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The article provides predictions of executives on the future of information technology (IT) and the computer software industry. According to Proofpoint Inc.'s chief executive officer, Gary Steele, the blogosphere will become the richest source of material news leaks in the history of the stock market. Furthermore, Carl Weddle, Director of IT at Quality Trailer Products, said that the consolidation of hardware, software, and telecommunication is nearing both practical and legal maxima. In addition, customers of IT will demand Internet-quality search in the enterprise, as forecasted by Accenture Ltd.'s chief information officer.

The article reports on the negative reactions of corporate customers to U.S.-based Microsoft Corp.'s license checks. In 2005, the company visited about 1,200 corporate users it suspects may be not licensed properly. Microsoft is also trying to persuade corporate customers to participate in its Software Assessment Management program which it claims is not a license compliance audit. Under the program, Microsoft pays for its consulting partners to educate customers on the merit of asset management, help inventory installed software and make recommendations on policies and procedures.

This article examines the difficulty of converting between Windows and Linux operating systems. The rare cases in which companies did migrate a Windows-based system to Linux, or vice versa, illustrate why such moves are not going to turn into a hot trend anytime soon. The problem is not just the hard work and the differing skills and development tools that are needed. To illustrate, the case of State Street Corp. (SS) that undertook a Windows-to-Linux project when it wanted to improve the functionality of an internally developed fund administration application, is presented. SS tends to view its information technology landscape from the standpoint of scale.

This article examines users' concerns regarding Computer Associates International Inc.'s (CA) technology innovations. These users were apprehensive about issues such as upgrades, pricing, customer support, and the company's long-term plans for consolidating its product offerings. In totality, users at the CA World 2005 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada said that the company appears to be making progress compared with where it was in November 2004. As a proof, CA introduced 26 new or upgraded systems and security management tools that are integrated with one another through a common management database, a workflow engine, shared policies, and a consistent user interface.

Comments on the trends in the computer industry. Significance of infrastructure platform on business continuity; Advantage of the latter over system upgrade; Utilization of existing applications; Discrepancies in the design of some software hindering its capabilities for optimum utilization.

Evaluates three disk defragmentation products referring to PerfectDisk 7 from Raxco Software Inc., Diskeeper 9 from Diskeeper Corp., and Windows XP's defragmentation utility from Microsoft Corp.

The article reports that Microsoft Corp. plans to unveil new licensing policies that will apply to Windows Server and related products installed in virtual machine environments. One change will let users who buy SQL Server, BizTalk Server, and other Microsoft server software under a per-processor model license the products according to the number of virtualized processors they actually use, instead of the number of physical processors in their boxes. And the modified licensing might provide a way to reduce hardware costs on small and nontransactional database servers.

Discusses strategies for identifying and clearing out costly computer software. Importance of buying only software that is needed; Need to hire someone to watch over an application and making sure it has a business impact; Benefits from a decentralized IT buying model. INSET: ASSET MANAGEMENT: Where and When to Start.

Focuses on the development of computer software which complement system management software. Functionality of system management software; Limitations of performance tools; List of software companies which have developed complementary software for system management software as of June 2003.

The article reports on the effort of MySQL AB to increase the number of storage engines available to its users. The company recently has looked into a deal to make the software available on International Business Machines Corp.'s (IBM) System i server line. The agreement will enable System i users to tap into the growing number of applications written for the MySQL software. Through this deal, the System i version of IBM's DB2 will be certified as a storage engine for MySQL. The database of MySQL is built on a modular architecture that lets users tie it to different storage engines. INSET: Digg Dips Deep Into Open Source.

The article reports the announcement of Borland Software Corp. that it will not anymore sell its development tools unit. The company reportedly turned the unit into a wholly owned subsidiary called CodeGear which is already in operation. Borland's chief marketing officer Rick Jackson states that the development group already attracted five serious bidders but the company was hesitant that they are not going to receive the appropriate value. The new Borland subsidiary is responsible for the development and sales of Borland's Developer Studio such as Delphi, JBuilder, Turbo and InterBase development products.

