Microsoft is considering the release of source code for a popular tool used to build Windows programs. In a blog posting last week, Shawn Burke, a development manager at Microsoft’s Windows Forms team, floated the idea of releasing the source code to Windows Forms to its developer customers. Windows Forms is a programming model used with Microsoft’s Visual Studio tools to build the user interface portion of Windows desktop applications.

Symantec’s CEO said Monday that the company will announce next week the first steps in integration following its mega-merger with storage maker Veritas–including executive appointments. Symantec, which expects to close its $13.5 billion merger in late April or early May, plans next week to begin disclosing who will lead each of the company’s operational units. Such announcements are expected to continue through mid-March.

Singlefin, provider of managed protection services, has released Singlefin Lite for email, the first enterprise-class solution for spam, viruses and other malware to be made available to business worldwide, free of charge. The solution is a sub-set of Singlefin’s Global Gateway Enterprise Email Filter, a subscription service which currently protects 7.5 million end users, including all of NetZero and Juno.

A vulnerability that allows the URL in the browser address bar to be spoofed appears to affect all Web browsers apart from Internet Explorer. The advisory announcing the vulnerability, which could facilitate phishing and other spoofing attacks, is related to IDN (International Domain Name) support in these browsers.

Security researchers have set off the alarm for a new phishing scam that piggybacks on Microsoft’s plans to make its "Windows Genuine Advantage" anti-piracy initiative mandatory later this year. According to an advisory from Websense Inc., Internet scammers are blasting out emails with spoofed sender addresses to trick users into downloading a so-called security tool.

This update resolves problems that were found in Exchange 2003 since Exchange 2003 SP1 was released.

Are sizable pay rises and annual bonuses the only way for professional services firms to retain their best staff? Not so according to new findings from management consultancy recruitment specialists Woodhurst. The Woodhurst survey reveals that offering flexible working hours can be as effective as a pay rise when it comes to retaining staff and that a staggering two thirds of managers and professionals fear the impact their working lives have on relationships at home.

Microsoft is on track to release the first full test version of the next major Windows release by the end of June, a Microsoft executive told CNET News.com on Monday. The company has said publicly that Beta 1 of Longhorn would arrive by the end of 2005, though internally, the company has been aiming for a release by midyear. The final version of Longhorn is slated for the second half of next year.

Sony Electronics and VERITAS Software announced that Sony is equipping its customers with the tools they need for effective data backup and recovery by bundling and shipping version 10 of VERITAS’ Backup Exec QuickStart Edition software with numerous models of Sony’s branded tape drives.

A former AOL software engineer accused of stealing 92 million screen names has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen property. Jason Smathers, 24, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years and up to $500,000 in fines at a May 20 hearing, although federal guidelines call for significantly less.