IDG World Expo and SYS-CON Media's LinuxWorld Magazine have announced the finalists for the LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards, to be presented at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo), April 3-6 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

These awards recognize product and service innovations by LinuxWorld exhibitors and will be presented in 12 separate categories, including a "Best of Show" award.

"The exhibitors at LinuxWorld Expo continue to innovate and improve existing products, providing quality solutions for levels ranging from personal users to the large enterprise," said Mark R. Hinkle (pictured), Editor-In-Chief, LinuxWorld Magazine. "For those seeking the very best in Linux and open source solutions there's no better forum to visit and review products than the ones showcased at this event."

"The LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards are considered the industry standard for innovation in the Linux community," said Melinda Kendall, group vice president, IDG World Expo. "Every year we look forward to recognizing the developers of these products, which represent the best technology available to users of Linux and open source."

The award judges represent a spectrum of technical professionals, business professionals and journalists from the open source industry. Award winners will be announced during a ceremony on the LinuxWorld exhibit floor in the Product Excellence Awards Theater on Wednesday, April 5, 2006 12:30pm EST.

(Finalists in all categories appear on the next page.)