Longhorn may pose security concerns

Microsoft is portraying Longhorn, the version of Windows due in about three years, as its most secure operating system ever, reports Internet Week. But the site reports that company officials acknowledge that features in Longhorn, which blur the boundaries between code running online and locally, will compel the software maker to better educate developers about online trust.

Microsoft`s new programming specifications, called WinFX, will let developers create Web applications that launch local programs that consume data from the Internet.

At Microsoft`s Professional Developers` Conference in Los Angeles last week, the company demonstrated a visit to a Web site that launched a program that lets users search their hard drives and the Web simultaneously. If those kinds of applications come to pass, software developers will need a more precise mechanism for controlling the privileges those applications have, says Microsoft senior VP Eric Rudder.

Microsoft`s second-generation Xbox game console will contain a PowerPC microprocessor, sources confirmed yesterday, reports Extreme Tech. The site reports the disclosure "seems to indicate that Microsoft [will] break compatibility with the first-generation Xbox", which contained a 733MHz Celeron designed by Intel.

However, analysts said there were means by which Microsoft could allow first-generation Xbox programs to run on the Xbox2.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics is ready to begin showing off its latest thin mobile phone displays aimed at the growing market for mobile phones with integrated cameras, the Dutch company announced yesterday.

PC World reports that the flip-top design module for a clamshell-style phone features a 1.9-inch, 176 pixel by 220 pixel TFT display on one side, with a 1.3-inch, 98 pixel by 65 pixel colour STN (super twisted nematic) display on the "flip" side, Europe`s largest consumer electronics maker said in a statement.

IBM is going to try to take some of the cost and irritation out of managing PCs, reports CNet. The company is expected to introduce a program today called IBM WorkPlace, which it says will simplify how desktops and other office products are acquired and maintained.

A customer pays a predetermined monthly fee for each employee and IBM takes care of all their technology problems as specified in the contract, the site reports.

IBM is expected to announce having been awarded a $20 billion deal by the US Energy Department to develop high-speed connection hardware for next-generation supercomputers. Its partner is said to be Corning, reports ZDNet.

The 30-month programme will focus on high-speed, optically switched interconnects designed to link numerous computers together into a single large machine, according to IBM. The technology is intended to replace today`s supercomputing switches, which typically use copper wires and electronic switches.