game, especially in the case of Microsoft Corp. Unlike 2000, when Bill Gates hand-picked Steve Ballmer to replace him, Microsoft has several internal and external candidates as Ballmer’s possible successor. PC World and others have identified two front-runners: former Microsoft executive, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who rejoined the company in September when Microsoft bought Nokia for $7.2 billion; and Tony Bates, the Skype CEO who has the added bonus of having a surname that rhymes with “Gates.” Microsoft may be inspired by Apple Inc.’s decision to elevate its former COO Tim Cook into the top job after Steve Jobs stepped down. According to reports on Thursday, COO Kevin Turner will serve as CEO for two to three years before stepping aside for Elop. On the surface, it seems like an odd move. However, in this case, a two-to-three-year transition might be needed because Elop, reportedly, has some big plans in mind. According to Bloomberg, Elop would shift away from Microsoft Windows and, instead, focus on getting the company’s software (mainly Office) on as many smartphones and tablets as possible, regardless of their operating system. Elop would also consider killing the Bing search engine and selling the company’s profitable XBox business.

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