The article reports on the plan of U.S.-based software technology company SAP AG to make mySAP ERP 2005 application its core platform until 2010, providing the company's customers a more easily digested enterprise resource planning (ERP) components that they can install on their own. Peter Graf, executive vice president of SAP product marketing, states that the company will not be developing any mySAP ERP 2006 or 2007, noting that the MySAP ERP 2005, which has been shipped since June 2006 is stable for five-years. The 2005 ERP also provides some collaborative tools that allow users to share knowledge and definitions, and can enable customers to search through an xApps hub to locate composite applications that they might consider to install on their mySAP ERP 2005 network. INSET: SAP Rollout Hits Wabash Profits.

The article reports on the scheduled announcement of the new customer-support software Guardian of BEA Systems Inc. on September 19, 2006 at the company's BEAWorld user conference in San Francisco, California. According to Todd Chipman, senior marketing director of the company, Guardian can send an alert that informs users of potential problems like configuration errors, security vulnerabilities and defects and can offer various options to users on how to handle the problem once it is identified. In the meantime, the new software will initially be available for use with BEA WebLogic 8.1 and will generally be made available in December.

The article reports that U.S.-based computer software company CA Inc. has launched software, services and training programs to help implement best practices for managing information technology shops under the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. The Service Management Accelerator offering aims to formalize and expand the company's ITIL-related products and services. The CA Service Management Accelators offerings include a new software product called Configuration Management Database r11.

The article reports on U.S.-based Cisco Systems Inc.'s launch of several computer software products in June 2006. The products launched include an updated tool that can manage both InfiniBand and Ethernet networking technologies by incorporating code gained when Cisco acquired Topspin Communications Inc. a year ago. It has also introduced the new CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS) integrated software management package that can help manage interoperability between its Ethernet and Infiniband networks.

The article reports that U.S.-based Metastorm Inc. will venture into system-based process management with a computer software designed to give users end-to-end business process management capabilities. The Metastorm BPM version 7 suites include an integration management tool to allow users visibility and access to processes running on ERP systems and legacy systems. The software version unites two traditionaly disparate functions among pure-play business process management players, the management of human-centric processess and system-based processes.

The article reports developments related to computer industry. The Sophos PLC had released a report on the top 12 spam-relaying countries for the first quarter of 2006 which Asia accounted for 42 percent. MyWebAlert is a Web site monitoring company that launches a free service that will visit registered sites every five minutes and verify that they have not been attacked. The Federal Trade Commission made a settlement with Cashier Myricks Jr. who misleadingly claimed that user of peer-to-peer file-sharing programs who joined his MP3downloadcity.com site would be able to transfer copyrighted materials without violating the law.

The article reports on the development of a new technique for exploring and controlling magnetism at its fundamental atomic level by International Business Machines Corp. scientists in the U.S. The new method is an important tool not only in the quest to understand the operation of future computer-circuit and data-storage elements as they shrink toward atomic dimensions, but also in the quest to lay the foundation for new materials and computing devices that leverage atom-scale magnetic phenomena. It offers information about the performance applications of the new method.

The article reports that Oracle Corp. has released 14 software patches that address security vulnerabilities in its databases, application server software and other products in the U.S. As part of the quarterly software update, it also released a tool designed to ferret out commonly used default passwords that could be misused by hackers. According to Darius Wiles, manager of security alerts at Oracle, earlier versions of Oracle databases included well-known default passwords and usernames. It also features the Oracle10g databases that have been upgraded from its previous versions.

The article presents an interview with senior vice president of applications development at Oracle Corp. John Wookey regarding a next-generation suite of business software, dubbed Fusion. When asked if the customers are starting to understand Fusion, he answers that the customers have been getting comfortable and conversant with what the Fusion plan is. Wookey commented that the nice thing about it is that since there are a lot of specific plans, and it can easily be seen exactly what is going on, they can get feedback on it. He mentions that Fusion will hit the streets by 2008.

