Elizabeth Montalbano

In a significant acknowledgement of the viability of Linux as a corporate Operating System, Microsoft on Thursday announced a deal with Novell to support Suse Linux on machines that run Windows.

Customer concerns over changes to Windows Vista licensing that limited a transfer of the license to only one machine have inspired Microsoft to revise the operating system's licensing policy.

Microsoft Corp. has turned its accounting suite for small businesses into two separate offerings, one of which users can download for free starting today.

Microsoft attempted to clear up confusion over licensing of Windows Vista for power users who rebuild their PCs on a regular basis. But the answer from the software vendor did little to placate some users, who are still upset about Microsoft's one-machine transfer policy for Vista.

Microsoft Corp. originally targeted Wednesday for Vista's RTM (release to manufacturing), but a last-minute bug that "took most of the Vista team by surprise," caused an unexpected delay. The team is now targeting Wednesday, Nov. 8, for Vista's RTM.

Windows users have raised concerns about Microsoft 's new licensing for Windows Vista that will allow them to transfer a Vista licence to only one machine other than the computer for which it was purchased.

One of the hackers who demonstrated exploit code for a vulnerability in the way the Firefox browser handles Javascript at a hacker conference in San Diego admitted that the presentation was meant to be a joke, according to the chief of security for Mozilla Corp.

Verizon Wireless Inc. and Cingular Wireless LLC sued private investigators used by Hewlett-Packard Co. to obtain phone records in the pretexting scam.