Microsoft announced the completion of the core products in the new Microsoft Office System and has released all products to manufacturing. The Microsoft Office System is composed of productivity programs, servers and services, and includes programs such as the Microsoft Office 2003 editions, and the 2003 versions of Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Visio, FrontPage and Publisher.

Starfield Technologies announced Spam Xploder as the latest edition to its lineup of software services for consumers and businesses. Spam Xploder works with several email programs, including Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express and Web-Based Email, Starfield’s Internet-based mail client. Customers with Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, or any IMAP- or POP3-based account can retrieve and filter their mail via Starfield’s Web-Based Email or the Spam Xploder Management Client.

eWeek reports that Microsoft will release its Microsoft Office Project 2003 software to manufacturing this week. The project management software will reach customers when the rest of Office 2003 ships, which is expected in October. eWeek also says that integration with Outlook 2003 will allow Project users to update progress on Outlook Calendar entries and report their status to Microsoft Project Server from Outlook.

At SCO Forum 2003, SCO announced the delivery of key component of its SCOx Web services initiative–SCOx WebFace Solution Suite 4.0–as well as the SCOsms Web Services API and SCObiz Web Services APIs. Internet Week says that SCO also announced availability of UnixWare Office Mail Server 2.0 and the SCO Authentication 2.1 for Microsoft Active Directory. UnixWare Office Mail Server, which is now bundled with the UnixWare operating system, is aimed at small and midsize businesses and offers a new version of Office Mail Connector for Microsoft Outlook, support for POP3 and IMAP, and an LDAP-based Internet address book.

Treasure Coast Software announced Mail-Lock, a new software tool that gives Microsoft Outlook users a way to control what recipients can do with confidential emails and Microsoft Office attachments. Mail-Lock’s EPIC functionality, or email Personal Information Containment, lets email senders set policy control features that extend to printing, forwarding, copying, and retention. A free evaluation copy is available at Mail-Lock’s Web site.

Network Engines and Authenex announced a partnership to develop and market two-factor authentication network security appliances. TidalWire, the distribution arm of Network Engines will be the exclusive distributor of the new appliances, which will include the Authenex Strong Authentication System (ASAS) and AOne. Authenex AOne features Strong (Web) Access Control (SAC) using the A-Key. AOne and the A-Key also provide strong two-factor authentication for Microsoft Outlook Web Access.

The Sobig email virus that caused havoc two months ago has reappeared in a virulent new form, according to email service provider MessageLabs. News.com reports that the virus grabs email addresses from several different locations on a computer, including the Windows address book and Internet cache, and sends emails to each one. The virus also forges the source of the message using a randomly selected email address so that the infected message appears to come from someone else.

ZDNet says that Microsoft will not do any more development work on Outlook Express. While Outlook Express has always been most popular with individual consumers, many business users have also utilized it, in part because it is part of its default Windows install. According to the article, Microsoft executives are hoping those users will now switch to the full-blown Outlook client (and pay for an Office license in the process).

iLumin Software Services announced that Assentor Enterprise scans the content of messages to block unsolicited messages from filtering through the enterprise message system. Assentor Enterprise is a firm-wide solution that provides archiving, compliance, supervision, discovery, litigation support and mailbox management for not only corporate email and instant messages, but also other sources of electronic records including document libraries.

Vuico is expanding its global presence by establishing Vuico KK as its Asia-Pacific headquarters. Based in Tokyo, Japan, Vuico KK was created to support the increasing demand for its GoWireless solutions in the Asia-Pacific market. Vuico’s GoWireless Mobile Messaging offers solutions for providing access to Cybozu Office 4, Cybozu AG, Cybozu Garoon, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino and SMTP/POP3 messaging environments to the mobile professional.