CodeWeavers announced the release of CrossOver Office 5.0, its latest upgrade to the popular program for running Windows applications natively on Linux. The new version includes performance upgrades found in the newest edition of WINE 0.9, the CrossOver Office open-source equivalent. Both programs are open-source implementations of the Windows API (application programming interface) for Unix and the X Window System. With them, users can run numerous Windows programs on Unix operating systems.

Many Domain Name System servers are wrongly configured or running out-of-date software, leaving them vulnerable to malicious attacks, according to a study published Monday. DNS servers, which translate domain names such as "yoursite.com" into IP addresses, underpin the workings of the Internet. In its survey, Internet performance company The Measurement Factory found that the BIND software used for domain-name resolution is out-of-date on a fifth of DNS servers. DNS servers that run versions of BIND earlier than version 9 are "opening the door" to pharming attacks through DNS cache poisoning, the company said in its report.

Teamstudio introduces Teamstudio Audit Services, a professional services asset and security audit uses Teamstudio technology to provide insights and recommendations to increase security and data integrity across an organization’s Lotus Notes software assets. With standardized auditing processes and extensive reporting capabilities, Teamstudio Audit Services ensures proper allocation of server resources and optimal security within an organization’s Notes environment.

Neoware Systems announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Maxspeed Corporation, a provider of customized thin client solutions. The acquisition furthers Neoware’s strategy of developing or acquiring distribution channels and engineering centers in major markets around the world in order to provide customized thin client software solutions to large global enterprises, as well as small and medium sized business customers.

Even when the caller ID window displays "out of area" or "name blocked" messages, telephone users do not have to worry about risking their identity or placing personal information at risk if they decline to answer. But this is not the case with email. Malefactors can easily spoof the sender’s address to trick the recipient into opening the message. A solution to this problem might soon be available. The computer industry is fast-tracking a system called email authentication, which will attempt to do for email what caller ID does for telephone calls. Email authentication will assure the recipient that the sender actually is the person identified in the message header.

Three years in the making, MySQL 5.0 was finally released on Monday. MySQL AB delivers new, and long-awaited, ANSI SQL features in this latest version of the popular open-source DBMS. These new features include both read-only and updated views, stored procedures row-level triggers, both read-only and non-scrolling server-side cursors, and stored functions that rely on the SQL:2003 syntax. This is the same version of SQL that is used in IBM DB2.

Companies should encourage employees to switch off PCs at night or continue wasting money and energy, according to research by Fujitsu Siemens. In a report released on Monday, the PC maker claimed that about $217 million (123 million pounds) is wasted every year in the U.K. alone powering PCs that could have been shut down or left in hibernation mode. The report also pointed out the environmental impact of all the wasted energy. Fujitsu Siemens surveyed 1,000 employees and found that some 370 never turned off their computers before leaving the office for the day.

Brocade Communication Systems, Cisco Systems, Computer Associates International, Engenio Information Technologies, Fujitsu Limited, IBM Corporation, McDATA Corporation, Network Appliance, and Sun Microsystems, announced their intent to form a new open source community, initially working under the project name Aperi, to give customers more choices for deploying open-standards-based storage infrastructure software. The organization plans to develop a common storage software management platform that will give customers greater flexibility in the way they manage their storage environments.

IBM announced new open source-based software and support, expanding IBM’s commitment to help customers innovate from industry-standard technologies. Called WAS CE (WebSphere Application Server Community Edition), the software provides mid-sized businesses, departments in large enterprises and business partners with easy access to open source-based technologies with no upfront costs. WAS CE is customizable application server software that features a small footprint, making it easier to download and manage. Based on core open source technology from the J2EE-certified Apache Geronimo application server, WAS CE and related subscription support provide a flexible and affordable alternative to traditional commercial software offerings and can help customers begin to deploy a Service Oriented Architecture.

VeriSign said Monday it would maintain control of the lucrative ".com" Internet domain until 2012 in return for dropping an antitrust lawsuit against the nonprofit body that oversees the Internet’s addressing system. The agreement settles a long-running dispute between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, and the most powerful company under its jurisdiction. The settlement comes at a time when ICANN is under attack from China, Iran and other countries that want more direct control over the domain-name system that guides traffic around the Internet.