But Wait, There's More

• According to reports in the press, the keys to unlock the forthcoming Windows Server 2003 operating system, as well as copies of the gold code, were posted on the Internet, and now the company is facing the possibility of widespread piracy of the program. Apparently, a volume licensing key used to unlock Windows Server 2003 has been posted to a number of sites, which were not identified. But Microsoft will undoubtedly get its hands on the released key and Windows binaries and be able to work its way back to where the leak came from, and punishment will likely be swift and severe for the party that let this happen. However, such action will not prevent those who have access to the key and source code from using it without paying for it.

• Microsoft has made clear its intentions for delivering the "Greenwich" Real-Time Communications Server 2003 add-on for the new "Whistler" Windows Server 2003 operating system. Greenwich was originally supposed to be a feature of Whistler, but, when its development was delayed, Microsoft decided to make it an add-on product to that operating system. This is a strategy that Microsoft will increasingly take to keep its Windows operating system development on track. Greenwich will be made available in a Standard Edition in the third quarter of 2003. At that time, Microsoft will also deliver a software development kit for Greenwich through its Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN), and it will also deliver a subset of Greenwich for Windows Server 2003 that will identify when users are online (something instant messaging software like Greenwich does), so this information can be used by ISVs to add rudimentary workflow and notification services to their applications without requiring customers to buy Greenwich. Microsoft has not set licensing or pricing terms for Greenwich, but the add-on for Windows Server 2003 will be free, and the Greenwich SDK will be available to current MSDN subscribers.
  
  
• The Apache Web server, from the Apache Software Foundation, has a vulnerability that makes it susceptible to denial of service (DoS) attacks, it was revealed last week. The vulnerability is present in Apache 2.044, and most likely all preceding 2.XX releases, according to iDefense, the Reston, Virginia, security intelligence services firm that first described the vulnerability. The Apache Software Foundation has fixed the problem with the Apache 2.0.45 release, and has encouraged all Apache 2.0 users to upgrade to it.
  
  
• Kroger, the $52 billion grocery chain, has joined UCCnet and will begin rolling out UCCnet technology and services to its 2,488 stores and suppliers later this year. UCCnet, a branch of the Uniform Code Council, is a nonprofit organization that has set up a database of information about products (such as number, height, or weight) that retailers and their suppliers need to coordinate orders, shipping, and the actual placement of products on shelves. By standardizing on a single set of product data, the GLOBALregistry, as the database is called, can help to eliminate inefficiency stemming from errors in product data, which studies have shown to cost the industry up to $40 billion per year. Kroger, whose brands include Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith's, Fry's, Dillons, QFC, and City Market, joins several other large retailers, including Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Wegman's, in participating in UCCnet. Last month, Albertson's, which operates 2,300 grocery stores in 31 states, joined UCCnet and announced it would begin rolling out UCCnet technology later this year. In December, Lowe's, which operates more than 800 home improvement stores in 43 states, also joined UCCnet. (For more information on UCCnet, see "Tech Insight: UCCnet Touted as Cure to Product Data Woes.")
  
  
• Host integration provider WRQ announced a new partnership last week with Best Software, a developer of applications--primarily Windows-based apps--for the midmarket. The partnership entails WRQ providing its host integration software, called Verastream, to connect Best Software's CRM application, called SalesLogix, to customers' host systems, which could be anything from IBM mainframes and OS/400 servers to Hewlett-Packard HP3000s and OpenVMS servers. Without an integration platform like Verastream, WRQ says, integrating a host system with an application such as SalesLogix is a time-consuming process. The partnership with Best Software is a coup of sorts for Seattle-based WRQ, as Best Software, the Scottsdale, Arizona, based subsidiary of British ERP house Sage Group--the fifth largest ERP software vendor in the world--owns a collection of popular small-business packages, including Abra, ACT!, and SalesLogix, used by a huge installed based of 1.7 million customers in North America.
  
  
• IBM is loading its big guns with the open-source Linux operating system as it battles Microsoft for the hearts and minds of IT managers in the small and midsized business (SMB) market. Big Blue last week introduced its business partners to Integrated Platform Express. This latest tactic gives IBM's business partner network Linux-based solutions incorporating IBM hardware, an offering that is expected to draw considerable attention in the price-sensitive SMB space. Industry analysts at Gartner say that 45 percent of SMBs are already using or experimenting with Linux. Integrated Platform Express is particularly geared toward business applications, such as e-commerce and customer relationship management, and is designed to integrate with IBM's xSeries Intel-based servers and Express family of software. The goal, IBM says, is to help independent software vendors and resellers quickly create an inexpensive, Linux-based solution they can resell to SMB customers. Those SMBs will most assuredly hear resellers singing the praises of gaining a low-cost platform where new Linux applications can be tested and deployed. Integrated Platform Express includes WebSphere Application Server Express, DB2 Express, and the customer's choice of xSeries models 225, 235, or 345 servers, along with disk storage. It will be available June 27, with prices starting at less than $4,000. For additional information, go to www.ibm.com/linux/integratedplatformexpress.
  
  

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