Hi,
can anyone tell me how to get rid of the version number in the right corner of the desktop ? Thanks in advance

I don't think you can in the beta/RC series.

Someone mentioned something about locking web items to the desktop a while back...

The options in the desktop property sheet somewhere but not only can I not remember where, I'd be a bit hesitant to do that myself since it brings back the ugly patches of desktop colour behind the icon titles and I've been waiting for far too long for MS to make transparent backgrounds the Windows default. If you don't use a wall paper then by all means, go right ahead and try.