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-------- Welcome to Mike Vizard's What's Hot Now! --------

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Delivering breaking news, as well as analysis and

commentary, from eWEEK.com

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http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590157-0-0-0-1

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Dec. 21, 2006

Volume 1, Number 21

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Letter from the Editor

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The lessons learned from 2006 are on the top of everybody's

minds as we start to close out the year that was, and of course

no year would be complete without last-minute acquisitions and

changes to pricing models.

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The Stories

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1. Editors of eWEEK Highlight the Hits and Misses of 2006

Looking back on it there were probably a lot more high-profile

misses in 2006, but that doesn't mean 2006 wasn't a good year

for IT. This year also saw major changes in the open-source

community, plus a tangibly different kind of Microsoft.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-589995-0-0-0-1

2006: The Year That Changed Linux

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-589998-0-0-0-1

For Microsoft, 2006 Ends as a Sprint to the Finish Line

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590001-0-0-0-1

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2. Baseline Reveals Top 10 Lessons Learned for IT Success

The editors of Baseline have pulled together the 10 most

important lessons learned from five years of case studies

to determine what 10 factors most often contributed to the

success of any given IT project. For anyone charged with

making things actually happen, this is invaluable advice.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590004-0-0-0-1

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3. Oracle Revamps Pricing Model

It's unlikely that Oracle's new pricing model might lead to

lower costs for IT organizations that have long complained

about the company's pricing. But the new pricing model

might make it easier for customers to understand what

they're paying for. In the meantime, Oracle continues to

rack up major net income and revenue growth.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590007-0-0-0-1

Oracle Profit Rises, Shares Down on Software Sales

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590010-0-0-0-1

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4. Senators Question Use and Cost of RFID

Once considered the new wonder technology of the decade,

RFID appears to be coming under increasing criticism.

This time it's U.S. senators questioning the value and

relative cost of the technology as applied by the Department

of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, NCR is forging ahead by

trying to jumpstart RFID adoption among SMB customers with

a special starter package with pricing that starts at $12,000. IBM,

meanwhile, is doing its bit with a new RFID information center.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590013-0-0-0-1

NCR Rolls Out RFID Package for Small and Midsize Manufacturers

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590016-0-0-0-1

IBM Announces WebSphere RFID Information Center

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590019-0-0-0-1

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5. Microsoft Distributes 16,000 SUSE Licenses to Corporate Customers

In the irony of ironies, Microsoft, as part of its deal with

Novell, has turned into a distributor of Linux licenses.

And while this may only be coincidence in the wake of

the Novell-Microsoft alliance, one of the co-founders of

SUSE, Hubert Mantel, has opted to return to the fold

in a move that should bolster Novell's credibility in the

open-source community.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590022-0-0-0-1

SUSE Co-founder Returns to Novell

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590025-0-0-0-1

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6. Hacker Selling Information on New Zero-Day Vista Exploit

It seems the hacking community can't resist taking shots at

Microsoft's latest most secure operating system ever, with

at least one hacker already out selling information on how

to exploit Vista. Speaking of which, the Free Software

Foundation seems to have some obvious issues with Vista that

it wants to air on a new site called BadVista.com, while on the

other extreme the Software Freedom Foundation has come

to Microsoft's defense in a patent dispute case being heard

by the U.S. Supreme Court. Of course, if you really want to

know what Microsoft should be doing, check out this advice

from Joe Wilcox for the folks in Redmond on Microsoft-Watch.com.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590028-0-0-0-1

Free Software Foundation Launches BadVista

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590031-0-0-0-1

Software Freedom Law Center Comes to Microsoft's Aid

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590034-0-0-0-1

Definitive, Unsolicited Advice for Microsoft

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590037-0-0-0-1

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7. Ericsson to Reel in Router Maker Redback for $2.1 Billion

In a move that serves as a shot across the bow of Cisco,

Juniper and Lucent, European networking giant Ericsson

has bid $2.1 billion to acquire a company that many view

as having an edge in terms of delivering next-generation

router technology.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590040-0-0-0-1

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8. Citrix Role to Expand Across Infrastructure Management

Everybody may talk about IBM, CA and Hewlett-Packard when

it comes to managing IT, but as Citrix continues to expand its

portfolio of products through the acquisition of companies such

as Ardence this week, the company is well on its way to becoming

a player to be reckoned with when it comes to next-generation

systems and application management.

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590043-0-0-0-1

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Job Search

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-589992-0-0-0-1

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The Channel Insider

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590046-0-0-0-1

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DevSource

http://ct.enews.eweek.com/rd/cts?d=186-5158-49-642-1325385-590049-0-0-0-1

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