Nagarsoft announces the latest release of Direct Access 1.6, a new text replacement and application launch utility. With minimal system impact, Direct Access sits in the background ready to speed up your work by turning a few characters (defined abbreviations) into an instant shortcut to open applications, files, Web sites or to create and fill in emails–whatever the user requires done.

Additionally, it operates as a universal text expander and glossary allowing the user to type an abbreviation which expands automatically to type regularly used phrases such as a Web address, a company name or any text of your choice.

Microsoft will release nine sets of security patches next week, including six critical updates for Windows, Office, Internet Explorer and its Visual Basic development software.

The updates will come as part of Microsoft’s regular monthly security patch process, and will be made available to customers late Tuesday morning.

Microsoft has lost the first round in a legal battle over whether its Windows Vista Capable and Express Upgrade programs were deceptive and led consumers to buy PCs that could only run the most basic version of the operating system.

The case was brought against the software giant, based in Redmond, Wash., by lead plaintiff Dianne Kelley of Camano Island, Wash. Kelley bought a new PC in November 2006 that had a sticker labeled "Windows Vista Capable" affixed to it.

A publisher of nude-model photography is suing Microsoft for putting links and images of the company’s content in search results taken from other Web sites that are illegally reproducing the material.

The company, Perfect 10, previously lost a similar suit seeking injunctions against Google and Amazon.com and its subsidiary search engine, A9.com, over alleged copyright infringement, but Perfect 10 is appealing that decision.

The latest suit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, alleges that Microsoft’s MSN image search feature creates unauthorized thumbnails of content owned by Perfect 10 and includes links to see full-size versions of the images for free.

Microsoft has begun what appears to be an open beta test of the Windows Live SkyDrive service. This is a Web-based file storage and sharing system that gives you 500MB of free online storage. Those following the service’s development probably know it by its former name, Windows Live Folders.

The release of Office 2007 marked Microsoft’s first major default file shift since Office 97. This time around, Microsoft is offering a compatibility add-in that allows users of older versions of Office to read, edit and save word processor, spreadsheet and presentation documents in the Open XML formats new to Office 2007. Based on tests of the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, Microsoft has done well in keeping its upward-compatibility promises.

The file conversion pack, released on June 18, is a free 27.5MB download for users of Office 2000, XP and 2003. During tests, the pack enabled seamless conversion between earlier and later versions of Office.

A U.S. District Court has ordered a Washington state man who sued spammers under the CAN-SPAM Act and lost his case to pay the legal fees of the defendants.

In its decision released last week, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle ordered the plaintiff, James Gordon, owner of Omni Innovations LLC, to pay US$111,440 to Virtumundo Inc. in Overland Park, Kan.

In May, the court ruled against Gordon, saying that he and other recipients of spam have no standing under the federal CAN-SPAM Act because they have not been "adversely affected" within the meaning of the law. The court said the recipient of the spam must be adversely affected in the same way that an Internet service provider would be, meaning he would have problems such as network and bandwidth slowdowns, greater demands on personnel or require new equipment.

Microsoft’s Internet Information Services continues to narrow the gap with the open-source Apache Web server, with a survey firm suggesting that the longtime second banana could surpass Apache as early as next year.

Microsoft, which added 2.6 million Web sites in the last month, grew to 36.2 percent of all active Web sites, according to figures released by U.K.-based research firm, Netcraft Ltd. Apache lost nearly a million Web site names, as its share of active Web sites fell to 48.4 percent.

Apache now leads IIS, which is bundled with Windows Server, by 12.2 percent among active Web sites, a list which excludes registered domain names that are not yet in actual usage.

A massive spam blast that started Tuesday is still in progress and shows no sign of abating, a security company said. "The scale of this stock pump-and-dump spam campaign is like nothing we’ve seen before," said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos PLC.

Similar to countless other email campaigns in both delivery method and intent–the message arrives as a PDF file and baits the scam by touting quick money to be made on an up-and-coming, if completely unknown, stock.

Building on the company’s 17-year history of delivering award-winning financial management solutions, Microsoft launched Microsoft Money Plus, the latest release of the popular Money product line. Money Plus debuts innovative new tools that enable consumers to effortlessly manage all their finances. With customizable "Insights," Microsoft Money Plus delivers important financial information right to the desktop, without the need to open the Money program. Consumers can personalize Insights to alert them when they are close to preset spending limits or when bills are coming due and can also quickly and easily check accounts to see balances and cash flow.