Open Office 2 beta

A beta version of Open Office 2.0 is available for download, reports The Register.

The open source office application suite claims to offer most of the functions of Microsoft`s Office product and the beta has a new user interface designed to make Microsoft Office users at home.

Most new features are in the Writer programme. These include word count for selected text, wizards for setting up databases and tables and floating toolbars.

USA Today reports that Carly Fiorina, the recently departed chief executive of HP, is in the running to be the next president of the World Bank, according to a US government official.

Fiorina`s name is the latest to surface as a candidate to replace World Bank President James Wolfensohn. He is stepping down as head of the development bank at the end of May.

Fiorina was one of the most high-profile CEOs in the United States. During her nearly six-year tenure, she sought to reinvigorate HP, but the board felt she didn`t execute its strategy quickly enough.

America Online is preparing to upgrade the interface and performance of the Web mail service for its subscribers, says PC World.

The report says the upgrade will be followed in several months with the rollout of a free Web mail service for people who aren`t subscribers of AOL`s fee-based service.

Analysts say that by enhancing the subscribers` Web mail service with advanced features and capabilities, AOL is trying to discourage them from migrating to free services from competitors such as Yahoo and Microsoft`s MSN. The move is also seen as part of AOL`s overall effort to stop migration to broadband services not offered by AOL.

ETrade Financial Corporation is to launch a two-factor authentication service designed to provide customers of the online financial services company with an added layer of protection when they access account information over the Internet.

Computerworld says the authentication scheme is based on RSA Security`s SecurID token technology and will allow ETrade customers to use a random and constantly changing number in conjunction with their regular user IDs and passwords to access their ETrade accounts.