The alternative desktop movement is gathering momentum, so much so that 2004 could prove to be one of the most challenging years in Microsoft’s history. According to this article from vnunet.com, Linux is ready for prime time with support from IBM.

Corvigo, the creator of Intent-Based Filtering (IBF) for unwanted email, announced that IBF technology works with Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2003 with Intelligent Message Filtering (IMF). Although IMF may benefit the end-user, the majority of spam-related costs occur at the server. Corvigo’s IBF technology sits in front of the Exchange Server and behind the firewall. It helps increase Exchange Server performance by stopping all junk and bulk mail (newsletters, etc.) from hitting the mail server.

SearchWindows2000.com interviewed Tony Redmond, vice president and chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard’s services unit and author of "Microsoft Exchange Server for Windows 2000: Planning, Design and Implementation." In the interview, Redmond offered some observations on Exchange migrations, on Microsoft’s collaboration strategy and why he believes open source won’t have an impact on Exchange in the long run.

Don’t forget that ZATZ Editor-in-Chief will be chairing a panel at the Basex Strategic Thinkers Conference in New York City on Tueday. If you’re near the Penn Club, stop in and say hi. Be aware that the conference operators may have a small requirement that you be registered for the conference before you’re allowed to stop in, but it’s a small price to pay to meet our great and glorious leader!

Here’s a short reminder. If you’re working on articles or photo collections to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight Special Issues, they’re due to us by December 5. Please be sure to send them in to editor@ZATZ.com.

IntelliReach Corporation announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with Paranet Solutions. As a result of the partnership, Paranet will provide IntelliReach’s MessageScreen Platinum, a spam, virus and content filtering solution, to its customers throughout the United States. The MessageScreen messaging firewall provides email security for Microsoft Exchange, Novell GroupWise and IBM Lotus Notes messaging environments.

Agilix Labs announced the delivery of the FranklinCovey TabletPlanner 3.0 to strategic partner FranklinCovey. TabletPlanner is a custom-developed software solution that combines Agilix note-taking, storage, and search technology with FranklinCovey’s productivity and planning methodology. With TabletPlanner 3.0, you can keep appointments, tasks, and contacts in sync with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Exchange 2003. You can also annotate, search, and store any document in a virtual document filing system, including Microsoft Office 2003 applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Visio,), Adobe Acrobat, Web pages, and email.

AOL signed an agreement with Mentor Media Group to build over 100 multimedia tutorials for their latest release, version 9.0 Optimized. Mentor delivers multimedia support via local networks, CD-ROMs, local hard drives, or streamed over the Internet. Mentors are available for Lotus products such as Notes, Sametime, and QuickPlace, and for popular Microsoft products such as Windows 2000 and XP, Office 2000 and XP, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer.

ZIM announced that three of its wireless products have been selected by Singapore’s fastest growing carrier, StarHub, for introduction to its customer base. The products, to be called StarHub SMS Office (Standard and Enterprise Editions) and StarHub SMS Mail, feature wireless email connectivity through SMS text messaging. StarHub SMS Mail allows email forwarding from any POP 3 account to a mobile phone with reply capabilities. StarHub SMS Office Standard Edition, designed for the Microsoft Outlook environment, allows users not only to receive, reply to and forward email, but also integrates reminders and calendar items too. The more advanced version, StarHub SMS Office Enterprise Edition, is designed for a networked environment.

Susteen announced that its DataPilot Universal Kit is now available for purchase in all Best Buy stores. DataPilot allows the transfer of contact information between your mobile phone, PC, Palm Desktop, and other PDAs. This software also interfaces with the contact management software running on your PC, such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and ACT!. It supports over 150 cell phone models including the most popular ones.