Microsoft made it official that its Intelligent Messaging Filter (IMF) will be available to all IT shops running Exchange 2003 and Office 2003. IMF was originally earmarked for customers with a Software Assurance maintenance agreement in their licensing contracts.

Novell, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat, each is working on, or has recently shipped, new products that take aim at Microsoft’s Windows and Office.

Lawyers seeking $258 million in legal fees from Microsoft’s $1.1 billion class-action settlement in California are asking for too much, the world’s largest software maker said.

This note is from David, our editor-in-chief: "For those of you expecting email answers to messages you sent me in the past few days, be patient. I took a long weekend and found my inbox filled with 6,552 messages this morning. It gonna take me a while to dig through these. So sit tight. I will respond, but Lordy, Lordy, there be tonload ‘o mail here to dig my way out of."

Industry observers expect Redmond to fend of IBM’s bold move to challenge Microsoft’s preeminence on the desktop. For most companies with Microsoft Office, there are simply no good economic reasons to oust that productivity suite.

Attendees at TechTarget’s Enterprise Messaging Decisions conference say that BlackBerrys and other wireless messaging devices are only getting more popular, but security is still a concern. Analysts said that, for the first time, these devices will be tightly integrated with companies’ back-end messaging platforms, like Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino.

Microsoft provided a few details on Longhorn Server, expected to ship in 2007, which will include support for its new Web services architecture called Indigo.

A new mass-mailing virus called Wallon, which wipes out Windows Media Player and is activated when a user tries to play MP3 or video files from an infected PC, was discovered in Europe on Tuesday.

Microsoft has delayed until later this year the release of Virtual PC 7, the latest version of a program that allows Windows software to run on the Macintosh. The software maker said the software needs more testing than anticipated.

Companies that don’t have a sound email policy open themselves up to potential lawsuits and public embarrassment. An expert offers insight on what your organization’s plan should include.