A European Commission investigation will delay Oracle's takeover of Sun but not stop it, predicted Roger Burkhardt, CEO of Ingres Corp., supplier of the open source Ingres database system.

"In the end, it will go through, I think," said Burkhardt upon hearing about the Commission's announcement of a Phase Two investigation into Oracle's $5.6 billion purchase.

Genentech, Hamilton Beach, and Johnson Diversey are among a smattering of large companies that have turned off their e-mail servers and signed up for Google Gmail. And, for nearly two hours on Sept. 1, tens of thousands of employees at those companies couldn't access their Gmail accounts.

Read full story at::http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219501181

Microsoft said Tuesday that its new Windows 7 computer operating system is now available to tech pros for a free, three-month trial.

The software can be downloaded from Microsoft's TechNet Web site and can be used for 90 days.

"Many IT pros we talk to have been looking for a way to continue their work with the Release Candidate to test their applications, hardware, and deployment strategies with final Windows 7 bits," wrote Microsoft's Stephen Rose, in a blog post.

By Peter Fischbach