Existing malware could affect Vista users ... Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Existing malware could affect Vista users, Sophos says
News: Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion
News: Europe gets an extra version of Vista
News: Vista launch sparks competition between PC vendors
Tip: Do you LUA?
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Driving frustration finds online outlet


NEWS UPDATES

Existing malware could affect Vista users, Sophos says
Microsoft Corp. has touted Vista as a more secure version of Windows, but on the day of Vista's official launch, a security company has identified malware already in circulation that can infect computers running the OS.

Intuit to buy Digital Insight for $1.4 billion
With a promise to create new types of online banking services, financial software vendor Intuit Inc. has agreed to buy financial services provider Digital Insight Corp. for $1.35 billion in cash.

Europe gets an extra version of Vista
When Microsoft Corp. releases Windows Vista to business customers in Europe on Thursday, it will be offering an extra version of the OS to comply with the European Commission's antitrust ruling against the company.

Vista launch sparks competition between PC vendors
As Microsoft Corp. prepares to sell the business version of its Windows Vista operating system, Dell Inc. is beefing up its IT service offerings to compete for customers with Hewlett-Packard Co.

AMD launches four-core "4x4" motherboard
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) today launched a motherboard with four cores, targeting gaming enthusiasts in an effort to keep pace with the release of quad-core chips by rival Intel Corp.

Vista, Office 2007 business launch gets rolling in Asia
Microsoft Corp. kicked off the day-long launch of its Vista operating system, Office 2007 suite and Exchange Server 2007 applications for enterprise users with events at three locations in Asia Thursday.

Asustek readies SideShow laptop for Vista
Asustek Computer Inc. has prepared one of the first notebook PCs to use SideShow, a small display on the outside of the case that works with Windows Vista to allow users to scan e-mails and other information without booting up the laptop.

Sony's PlayStation unit shakes up top management
Ken Kutaragi will leave his position as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), the Sony Corp. unit responsible for the PlayStation family of games consoles, and hand day-to-day control of the company to Kaz Hirai, previously head of SCEI's U.S. unit, the company said Thursday.

HP takes workstation out from under the desk
Financial traders at a London company wear shorts to work because heat from workstations under their desks is so bad. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) has invented technology to take the workstations out from under the desks and replace them with blade-style computers tucked away in a separate data center.

Nvidia ends options probe, takes $127 million charge
Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. found some irregularities in past stock-based compensation practices during an internal probe, and took a total of $127 million in non-cash charges over associated expenses, the company said Wednesday.


TIP

Do you LUA?
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

I've been running with a least-privileged user account (LUA) on my main Windows XP workstation now for over a year. In other words, the user account I use for checking email, browsing the web, writing reports and so on is an ordinary domain user account and is not a member of the local Administrators group on my computer. Why do I do this? Because running with an admin account results in a lot more damage when your machine gets compromised by some malware.


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Intel readies 45nm quad-core processor ... Microsoft revamps WGA tool ... Asustek to offer Skype-ready motherboards


ITWHIRLED

Driving frustration finds online outlet
Victim of road rage? Got cut off by someone jabbering on their cell phone? Log on to platewire.com, the site that encourages you to name and shame drivers who are angry, dangerous, or just plain inept.