The article reports that BMC Software Inc. is purchasing Identify Software Ltd., an application problem-resolution software vendor, for $150 million in cash. Bob Beauchamp, BMC's president and CEO, says that the reason they are buying Identify is that the latter will offer tools for monitoring transaction-based applications and for identifying bottle-necks and errors and pinpointing their causes.

The article introduces the integrated computer software suite developed by Novell Inc. as part of the initiative to compete with its rival Microsoft Corp. The company announced the latest software during the BrainShare conference. The software package that can run in Linux OS includes security and identity software, management tools, and desktop applications such as the OpenOffice 2.0, which is cheaper and easier-to-use Windows tools. The new open Workbook Suite of Novell includes the Linux version of Open Enterprise Server, GroupWise massaging software, Zenworks, SUSE Linux AG Enterprise Desktop, and OpenOffice.

The article provides information about the Expression suite developed by Microsoft Corp. The Expression software will let the user manipulate in a drag and drop environments. It produces an underlying code in the Extensive Markup Language. The software, which is designed to compete with Adobe Systems Inc.'s application software, has potentials of being a graphic designer, interactive designer, web designer, and WPF everywhere. Expression suite offers features similar to the Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for graphics, Dreamweaver for Web site development, and Flash technology for interactive motion picture creation.

The article introduces the Oracle Business Intelligence Suite computer software from Oracle Corp. The enterprise edition, which aims to target B1 vendors will integrate analytic tools and applications from Siebel Systems Inc. with Oracle B1 tools. According to James Archuleta, director of CRM at Alaska Airlines Inc., the latest Oracle suite will help ease integration among Oracle database, Siebel analytic applications and PeopleSoft back office applications. In addition, this new suite also will include query and analysis, enterprise reporting, dashboards, workflow, business activity monitoring, and middleware product lines.

The article shares the author's thoughts on the agreement between Canadian company Corel Corp. and Chinese company Lenovo to integrate Corel's WordPerfect office productivity suite on a new line of Lenovo personal computers. The author relates that Corel is supporting the OASIS OpenDocument format as a standard for office productivity applications. The said move is part of the strategic plan to work with Lenovo and other hardware vendors.

The article reports on the updates made by Sonic Software Corp. in its Actional Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) manager. Sonic Software Corp. has brought out a new version of its Actional SOA management tool that it said will provide business users with more visibility into business processes. Director of architecture and systems integration at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., Janet Park said that she expects that it can help the hotelier automatically define its customized business processes and generate business metrics around them after viewing a demonstration of Actional Version 6.0.

The article reports that Bea Systems Inc. has launched the AquaLogic Interaction Process computer software in the U.S. The updated tool allows multiple people to use and manage documents and project information through portals. Red Bank vice president of software development Andrew Reid plans to use the updated Bea tool to automate the paper-based-processes for granting user access to restricted applications and data. The new tool will create the company electronic records. It also allows business analysts to model and design a business process and to designate the roles for participants.

The article reports on the support by some users on Borland Software Corp.'s plan to abandon the development tool business to focus on its application life-cycle management (ALM) products in the U.S. The supporters are looking to manage software development as a process. Borland disclosed its plan to divest its integrated development environment (IDE) business and acquire Segue Software Inc. The move to divest IDE business allows the company to focus on the transition from a series of isolated activities to a managed process.

The article presents an interview with Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, about the performance of the eclipse open source community in 2005. According to Milinkovich, growth of Eclipse in membership and adoption happened in February 2005. The foundation also spread the message that the software is more than a Java or an integrated development environment.

The article features several products from International Business Machines Corp. launched as of December 2005. International Business Machines Corp. has launched its IBM Tivoli Monitoring 6.1 software designed to manage and automatically correct online applications, fixing problems across system components. The IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager includes three products, CAM for SOA, CAM for WebSphere and CAM for Response Time Tracking. The IBM Tivoli System Automation for Multiplatforms brings mainframe automation to multiple platforms in distributed systems.

