James Niccolai

In what should come as a relief to some customers, Microsoft Corp. said it will continue to provide support for its Java virtual machine software until the end of September 2004, 10 months longer than it had originally planned, under a new licensing agreement announced recently with Sun Microsystems Inc.

IBM Corp. released trial versions this week of four technologies that aim to make life easier for developers creating applications for its DB2 database.

Oracle Corp. will use its OracleWorld conference in San Francisco to introduce Enterprise Manager to Go, a remote management tool that alerts database administrators to problems with Oracle's database when they're out on the road, according to sources familiar with the plan.

BMC Software Inc. is set to announce a partnership next week with data synchronization vendor GoldenGate Inc., allowing it to integrate that company's software with BMC's own line of database management tools.

Oracle Corp. is adding grid computing capabilities to a new version of its application server software, part of a broader effort to revamp its entire product line around the "utility" computing model.

IBM Corp. will upgrade parts of its WebSphere Studio family of developer tools in the coming weeks, promising to reduce the time and effort it takes developers to build Java-based applications and Web sites.

Security experts on Monday warned of the first self-propagating virus to take advantage of a widespread vulnerability reported last month in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating systems.

Building out its Express line of products for midsize companies, IBM Corp. rolled out a hardware and software package Wednesday designed to help manufacturers manage information about their products.