Joris Evers

Microsoft Corp. raised the risk rating on a security flaw in Internet Explorer (IE) to "critical" after criticism prompted it to re-examine the issue, the company said Friday.

The worldwide market for desktop and notebook PC chips will grow 8.9 per cent next year, after a sharp 35.5 per cent drop in 2001 and a flat 2002, market researcher IDC said Thursday.

Microsoft Corp. late Wednesday issued a patch to fix a flaw in Internet Explorer (IE) that it says poses only a "moderate" risk to users. Security experts, however, say the vulnerability is serious and could be exploited to take over a user's machine.

Oracle Corp. Thursday unveiled its E-Business Suite Special Edition, a package of enterprise applications targeted at midsize European companies and delivered ready to run on a hardware server, the company said.

Dutch Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV will move most of its optical storage business to Taiwan and concentrate on DVD+RW (DVD+rewritable) products in a move to restore profitability at the ailing unit, the company said Tuesday.

Oracle Corp. plans to announce a version of its E-Business Suite of enterprise applications for mid-size European companies next Thursday, pitting it against rivals Microsoft Corp.

Baan Co. NV is preparing to launch marketing and software upgrade efforts in a bid to repair its tarnished image with corporate users. But some customers and analysts said it's not clear whether the struggling business software vendor's strategy will work.

Baan Co. NV has rolled its regional sales offices into one global sales organization, in an effort to better service multinational customers, the company said Monday.