Longhorn unlikely to rival Google?

Microsoft may enhance the search capabilities of its Longhorn operating system, but it is likely to be more of a threat to super-organised executive assistants than to Google, PCWorld reports.

Longhorn will not tie together desktop and Internet search capabilities, but instead focus on organisation and offering users more ways to view their documents, says Windows Client Business Group GM Brad Goldberg.

This strategy seems surprising, considering Microsoft introduced its MSN Toolbar Suite desktop search tool late last year that offers tight integration with the Windows environment and applications.

Goldberg believes the way in which people gather information will change and users will spend less time searching the Web. Instead, they will use tools like RSS feeds and XML to have information they want pushed to them.

With that in mind, Microsoft has been working on making data stored on PCs easier to find by offering Longhorn features such as virtual folders and keywords.

One in 20 UK Internet users say they have lost money through online scams, a survey of over 2 000 America Online users has found.

Almost half say they have received phishing e-mails, aimed at tricking them into revealing details like online banking passwords. Other frauds include paying for items that never arrive and sending cash following a demand from a bogus e-mail.

According to BBC, 53% of those who lost money through phishing were not compensated by their bank, while a further 11% say they are still waiting for compensation.

A quarter of respondents were not even aware they could be held liable even if they unwittingly provide information to an online fraudster.

Cisco Systems yesterday launched the first of its Adaptive Server Appliance (ASA) 5500 Series family of multifunction network security appliances - a key component of its Self Defending Network initiative.

According to Redmond Mag, the ASA 5500 family combines multiple security technologies, such as firewall, virtual private network (VPN), intrusion prevention and network anti-virus, in one network device.

They are designed to provide a set of VPN services that offer remote access IPSec and SSL VPN capabilities as well as quality of service enabled site-to-site IPSec services.

Cisco`s Self Defending Network initiative is a multi-year, multi-phase programme to proactively tighten network security by giving networks the ability to identify, prevent and adapt to threats.

In a bid to improve online news searches, Google has filed a patent in the US that will allow stories to be ranked according to their quality, rather than only by relevance.

The patent would create a system to compare the track record and credibility of different news sources.

The database would weigh up a series of variables, including story length, number of staff employed and amount of traffic to its Web site, reports BBC.

Google News currently provides thousands of results, based on relevance to the keyword entered, with the most recent stories ranked highest. The system means a news story written by trusted sources such as the BBC or CNN could be outranked by a more obscure publication if the latter is a more current story.