The end is here for Adobe Freehand MX, one of a few Macromedia applications the company is discontinuing. Freehand MX was one of the first major illustration software packages for Mac… the first version released in 1988 and the 11^th and last version in 2003. It is credited for popularizing Mac as the premiere platform for desktop publishing. While Adobe will continue to sell and offer support for Freehand MX (released in 2003), they will no longer develop new features or deliver patches or updates for new operating systems and hardware. Adobe is directing Freehand users to recently-released Illustrator CS3, and are offering a special upgrade price of $199. Like many end of the line, older versions of software, Freehand MX 11 is still available for purchase at SoftwareMedia.com.

Technorati Tags: freehand adobe, find adobe freehand, buy adobe freehand, macromedia freehand software

Nuance Communications has announced that it will purchase VoiceSignal Technologies to help jumpstart its advancement into voice-enabling mobile devices and services. Nuance is already the premier voice recognition software vendors, with its Dragon Naturally Speaking recognizing 99% of spoken words. VoiceSignal’s software lets users give voice commands to send a text message to a contact, and lets users search Internet search engines via voice. The deal, worth an estimated $293 million, should be finalized later this year.

Technorati Tags: nuance speech recognition, nuance mobile speech, nuance voice recognition

235 – That’s the number of Microsoft patents that they claim open source software programs infringe upon. Open source software is freely distributed to consumers, businesses and to programmers (who can then modify, build on, and distribute all over again, for free). They make no money on software sales, instead making profit selling support services. Open source is one of the few operating systems that Microsoft views as a viable threat. With these accusations, Microsoft says it prefers licensing deals – with developers, distributors and users - instead of legal action. Their claims include that Linux software violates 42 patents; graphical user interfaces violate 65; email programs violate 15, and Open Office by Sun Microsystems violates 45.

Technorati Tags: microsoft vs open source, microsoft legal, microsoft law suits, microsoft legal accusations

Symantec is working on the delivery of the next major upgrade to its security product for enterprises. The new program, code-named Hamlet, will be announced next month. It will incorporate technology from several of Symantec’s recent acquisitions. Hamlet will use WholeSecurity Inc.’s signature-based detection method, which relies on knowing the identity and characteristics of a bad program. It will also control policies for what devices can be connected to the network, a function from Sygate Technologies Inc. Hamlet will also include rootkit detection in addition to traditional antivirus and firewall features.

Technorati Tags: symantec security, symantec internet security, symantec new releases, symantec security enterprise