Joris Evers

Microsoft Corp. rang in what it calls the third decade of Windows with the launch of 64-bit versions of the operating system (OS) for desktop computers and servers.

A new variant of the Sober e-mail worm is still spreading on the Internet, but at a much slower rate than on Monday when it was the most prevalent worm on the 'Net. The worm was first discovered on Monday at about 9 a.m. Pacific time, according to McAfee Inc., a vendor of antivirus products. McAfee rates the worm "medium" risk for home users, but sees less risk for corporate users, said Craig Schmugar, a virus research manager at the Santa Clara, California-based company.

Salesforce.com Inc. is focusing on integration with the Summer

Microsoft Corp. has postponed most of its Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security plan, company officials confirmed. Only a sliver of it will appear in the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, due out late next year.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday plans to announce that it will offer a simplified and lower-priced version of Windows XP in Brazil.

Microsoft Corp. is working on two thin client versions of Windows XP to offer a lower cost operating system alternative for users of server-centric computing, people familiar with the company's plans said.

As Microsoft Corp. approaches a major milestone in the development of Longhorn, company executives are talking more about the features of the Windows XP successor, which they say will be easier to use, more secure and less costly to manage than earlier versions of Windows.

Microsoft Corp. has pushed back the release of a special version of Windows Server for high performance computing (HPC) until the first half of next year, the company announced this week. The Redmond, Washington, software maker needs more time to make the product easier to manage and deploy, a spokeswoman for Microsoft said.