Posted on 04/25/2005 2:37:40 PM PDT by HAL9000
Microsoft Gives Details on Windows Release
Microsoft's Plan to Hardwire Computer Security in Chip to Debut in Next Windows Release
SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp.'s ambitious plan to keep data safe on PCs will make a scaled-down debut in the next release of Windows, though the operating system's most anticipated improvements in graphics appear to mirror what's now available from rival Apple Computer Inc.
The long-delayed Windows upgrade, now expected in December 2006, has been touted as the most significant update to the ubiquitous operating since Windows 95 launched in 1995. In a speech Monday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates showed off several features.
Gates demonstrated Longhorn's new graphics, which include better ways to visualize data, including seeing through windows that are stacked atop each other, more natural file organization and faster searching. He also promised better performance and reliability.
And though he spent only a few minutes on security in his speech, Gates said it was the most important improvement and had received the most attention by developers.
"If you had to take one area where we put the most investment in, the security area would be the head of that list by a significant amount," he told the audience at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference.
Longhorn is the first release of Windows to implement Microsoft's vision of boosting security by placing cryptographic keys in special silicon chips that would be built into PCs.
Currently, such encryption locks are stored as data on a hard drive. It is, however, much more difficult to crack a chip.
The security chip in computers running Longhorn would thus render sensitive files inaccessible if someone tried to boot the machine from a portable hard drive or floppy disk.
The security initiative -- once code-named Palladium but later christened the Next Generation Secure Computing Base, or NGSCB -- was announced in 2002 and was quickly attacked by privacy advocates, Microsoft critics and others as a mechanism by which commercial interests might wrest control of PCs from their owners.
Some claimed it would enable strict copyright protection schemes for music, movies and software. It also could restrict the tinkering that has driven computer industry innovation over the years, they said.
But secure startup isn't expected to be as controversial as chip-based rights management. Microsoft has not said, however, how else Longhorn might interact with the chip, though security features are expected that would make it more difficult for online criminals to break into PCs.
Neil Charney, director of product management in Microsoft's Windows group, said the secure startup feature is most likely to be used by business computers, especially in laptops that store sensitive data that could come back to haunt companies after a theft.
A number of companies, including Microsoft, are working together to beef up security using a combination of hardware and software. NGSCB is just one approach, though it's likely to have the most impact given Microsoft's dominance.
Some PC vendors, including IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., have been offering PCs with security chips for years. On Monday, HP announced it will support Longhorn's implementation on some of its business computers and workstations.
Gates also briefly discussed other security enhancements in Longhorn, including user accounts for shared machines that don't always have the highest privileges but are flexible enough to allow software installation.
The bulk of Gates' speech covered Longhorn's flashier visual and organizational features -- which Apple CEO Steve Jobs described last week as "shamelessly" copying his company's Mac OS X operating system.
"They can't even copy fast," Jobs said at his company's shareholder meeting.
Indeed, many of the features that Gates demonstrated Monday -- including shadowed, translucent windows as well as fancy, stutter-free animations -- have been a part of the Mac OS since it was released in March 2001.
And some of Longhorn's organizational tools, such as faster searching and virtual folders that populate with documents based on the information they contain, are expected to be part of the version of Mac OS X that goes on sale Friday.
"Microsoft will have a year and a half to add some bells and whistles to allow it to claim some differentiation," said Dwight Davis, an analyst at the research firm Summit Strategies.
Microsoft shares closed at $24.99, up a penny, in Monday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $23.82 to $30.20.
If virus writers can get their hands on the 'master keys', it would become possible for them to write viruses and other malware which would be cryptographically undetectable. Double-plus ungood.
You're right... this is not the "Longhorn" operating system they're touting, it's hardware, and the new OS is dependent upon that hardware for security. Hardware that is not present in current generation and older pee-sees. Guess it's time for all you Windoze bots to jump on the upgrade treadmill, again. Oh, wait. 2006 "release?" That mean's you've got a couple more years to go yet, LOL. Bet the legacy apps will be "broken" too. More forced upgrades.
Apple is looking good, even with its 5% market share. Longhorn could deliver another 5% market share to Apple, if not more.
Microsoft's "security chip" reminds me of the Clinton administration's CLIPPER chip.
what if an app, game, or content won't work unless you do?
Don't underestimate my ability to live without :P
I'm running XP on three computers, 2000 on another, Win98SE on another, and Win3.11 on an old computer up in the attic. The latter still has a lot of old games on it, but I must admit it's about time to throw it out.
Who writes this stuff? The difference between hardware and software implementation is purely one of performance (a dedicated chip can generally encrypt/decrypt faster). The security of the end result depends entirely on the soundness of the algorithm and the security of the key.
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