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AllPeers, one of the 30 Webware 100 finalists in the Search & Reference category, is dead.

According to the company blog, the peer-to-peer file transfer service never got the user growth it needed to keep its investors happy. We covered the service a few times and gave it mixed reviews. I always thought it was an important product, but not a great one. It was a Webware 100 winner in 2007 and we made it a Webware 100 finalist again for 2008. However, early returns on AllPeers are not promising for this year: It has less than 1 percent of the vote in its category. (Part of that was our fault: It was somewhat misplaced in the Search group.)

We are removing AllPeers from the 2008 Webware 100, and this leaves us with 29 products in the Search & Reference category. We could leave it at that, but having only 29 products in this category offends my sense of order and symmetry, so I want to add another product to the polls while there's still time for it to make a fair showing in the voting. I could pick a product from our database of nominees, but I think I'll open this up to users instead. So, in the Search & Reference category, which product do you think should be added to the list of finalists? If the product you like is already a finalist (see list), please don't enter it here--vote for it instead.

I'm going to leave this write-in campaign up for just 24 hours--I will close it at 10 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, March 4. So if you feel there's a Search product missing from the Webware 100, now's the time to make yourself heard. I want to be clear that this is not the vote. While I will strongly consider the number of nominees a write-in gets, ultimately I will pick what I feel is the most important product to be added to the polls. And once I do that, it will have to earn real votes like all the other finalists.

Update: The poll is closed. Based on the submissions (many of which were not for actual Search & Reference products), I picked Retrevo to replace AllPeers in the Search & Reference category. It will be added to the polling engine shortly.

LogMeIn today began offering a version of its remote-access service for Mac users. Once installed, LogMeIn Free for Mac allows a computer to be controlled from another computer via a Web browser.

The company is also releasing a beta version of LogMeIn Rescue for Mac for support technicians performing long-distance control and repair. The preview version of that service involved 30,000 test users.

Both new LogMeIn tools work with Macs running OS 10. 4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard operating systems. Users can access their Macs from browsers on computers running Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, as well as on the iPhone and other compatible handhelds.

I've been using LogMeIn for Windows happily for more than a year. Although sometimes it seems to perform better in Internet Explorer than in Firefox, I have no complaints about the free, stable service for Windows, except that it keeps me on the job in the wee hours of the morning. I haven't yet tested the Mac-ready LogMeIn.

Correction 2:10 p.m. PDT: This blog initially misstated the savings for buyers of Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition if they choose to upgrade to the 2008 Special Media Edition. The savings would be $350.

Microsoft has improved on an earlier offer to those who buy Office 2004 for Mac before the new version of Office is released in January.

In September, the company said it would offer buyers of Office 2004 an upgrade to the comparable version of Office 2008 for the cost of shipping and handling.

Now, those who purchase Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition ($149), the Standard version ($399), or the Standard upgrade ($239) are eligible to receive the new Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for $6.99, the cost of shipping and handling. The Special Media Edition will retail for $499.

The Standard flavor includes a single license, while three licenses are included with the less expensive Student and Teacher edition. Microsoft does not verify whether those who buy this education edition really attend or work at a school or university. However, consumers must pledge in the End User License Agreement that they bought the edition for use in a school.

The Special Media Edition includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Expression Media, an image file management application.

The discount offer lasts until January 14. Office 2008 for Mac is set to ship the next day. Customers' licenses from the 2004 and 2008 versions will remain valid.

The potential savings would be $350 for buying Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher and receiving the 2008 Special Media Edition for free.

Office 2008 for Mac is also available in other flavors. For $399, the Standard edition swaps Expression Media for the Entourage scheduling application. Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student, equivalent to 2004 Student and Teacher, includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for $149.

Microsoft provided an early look at the Office 2008 for Mac 11 months ago, and has been gradually rolling out details about other new features, such as a bigger selection of templates and enhanced Exchange support, and the capability to configure out-of-office settings in Exchange. No public beta tests have been made available.

At full price, Office 2008 for Mac costs at least twice as much as its competitors. Other Mac productivity software options include the $79 Apple iWork, the free OpenOffice, and the $49 ThinkFree desktop and online bundle. Additional free competitors to Office include browser-based suites such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Zoho Office. All options offer a word processor, and presentations and spreadsheet programs that can read Microsoft Office documents.

We have just enabled voting on our new awards program, the Webware 100. This is where you can select your favorite Web products from 250 finalists -- 25 each in these ten categories:

• Browsing: Web browsers, extensions, widgets, and security
• Communications: e-mail, chat, VOIP
• Community: social networks, groups
• Data: search, storage, backup, sharing, and sync
• Entertainment: Games and contests
• Media: audio, video, photo
• Mobile: portable utilities and apps
• Productivity: apps, business tools, commerce
• Publishing: blogging, web content, design tools
• Reference: Mapping, reference works, and education

Where did these 250 finalists come from? On April 15, we asked for nominations for the Webware 100, and we received over 5,000. We whittled that list down to 2,000 de-duplicated and qualifying entries, and from there, selected 250 as finalists. And now we're handing the awards back to the community. Picking the winning 100 products -- 10 in each category -- is up to you.

You can only vote once per category, so choose wisely. Voting closes at 9:00 AM Pacific time on June 11, and we'll announce the winners on June 18.

Now, go vote!

(If you want to support the finalists beyond just voting, go to the resources page to grab "vote for me" graphics and links.)

Matt Mullenweg, the man from WordPress

(Credit: CNET)

Matt Mullenweg is officially the CEO of Automattic. Please note the double "t"--as in "Matt." But he's really the guy who brought WordPress to the world and oxygen to the blogosphere.

You can see the first half of this Webware interview here. Matt explains why WordPress is open source but his antispam kismet isn't. He discloses the catalytic role his mother played in his software development. And he talks about blogging in places where the government is out to get you. The second part of the interview will be available online soon.