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New Releases This Month
Office 2008 Suites for Mac
Office 2008 Applications for Mac
2007 Tax Year Software
Quickbooks Credit Card Processing
OnOne Photography Software

Briefly…

• Apple launched iTunes movie rentals. 1,000 films will be available for rent by February.
• Microsoft expands and acquires Calista Tech in effort to target virtualization leader VMware.
• Microsoft accused of stealing functionality that allows users to type Chinese characters.
• Adobe named to Fortune’s list of 100 best companies to work for.
  
• New Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Suites and Applications now available.

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We are upon the one year anniversary of the Microsoft Windows Vista launch. And yet many people in the community can’t stop talking about Windows 7, now in the stage “Milestone 1″. M2 and M3 are due out this year, and you can see screen shots and videos on the Web. Microsoft and its representatives are not discussing Windows 7 at this time, but several industry sources, including TG Daily, have confirmed the receipt of a roadmap that will put the new OS out for sale in the second half of 2009. Some think Microsoft is pushing Windows 7 because of slow Vista sales. But while Vista may not be selling at double the rate of XP, it has helped boost Microsoft’s client-division revenues by nearly 70 percent.

Technorati Tags: ms windows 7, windows 2009, windows 7 release

It’s hard to believe, but WordPerfect had full control of half of the word processing market in 1990 – less than 20 years ago. Today, WordPerfect is in a very distant second place to Microsoft Word with about 10% of the market share. This month Microsoft resurrected an old lawsuit filed by Novell (former owner of WordPerfect). Novell claims that between 1994 and 1996, Microsoft maliciously withheld technical information about Windows 95 to give Microsoft Office an advantage over its rivals. Microsoft is now asking that the suit be quashed, although the details of their request are not being released. Regardless, Corel is fighting its own battle for the growth of WordPerfect.

Technorati Tags: microsoft vs novell, word vs wordperfect, microsoft wordperfect lawsuit

Symantec warned late this month of an attack involving the subversion of routers. This was the first time Symantec had seen such an attack, although they were aware it could happen. The attack targeted a Mexican bank. The intended victims received spam e-mail claiming they’d received an e-card, directing them to a popular Spanish language e-card site. But the email had image tags that contained an HTTP get-request to the router to change its Domain Name System settings. It then redirects traffic flowing overt he router to a specific IP address. Symantec claims this was a simple hack, but advised businesses to change their default security settings on routers and educate users about clicking on suspicious links.

Technorati Tags: symantec router compromise, symantec security warning, symantec attacks

Last month SoftwareMedia reported a bug in Intuit QuickBbooks 2006 for Mac. The bug was contained in a flawed product update released in December. It has been to blame for the deletion of documents and financial files from user’s PCs. While QuickBooks did release a patch for the bug, it was discovered earlier this month that the bug can resurface at public Internet hotspots. During this time they suggested that if users must use QuickBooks Pro 2006 for Mac at a Wi Fi spot that they contact QuickBooks for a temporary workaround. Since then, another patch has fixed the issue, although any lost data was unable to be recovered.

Technorati Tags: quickbooks 2006 mac, intuit security warning, quickbooks security flaw