IT network management software vendor Spiceworks will this week release version 2.0 of Spiceworks IT Desktop, the newest version of its IT management package.

Spiceworks said that its free, ad-sponsored IT management software is now being used by over 200,000 small businesses in 194 countries. Spiceworks co-founder and chief executive Scott Abel said, "It’s not only changing the way businesses are run but also how software is delivered." Version 2.0 now has Windows event log monitoring capabilities and Spiceworks say that, "It is two to eight times more quickly than previous versions of Spiceworks, dramatically improving usability for larger networks."

There is also a new community interaction features which allows IT managers to message each other when running the application, allowing for better troubleshooting.

Simultaneously with the launch, Spiceworks announced new advertising partners, including Brother, LogMeIn, MessageLabs UK, Microsoft, Rackspace UK, St. Bernard Software, Sunbelt Software, Symantec, and Verio.