The hallmark of "Mission: Impossible" was the message that would self-destruct after a spy played it. Now a startup communications company promises that same level of secrecy with a Web-based messaging system designed to leave no traces. The VaporStream system from Void Communications LLC is envisioned as a complement to email and instant messaging, both of which leave abundant records.

A critical bug in the Internet Explorer browser also affects users of the Outlook 2003 email client, making it much more serious than previously thought. The vulnerability can be triggered when IE or Outlook 2003 processes Web-based graphics code written in the Vector Markup Language. It was first reported Monday by researchers at Sunbelt Software, who posted a workaround for the vulnerability.

A high-profile group of computer security professionals scattered around the globe has created a third-party patch for the critical VML vulnerability as part of a broader effort to provide an emergency response system for zero-day malware attacks. The group, known as ZERT (Zero Day Emergency Response Team), was formed in the aftermath of the WMF (Windows Metafile) attacks of December 2005 and is now emerging from stealth mode with an unofficial patch that offers temporary respite from a spate of drive-by malware downloads aimed at users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser.

Microsoft has confirmed that all versions of Vista will be shipped on a single DVD, in a feature called Windows Anytime Upgrade. The idea, said a company representative, is to let customers more easily and directly upgrade to a higher edition of Windows Vista from within their current edition. Vista is scheduled to reach consumers in January. Users would be installing only the version of the operating system that they had purchased, as the product key would be version-specific. Versions range from Starter to Ultimate editions.

Microsoft released an interim build of Windows Vista to its usual testers, as well as to 100,000 of the participants in its Customer Preview Program, on September 22. Build 5728 was delivered to testers via TechBeta, TechNet, TAP and MSDN, while the 100,000 CPP participants were chosen at random to get even greater diversity in the feed-back, a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK.

Microsoft has released a new add-in tool to help Visual Basic developers preserve Visual Basic 6 applications and breathe .Net into them. The Interop Forms Toolkit 1.0 is a free add-in that simplifies the process of displaying .Net WinForms in a VB6 application. The new toolkit not only helps preserve VB6 applications, but also lets developers add functionality to them through additional .Net forms.

The California attorney general said on Friday there was no evidence yet linking Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd to any criminal wrongdoing, as scrutiny grew over his role in the PC maker’s probe of a boardroom leak. "We don’t yet have any evidence that would lead to the CEO as one of those that committed the crimes," Attorney General Bill Lockyer told CNBC in an interview. "But we’re not complete yet. We haven’t finished the investigation."

Shares of Hewlett-Packard fell as much as 5 percent on Sept. 21 after a newspaper report indicated that Chief Executive Mark Hurd may be linked to a controversial internal investigation of boardroom media leaks. The Washington Post, in its Thursday edition, wrote that Hurd had approved a "sting" operation on a reporter as part of the investigation, citing an email by a company lawyer.

Hoping to slow a growing storm of criticism over a controversial leak probe, Hewlett-Packard said that Patricia Dunn would step down immediately as chairman and board member, to be replaced by CEO Mark Hurd. However, Hurd also confirmed on Friday that he knew about several key phases of the investigation and attended meetings at which the investigation was discussed. Hurd said he was e-mailed a report summarizing the investigation but that he did not read it.

Future versions of OpenOffice.org will come bundled with Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client and Lightning calendar application. The open source office suite is also planning to revamp its system for building and installing extensions by the end of the month by introducing an extensions system like that of Mozilla’s Firefox browser. The process of developing, selecting and managing extensions will be standardized and simplified, according to Charles H. Schulz, the lead of OpenOffice.org’s Native Language Confederation.