Winners of Product Excellence Awards Announced at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in Boston; IDG World Expo and LinuxWorld Magazine Reward Product and Service Innovation

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2006--IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows, conferences and events for technology markets around the globe, in conjunction with Sys-Con Media, the world's leading i-technology media company, today announced the winners of the Product Excellence Awards at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo(R), held this week at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

"We're so thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize these companies that are making strides in innovating and improving existing products in the open source community," said Melinda Kendall, group vice president, IDG World Expo. "We'd like to congratulate all the winners, as well as our finalists, for making this year's Product Excellence Awards program at LinuxWorld Expo so competitive."

“We're so thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize these companies that are making strides in innovating and improving existing products in the open source community”

Divided into 12 product categories, including a "Best of Show" award, the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards recognize product and service innovations by LinuxWorld exhibitors. The judges were comprised from an independent panel of technical professionals, business professionals and journalists from the Linux and open source industry.

The "Best of Show" award, which recognizes the best total industry solution, was presented to Novell for their OpenSUSE product.

Additional award winners included:

Best Application Development Platform
Novell - Mono Development Framework

Best Clustering Solution
Continuent - Continuent p/Cluster

Best Desktop Solution
SunWah - Linux Rays LX 1.5

Best Grid Computing Solution
Themis - DCRM

Best Database Solution
Oracle - Oracle Database 10g Express Edition

Best Messaging Solution
Scalix - Scalix Appliance

Best Open Source Solution
Xchange Server 5 - Open

Best Security Solution
Barracuda Networks - Barracuda Spyware Firewall

Best Systems Management Tools
rPath Inc. - rBuilder

Best Virtualization Solution
SWsoft Inc. - Virtuozzo for Linux

Most Innovative Hardware
AMD - Dual Core AMD Opteron processors Models 885, 285 and 185

Best Integration Solution
Xandros - Xandros Server

"Xandros is not just a desktop company anymore and winning the award for Best Integration Solution is evidence of that," said Stephen E. Harris, vice president of communications, Xandros. "This award is also a tremendous affirmation of our business strategy, the awards program at LinuxWorld Expo, and a wonderful way to launch our product."

LinuxWorld Conference & Expo runs through April 6th at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. For more information on the event, 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 [phone]. For exhibiting opportunities, please contact Ellen Boland at [phone] or [e-mail] or Christian Montminy at [phone] or [e-mail].

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(R), LinuxWorld Conference & Expo(R), Wireless Sensing Solutions(R), Syndicate(TM), GridWorld(TM), OSBC(R), Digital ID World(R), RoboBusiness 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 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(R), Macworld Conference & Expo(R), DEMO(R), and IDC Directions. IDC provides global market research and advice through offices in 50 countries. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com.

About SYS-CON Media

SYS-CON Media, listed in Inc 500 three years in a row as the fastest-growing, privately held publishing company in America, is the world's leading publisher exclusively serving i-technology markets.

SYS-CON's well-known and respected magazine titles include: Java Developer's Journal (www.JavaDevelopersJournal.com), .NET Developer's Journal (www.DotNETDevelopersJournal.com), Enterprise Open Source Magazine (www.opensource.sys-con.com), LinuxWorld Magazine (www.linuxworld.com), SOA Web Services Journal (www.WSJ2.com), Wireless Business & Technology (www.WBT2.com), XML-Journal (www.XML-Journal.com), WLDJ-WebLogic Developer's Journal (www.WeblogicDevelopersJournal.com), Symbian Developer's Journal (www.symbian.sys-con.com), WebSphere Journal (www.WebSphereJournal.com), Adobe Developer's Journal (www.mx.sys-con.com.com), ColdFusion Developer's Journal (www.ColdFusionJournal.com), PowerBuilder Developer's Journal (www.PowerBuilderJournal.com), IT Solutions Guide (www.itsolutions.sys-con.com), ISSJ - Information Storage & Security Journal (www.issjournal.com), Eclipse Developer's Journal (www.eclipsedevelopersjournal.com); AJAX Developer's Journal (www.ajax.sys-con.com), Web Hosting Journal (www.webhosting.sys-con.com), and Web 2.0 Journal (http://web2.sys-con.com).

Each month SYS-CON Media reaches over two million i-technology professionals through its specialty journals, magazines, conferences, education programs (www.education.sys-con.com), SYS-CON.TV (www.SYS-CON.TV), the world's first branded blog community (www.blog-n-play.com), live and on-demand Webcasts (www.webcast.sys-con.com), and the SYS-CON interactive portal with more than 100 websites at www.sys-con.com.

About SYS-CON Events, Inc.

SYS-CON Events, Inc. (www.events.sys-con.com) is the world's leading producer of i-technology conferences, seminars and expos, including SOA Web Services Edge - International Web Services Conference, Enterprise Open Source Conference, "Real-World AJAX" Seminar Series (www.ajaxseminar.com), and iTVcon - Internet TV Conference & Expo 2006 (www.itvcon.com) and AjaxWorld Conference & Expo (www.ajaxworldconference.com).