4. Microsoft to alpha test Office 14 before end of year: While Office 2007 may seem fresh to users, a Microsoft employee blog posting revealed that the company starts alpha testing Office 14, the successor to the current productivity suite, in November or December. The Monday posting, which was eventually pulled from the site, was recruiting people for a program that allows them to try out the monitoring and analytics components of Office PerformancePoint Server. Microsoft's public relations firm confirmed that the next version of Office is in the works but said that discussing its features and timing is premature.

5. Google Issues Long-Awaited Android SDK Update and Android phone could come in November: The first phone running Android, the Linux mobile phone operating system from Google, may debut in November if the hype around HTC's Dream phone proves accurate. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission released documents on Monday approving sales of the device, which is rumored to be the first handset using Android. At HTC's request, the FCC kept some of the documents, such as the manual, confidential until Nov. 10. The documents didn't reveal what software comes with the phone, and Google and HTC have been mum about the Dream's OS. In other Android news, Google released an updated SDK (software development kit) on Monday after developers criticized the slow progress. The update fixes bugs, includes user interface changes, and adds features like a camera, music player and picture viewer.

6. Judge dissolves gag order against MIT students: A U.S. District Court judge lifted a gag order that prevented MIT students from discussing security flaws in the ticketing system for Boston's public transportation network. The three students planned on presenting their research at the recent Defcon hacker conference until the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority obtained the gag order. Upholding the order would discourage scientists from publicizing research for fear of litigation, said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation. The MBTA wanted a five-month extension of the order to fix the flaws. Despite the gag, the student's research was readily available. Defcon organizers included their work in conference material, MIT posted their research paper on its Web site and some material became public information after the MBTA filed its gag order motion.

7. Two years on, Microsoft and Novell extend partnership: Two years after forming a partnership that brought a Linux champion and foe together, Novell and Microsoft announced an extension of their interoperability pact. Microsoft will purchase up to US$100 million in coupons for Suse Linux support from Novell. An analyst said that the extension proves that customers have taken to the deal, which began with Microsoft buying $240 million in Novell coupons for its customers to purchase. The companies claim that $157 million of the coupons from the initial investment have been redeemed. The arrangement makes Microsoft look good for playing nicely with a rival. Meanwhile, figures from IDC indicate that Novell captured market share from Red Hat, its competitor in the enterprise Linux market, since entering the arrangement with Microsoft.