Security: Microsoft issued a patch to correct a security flaw it its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system. Although it is currently in beta testing, Vista contains the same WMF (Windows Metafile) graphics rendering vulnerability as its predecessors. And a Microsoft executive tries to quell speculation that the WMF was created deliberately. Hot review: While it’s true that Microsoft’s SQL Server has thus far been considered an underdog among stalwart IBM and Oracle proprietary databases, Sean McCown writes in SQL Server beefs up, that now “maybe those other guys should start hitting the weights.” That’s because the latest incarnation of SQL Server’s tools lead Oracle and DB2 in pretty much every area, including management, monitoring and development. McCown also has some fierce comments in SQL Server 2005 leaves open source databases in the dust. Columnists’ Corner: The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) issued a grant to Coverity, Stanford University and Symantec to create a system that will audit many open source applications for software defects. While it may be the tip of that iceberg, Neil McAllister writes in Open Enterprise, that we should “expect to see the government increasingly become not just a consumer of open source, but an active participant.” The news beat: A draft version of the newest GPL takes shots at patents, DRM, and aims to shield users against some patent infringement claims. A recent move by the EU prompts a slew of new fears about a renewed attempt to allow software to be patented. Hewlett-Packard expands it partnership with JBoss, Symantec updates its DeepSight threat management service, and Seagate ships a 160GB laptop drive, the first of its drives to use perpendicular data recording. Security