The author of this article presents four problems that he would like to be remedied in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista software. One of the author's long-standing gripes is the way Windows decides what window or application is active. He therefore suggests to the company never to change focus from the window he is working on until he explicitly command Windows to do so. Another problem occurs when a ton of files need to be deleted from a directory. Windows indicates that a file is in use and cannot be deleted. It does not give the specific application that has locked the file, and it does not ask if the user wants to delete it anyway or allow to continue deleting the next file.

The article reports that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started the last phase of a 59 million dollar rollout of Oracle Corp.'s PeopleSoft applications in 145 countries. In September 2005, the UNDP began implementing PeopleSoft Inc.'s eProcurement application, and it will be deployed in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa by the end of the first quarter of 2006. The UNDP expects the applications to be eventually deployed to 600 users. And the eProcurement module will automate requisitioning processes, cutting the time between procurement and payment by 10 percent.

The article reports that SAP AG (SA) agreed to buy a customer demand management software vendor that caters to the retail industry. The purchase of Khimetrics Inc. (KI) follows the September 2005 acquisition of Triversity Inc. by SA, and also comes eight months after SA lost out to Oracle Corp. in a bid to buy retail software maker, Retek Inc. KI develops price-optimization, revenue management, and demand-forecasting software for retailers. Terms of the deal are not disclosed and the acquisition is expected to close in January 2006.

This article comments on the criticisms toward Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Extended Copy Protection technology for music compact discs (CD) that turns out to look a lot like spyware. The program is supposed to limit the number of times a user can copy a music. But the software surreptitiously installs itself when the user plays a protected CD and uses rootkit technology to hide itself from detection. The public's response to the technology shows that mechanisms to provide controls for acceptable use are wildly unpopular, and that millions of people continue to steal content with a sense of entitlement.

This article reports that Microsoft Corp.'s (MC) Business Solutions group plans to release the first iteration of its much-touted retooled and rebranded set of enterprise resource planning applications, the Dynamics GP 9.0. The application is the successor to the company's flagship Great Plains suite. The software has been tweaked to better utilize the desktop, portal, business intelligence, and development technologies of MC. And this Dynamics GP software is part of the so-called Project Green of MC, which will ultimately create a unified set of application software with a common code base and interface.

Comments on the vivid tolerance of software companies on the piracy of their products. Photograph exposé on the counterfeiting activity at Golden Arcade in Hongkong; Approximated price of pirated software; Possible involvement of the Hongkong triad in the counterfeiting activity.

This article discusses the functions of OpenSolaris as an alternative to Linux operating system. Solaris, the source of the OpenSolaris code, has a large existing base of customers that use the operating system in everything from network servers that support the Internet to the massive servers that produce the credit card statements. OpenSolaris provides the same flexibility and capability to produce distributions that Linux has. And OpenSolaris-based distributions are already binary-compatible with existing Solaris applications.

This article reports that Microsoft Corp. released a total of nine security updates with fixes for 14 separate vulnerabilities, four of which were given critical severity ratings by the software vendor. Among the critical flaws, the ones that evoked the most concern among security analysts were the vulnerability in MSDTC, which is used by Windows to manage database, messaging and file-system transactions, and a hole in the COM+ service that is built into the operating system to handle resource management tasks.

This article reports that MySQL AB is planning a November 2005 release for the Version 5.0 of its open-source database, a major upgrade that the company hopes will help it become a realistic alternative for corporate users. This version adds a handful of enterprise-oriented features, such as triggers, views and stored procedures, that have long been available from database market leaders Oracle Corp., IBM Corp., and Microsoft Corp.

