News in Brief

PC World Staff

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:00:00 UTC

Product Pipeline

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware antispyware program. Ad-Aware Upgrade: Lavasoft says that a new version of its popular Ad-Aware antispyware program due in June will feature improved detection of adware and hidden malware, a scanning engine that goes easy on PC system resources, and an updated interface. A personal-use version will remain free, while the $40 Ad-Aware 2007 Pro will include advanced features such as Ad-Watch TrackSweep, a tool that clears the cache, cookies, and history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera.

End of XP: In early 2008 Microsoft will end shipment of Windows XP to computer makers and stop selling XP retail licenses. According to Dell, however, Windows XP sales to small and medium-size businesses are still strong. The PC maker says that it plans to offer "Customized with XP" Dimension desktops and Inspiron notebooks this summer for small businesses that may want extra time to contemplate a possible switch to the Mac OS or Linux.