SAN FRANCISCO - MICROSOFT said on Thursday that a nearly-final version of its next-generation Windows 7 operating system will be publicly released on May 5.

The release will be available at microsoft.com/downloads in a move intended to signal that the software giant is putting finishing touches on an operating system that it hopes will escape criticism heaped on its predecessor Vista.

WASHINGTON - NASA said on Thursday it will launch its final shuttle mission to the Hubble space telescope on May 11, a day earlier than planned, to avoid conflicts with other scheduled missions.

The new launch date is scheduled for 1801 GMT (12.01am Singapore time) on May 11 from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, Nasa said.

SAN FRANCISCO - CYBER crooks are capitalizing on influenza fears with torrents of email promising 'Swine flu' news but delivering malware or dubious offers for potency drugs or penis enlargement.

'Zombie' computers infected with a dreaded Conficker virus that became an online scourge this year are among machines being used to spew flu spam crafted to trick email recipients, according to computer security firm Trend Micro.