This article introduces F5 Networks Inc.'s Application Security Module (ASM) that adds security features to its Big-Internet protocol line of appliances for managing application traffic and performance. ASM provides users with an application-layer firewall that is designed to protect Web-based systems against buffer overflow attacks, compromises of access-control mechanisms, worms, and other problems. In addition, cloaking features are included to conceal error messages from end users.

This article reports that Oracle Corp. (OC) has started shipping Version 8.9 of the PeopleSoft Enterprise Financial Management suite. This release of supply chain management and financial management software is unchanged in scope. OC hopes that the new version will help PeopleSoft users migrate to Project Fusion, the best-of-breed application suite that OC is developing. The new version of the financial application offers greater support for compliance with global accounting standards and best practices.

This article reports that Oracle Corp. (OC), Lawson Software Inc. (LS), and i2 Technologies Inc. (IT), have either shipped an updated supply chain management system or plan to ship one. The PeopleSoft Enterprise Supply Chain Management and Supplier Relationship Management 8.9 modules of OC are said to contain 100 enhancements. LS also plans to extend its Mobile Supply Chain Management health care tool to other industries. And Dallas, Texas-based IT releases the third piece of its Collaborative Supply Execution applications, the Collaborative Materials Management module.

Reports on developments related to the information technology industry. Formation of the U.S. Technology Professional Services Association; Creation of two European Union directives that will regulate the chemical compounds used in computers and other hardware; Availability of Bind-View Corp.'s BV-CAT regulatory compliance software.

This article reports that Cognos Inc. (CI) will unveil business intelligence software that integrates five products and is designed to work against any data source and simplify deployment. The new Cognos 8 includes query and reporting tools, dashboards, and analysis and event management capabilities that can be assessed through a single Web-based interface. The tool also adds the ability to report against multi-dimensional online analytical processing data. The tool integrates the ReportNet, Metric Manager, PowerPlay, DecisionStream and NoticeCast products of CI.

This article reports that Microsoft Corp. (MC) plans to deliver a new server software infrastructure package for midsize companies, plus role-based business applications that will be tailored to meet the needs of businesses with 50 to 1,000 employees. But the midmarket includes a wide variety of industries with different requirements. Illustrating the challenges that MC faces in trying to package software for such as broad customer base, some users expressed keen interest in the new and upcoming offerings, while others voiced doubts that the products will meet their specific needs.

Provides updates on topics related to information technology and the computer industry. Impact of the growing popularity of open-source private branch exchange software with integrated voice over Internet protocol capabilities; Use of hyperlinks to visually connect data from disparate sources on the network in Mindjet Corp.'s MindManager software; Identification of ActivCard Corp. as among the first single sign-on vendors whose software will work with the Firefox browser.

This article reports that General Motors Corp. (GM) has adopted Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java Enterprise System middleware stack in what is the largest deal yet in Sun's effort to sell the software based on its per-employee licensing model. GM is already using middleware components from Sun, including its portal technologies and Web servers.

The article reports on several developments relevant to computer technology in the U.S. as of July 25, 2005. Stellent Inc. has released version 7.5 of its Stellent Site Studio Web content management software, which now offers automated Web site migration capabilities. Mercury Interactive Corp. and Peregrine Systems Inc. have announced a partnership in which Mercury will integrate its application management tools with Peregrine's asset and service management software. WebMethods Inc. has introduced the webMethods for Compliance computer system.

Reports on new products from the computer and software industries in the U.S. Launch of the UPS Trade-Sense software suite by UPS Trade Management Services Inc.; Introduction of the Zenprise software tool by Zenprise Inc.; Development of an integrated blade server system by IBM Corp.

Computer hardware company International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. announced plans to spend $100 million during the next three years from 2005, to expand client-side Linux operating system-based support in its Lotus Workplace collaboration software. IBM said at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo that it will use the money in software development, testing and evaluation as well as support of independent software vendors and indirect-channel marketing. As part of the initiative, the company plans to integrate Workplace and its Notes messaging software which will initially be supported on Windows but will be extended to Linux in 2006.