Top 10 most read: Windows 9 features, NSA spied on Angry Birds users, Lloyds banking failure

Our top 10 rundown of the key features we'd love to see Microsoft bring to Windows 9 was the most popular story for V3 readers last week.

The list, which included ideas such as gesture controls, led to a flurry of comments, with readers debating about what else Microsoft needs to do to ensure the Windows 8 debacle is not repeated.

Microsoft also received a minor blow when the government said it was going to try and get as many public service bodies as possible to give up on expensive third-party software such as Office and instead use open source or free tools.

Meanwhile more PRISM revelations continued to hit the headlines. Reports that the NSA spied on Angry Birds players to gather metadata caught readers' attention last week, no doubt because even IT bods and executives love a bit of Angry Birds.

Finally, news of Lenovo's purchase of Motorola from Google for $2.91bn was of interest. Our analysis of the deal concluded that all three firms could gain from the sale, which has the power to shake up the mobile market all over again.

Top 10 issues Microsoft must address with Windows 9
What Redmond should focus on for the future of its operating system

Public sector told to abandon proprietary software such as Microsoft OfficeFrancis Maude promises to cut IT spend across government

PRISM: NSA and GCHQ caught spying on Angry Birds players
Ready, aim, snoop

Lloyds Banking Group outage caused by double server failure
Financial world in another IT meltdown

David Cameron cites TV crime dramas to justify mass spying programmes
If it works in Spooks and Homeland it's good enough for us, says PM

Governments warned of email malware threat after Israel computer hack
Threats to public sector growing all the time

Three mobile internet services down across the UK
More outage issues for UK operators

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact review
Latest Android device from Japanese giant put through its paces

Motorola deal a win-win for Lenovo and Google that could reshape smartphone market
Deal makes sense for all firms involved

BlackBerry releases 10.2.1 software update with raft of features
Canadian firm persists with improvements despite low market usage