Among existing desktop security software, Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus 2007 suite is the best at detecting and removing stealth rootkits, according to a study done by Thompson Cyber Security Labs. In the study, which was commissioned by Symantec and conducted by veteran anti-virus expert Roger Thompson, 20 randomly chosen pieces of rootkit-laden malware files were pitted against the major antivirus and anti-spyware vendors to rate detection and removal capabilities. The application that performed the poorest, according to Thompson, was Microsoft’s Microsoft Windows Defender (Beta 2), which is being built into the Windows Vista operating system.

Microsoft officials confirmed first thing on November 6 that Office 2007 has gone gold. The team’s work isn’t done; now it’s time for Microsoft to roll out new distribution, deployment, and management tools to convince customers to upgrade. Microsoft is claiming the new Office 2007 "includes the largest investment in deployment and management tools in the product’s history."

Adware manufacturer Zango has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission in response to charges that it breached federal law by deceptively installing advertising software on consumers’ PCs without a clear means of removal. According to the terms of the settlement announced Friday, Zango’s principals–co-founders Keith Smith and Daniel Todd–must pay $3 million to cover illegally obtained profits. Additionally, the company must adhere to FTC regulations that bar it from loading programs onto customers’ computers and monitoring them without their consent. The programs also must include a feature that allows customers to uninstall the software easily.

IT certifications are worth less than ever, and the value of non-certified technology skills has surged, according to the third-quarter edition of the "Hot Technical Skills and Certifications Pay Index" from Foote Partners, an IT workforce research firm. "Certified skills pay has not just flat lined, it’s in the negative. This is big news if you’re certified and you’re thinking about getting recertified," said Foote. "This trend is in the fourth quarter, that pay for certifications is on the wane, while non-certified skills are growing in pay."

Microsoft announced availability of Virtual Earth 3D, a new online mapping interface that is part of the Live Search offering, providing consumers with a three-dimensional experience to search, browse and explore the real world online. This new technology compiles photographic images of cities and terrain to generate textured, photorealistic 3-D models with engineering level accuracy.

Scribe Software, a provider of data migration and integration software technology for leading Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management systems, announced the release of Scribe Insight, version 6.0.8. Included in the newest release of Scribe Insight is a new Adapter for both ACT! 2005 and ACT! 2006, used to migrate data from ACT! to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SalesLogix, and Salesforce.

Microsoft unveiled a new Web site that describes features of the upcoming Zune music store and also revealed that MSN Music will not continue to sell digital songs. The new site outlines details of the Zune player as well as the Zune marketplace, where customers can buy songs individually or subscribe to a monthly music download service. The site already features a few bands and offers downloads of images and videos of Zune advertisements.

Microsoft has closed a project to develop a tool, Codename Max, for sharing photos with friends and reading RSS feeds, among other functions. Max also let users annotate their photos, as if they were using a felt-tip pen, while the original images were preserved. In March, developers incorporated MSNBC Newsbot into Max, which pulls content from online news sources.

Microsoft confirmed that it will release its much-anticipated Windows Vista operating system to enterprises on Nov. 30. Microsoft did not provide a release date for the consumer edition of the OS, though the announcement suggests the software giant is on track to meet its slated early 2007 Vista release to retailers.

SPAMfighter Exchange Module has been upgraded to include better usability and filtering capabilities. Users of SEM are now able to use Outlook Web Access anywhere in the world with the full filtering capabilities. These filter capabilities have also recently been improved to better identify the latest forms of spam.