LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards finalists announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IDG World Expo and LinuxWorld Magazine Name Finalists for 
LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards
Award winners to be announced next week at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo

FRAMINGHAM, MA - July 28, 2004 - IDG World Expo, the leading producer of
world-class tradeshows, conferences and events for technology markets,
today announced the finalists for the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards,
which recognize the best products and services showcased on the exhibit
floor at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo. Managed in conjunction with
LinuxWorld Magazine, the Product Excellence Awards will be presented in 13
separate categories, in addition to a Best of Show Award.  

Award winners will be announced in a ceremony on the LinuxWorld exhibit
floor on Tuesday, August 3, 2004. LinuxWorld Conference & Expo will
take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, August 2-5, 2004. 

The LinuxWorld Product Excellence Award winners will be selected by a panel
of judges, who include: Kevin Bedell, editor in chief for LinuxWorld
Magazine; Bill Claybrooke, industry analyst at New River Linux; Gary Hein,
vice president and service director for Application Platform Strategies at
the Burton Group; Sam Hiser, marketing project co-lead for OpenOffice.org;
Dee-Ann LeBlanc, Linux author, consultant and trainer; Robin "Roblimo"
Miller, editor in chief for OSDN; Paul Nowak, CIO for the North American
Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE); Brian Proffitt, managing
editor for Linux Today, LinuxPlanet and JustLinux; Stacey Quandt, industry
analyst at Quandt Analytics; Bill Roth, senior technical evangelist at
E.phiphany; Doc Searls, senior editor for Linux Journal; Leon Shiman,
president of Shiman Associates and member of the Board of Directors for
X.org; John Terpstra, mentor on the Samba Project; James Turner, senior
editor for LinuxWorld Magazine; Maria Winslow, open source business
analyst; and John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source
Software Institute. 

LinuxWorld Product Excellence Award finalists include:

Best Data Backup or Storage Solution
PolyServe, Inc: PolyServe NAS Cluster Solution
Storix, Inc: System Backup Administrator
Computer Associates: BrightStor ARCserve Backup

Best Database Solution
Computer Associates: Ingres
Oracle: Oracle Database 10g
IBM: IBM DB2 Universal Database
Object Web: C-JDBC
Voltaire: TerraGrid DBScale

Best Open Source Solution 
Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla FireFox
Computer Associates: Ingres
Novell: Novell SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
Gentoo Linux: Gentoo Linux 2004.2

Best Utility/Grid Computing Solution
IBM: IBM Deep Computing Capacity on Demand
Topspin Communications: Topspin Utility Computing Solution, featuring VFrameT software suite
VMWare: VMWare GSX 3.1
Emic Networks: Emic Application Cluster 2.0

Best Security Solution
NetIQ: NetIQ Vulnerability Manager 5.0
Novell: Novell Nsure
Astaro: Astaro Security Linux

Best Productivity/Business Application
Sun Microsystems: StarOffice and Migration Tools
Novell: Novell Evolution 2.0 / GroupWise 
KDE: Quanta Plus
Hummingbird Ltd: Exceed onDemand 4.5
Computer Associates: BrightStor Document Manager

Best Messaging Solution
Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Thunderbird 
Barracuda Networks: Barracuda Spam Firewall 600
Novell: GroupWise 6.5 for Linux, Evolution and Gaim
Stalker Software: Communigate Pro v4.2 Real-Time Communication

Best Application Development Platform or Tool
Red Hat: Red Hat Application Server
Novell: Mono
Parasoft: Insure++
Sun Microsystems: Sun Java Studio Creator

Best Systems Management Tools
Novell: ZENworks Linux Management
Black Duck Software: protexIP/development
RLX Technologies: RLX Control Tower 6G
Xandros, Inc: Xandros Desktop Management Server

Best Embedded Solution
IBM: IBM Cloudscape V10.0
Trolltech: Qtopia Phone Edition

Best Clustering Solution
Red Hat: Red Hat Global File System
IBM: IBM Departmental Supercomputing Solutions
Penguin Computing: Scyld Beowulf

Most Innovative Hardware Solution
Rackable Systems: Rackable Systems Scale Out Server Series
E28 Limited: E2800+ 
Sun Microsystems: Sun Ray Thin Client

Best Integration Solution
Alacos: Linux Migration Agent Professional
Novell: exteNd Suite 5.2
Veritas: Storage Foundation 4.0

For more information on LinuxWorld Conference & Expo or to register,
visit www.linuxworldexpo.com.  

About LinuxWorld Conference & Expo
LinuxWorld Conference & Expo is the premier event exclusively focused
on Linux and open source solutions. As the world's most comprehensive
marketplace for open source products and services, LinuxWorld provides
business decision-makers with information and resources to implement Linux
and open source solutions into business infrastructure and enterprise
networks.  For more information or to register for the event, visit the
LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Web site at www.linuxworldexpo.com, or
call (800) 657-1474.  For exhibiting opportunities, please contact Frank
Netherwood at (508) 424-4860 or Frank_Netherwood@idg.com or John Yurewicz
at (508) 424-4852 or John_Yurewicz@idg.com 

About IDG World Expo
IDG World Expo (www.idgworldexpo.com) produces technology-focused
tradeshows, conferences and events for professionals seeking world-class
education, peer-to-peer networking and one-stop comparison shopping.  As
the leading technology event management company, IDG World Expo leverages
its experience and knowledge of technology-focused events and conferences,
enabling technology companies to capture the attention and loyalty of
influential buyers.  IDG World Expo's portfolio of conferences and events
includes Macworld Conference & Expo?, LinuxWorld Conference &
Expo?, Bio*IT World Conference + Expo?, Portable Power Conference &
Expo?, Wireless Sensing Solutions*, Context* and RoboNexus.  IDG World Expo
is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research
and event company. 

About IDG
International Data Group (IDG) is the world's leading technology media,
research, and event company.  A privately-held company, IDG publishes more
than 300 magazines and newspapers including Bio-IT World, CIO, CSO,
Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Network World, and PC World.  The
company features the largest network of technology-specific Web sites with
more than 400 around the world.  IDG is also a leading producer of more
than 170 computer-related events worldwide including LinuxWorld Conference
& Expo?, Macworld Conference & Expo?, DEMO?, and IDC
Directions. IDC provides global market research and advice through offices
in 50 countries. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com.  

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Contact:

Sandy Dawkins
MS&L
+1.617.437.7722
sandy.dawkins@mslpr.com