The New York Times reviews Microsoft Office 2003. According to the review, there are only a few tweaks in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel and a whole lot of changes in Outlook. Free registration is required to view this article.

Antivirus software maker Sophos announced that it has acquired ActiveState, a Canadian-based maker of spam-filtering tools and programming tools for developers. Sophos plans to integrate its antivirus software solution into ActiveState’s PureMessage enterprise antispam. PureMessage is currently available for AIX, HP-UX, FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris platforms. Sophos also offers its MailMessage solution, which protects Lotus Notes, SMTP servers, and Microsoft Exchange servers from virus infection.

Most big companies are running messaging software one or two major revisions behind the maker’s most current version, according to Ferris Research as it outlined the reasons why companies put off upgrading this crucial component of their IT infrastructure. A bunch of barriers give companies excuses to defer upgrading their email server software. Internet Week points out that the obstacles are particularly important now, as both of the two most popular email platforms–Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes/Domino–are set to push out updates in the next month.

nCipher announced the availability of its Document Sealing Engine, the nCipher DSE 200. This new appliance-based product provides the ability to seal electronic documents to create certified digital originals that potentially command equal legal status with paper based documents (subject to local legislation). The DSE 200 is available with a developer toolkit for integration with most applications used to publish or manage electronic records, documents or transactions. In addition, a pre-integrated solution is available for use in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Capital Fulfillment Group (CFG) is pleased to announce CFG-Connect, a new application that integrates CapitalDIRECT, CFG’s real-time, online fulfillment management system, with Microsoft Outlook. CFG-Connect will enable users to place and manage orders quickly, with information populated directly from their Outlook database. In addition, individuals with Palm handhelds and Blackberry handhelds will be able to use CFG-Connect to turn their personal contacts into CapitalDIRECT contacts.

Want the lowdown on Microsoft Office 2003? This article from PC Magazine has it. According to the article, despite all the advances in Office 2003, the software has shortcomings. Some needed enhancements were left out, while others are available as extra-cost add-ins from third parties.

Here’s a wrap-up from last week’s DEMObile conference. The Wilmington Morning Star has a rundown of some of the collest products introduced at the conference.

Pro Exchange announced Spam Smacker, its anti-spam software for Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003 environments, is now available. Businesses can either purchase the anti-spam solution immediately online or download a free trial version. Spam Smacker provides anti-spam protection as well as content screening at the Exchange Server level for inbound SMTP emails.

As a result of the Web browser patent verdict against Microsoft, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is investigating whether the claims in the patent infringement lawsuit brought by Eolas Technologies and the University of California could require changes to both the current and future HyperText Markup Language specifications.

The Globe and Mail reports that a new USB-based flash memory device promises to capture a broad range of data from a computer user’s PC and replicate that personal desktop on any other compatible Windows-based computer.