Microsoft announced new tools for easing Windows Vista deployments. The tools come about two-and-a-half months after Microsoft released the new operating system to businesses. The tools–immediately available–let businesses assess hardware and software compatibility with Vista, better manage product licensing activation, and virtualize older Windows versions during Vista testing, deployment and transition processes.

Alcoholics have one, and so do drug abusers. Now people addicted to email also have a 12-step program designed to tackle their obsession. An executive coach in Pennsylvania has devised a plan to teach people how to manage the electronic tool, which some users say can be as much an intrusive waste of time as it is fast-paced and efficient. Developed for cases such as a golfer who checked his BlackBerry after every shot, and lost a potential client who wanted nothing to do with his obsession, Marsha Egan’s plan taps into deepening concern that email misuse can cost businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity.

Microsoft said it moved quickly to remove a banner advertisement that appeared on its instant-messaging program for a software application that falsely hypes security threats on a user’s computer. Last week, computer security analysts noticed two advertisements for Winfixer–a self-described security program that also goes by the name ErrorSafe–on Windows Live Messenger. Security companies have labeled it as a "potentially unwanted program." They believe the program falsely alerts users to problems with their computer and encourages them to purchase the application. It falls into an informally named category of program called scareware, whose creators try to bully users into downloading their program or face problems with their computer.

Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for SQL Server 2005 on Tuesday, a free upgrade available for download, in addition to new virtualization licensing for the database. Microsoft said it will allow unlimited virtual instances of the SQL Server SP2 database to run on servers that are fully licensed for SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition. Enterprises are exploring virtualization technology–which allow multiple copies of an OS to run on one piece of hardware–to reduce the number of physical servers and increase their utilization.

Intermap Technologies announced an agreement to provide Microsoft with NEXTMap Britain digital elevation data for use within Microsoft’s Virtual Earth platform. The agreement enables Microsoft to create and deliver a Live Search Maps product powered by the most current and accurate digital terrain model of Great Britain.

Pure Networks announced the availability of Network Magic 4.1 which adds an easy-to-use Internet monitoring feature giving parents a detailed report of their child’s whereabouts online, a personalized home network advisor, and support for Windows Vista. Network Magic is the only software product that enables easy printer and file sharing across the Windows Vista, XP, and Mac OS operating systems.

Firefox and Internet Explorer users beware: There are serious, unpatched flaws in both browsers that could allow the manipulation of authentication cookies and the hijacking of files from your Windows machine. Details on both vulnerabilities have already been posted to the Full Disclosure mailing list by Polish researcher Michal Zalewski. SecurityFocus provides coverage of the issue, which dates back to 2006. According to Zalewski, a well-known hacker credited with several major flaw discoveries, there are two very different issues affecting Firefox and IE 7.

US researchers have come up with a technique that claims to be able to stop Internet worms within milliseconds of an outbreak. The Proactive Worm Containment system, as its inventors at Penn State University call it, uses no signatures to identify an attack. Instead it relies on the frequency of connections at a packet level, and analyzes the number of connections this traffic is making to other networks. This is said to counter one of the biggest issues in worm defense, namely that they spread at incredible speed before they can be stopped. By the time security systems have recovered, the damage is often done.

The battle for your users’ email inboxes probably will never end, but it’s not a failure of technology. Experienced email and system administrators share the key points they really, really wish you understood. Keith Brooks, vice president at Vanessa Brooks, "Stopping spam is a mixture of luck, intelligence, alcohol and planning." With luck, he says, your CEO never hears about spam. "But without it, the CIO never stops hearing about this issue."

A California-based software company has filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft over two patents that enable the creation of virtual private networks. VirnetX, a company that builds software for secure communications, claims Microsoft is infringing on two of its patents, according to a press statement by the company, which is based in Scotts Valley, California. One of the patents relates to establishing a secure communication link or VPN, while the other is for a method and system of transparently creating a VPN, the company said.