New PCs are a waste

A United Nations University study into the environmental impact of PCs, due to be published later today, has found that around 1.8-tons of raw material are required to manufacture the average desktop PC and monitor.

Extending a machine`s operational life through re-use holds a much greater potential for energy saving than recycling, IDG reports.

A security program to debut later this year for Microsoft Windows-based computers won`t come under the name McAfee, Norton, or any other brand often linked with firewalls and virus protection, reports Seattle PI.

It will come from Microsoft. Dubbed the Windows Security Centre, it will monitor the status of a computer`s defences against viruses and other attacks. Although it won`t actually scan for viruses, it`s the latest example of the way Microsoft is edging into the field of security software by adding new capabilities to the Windows operating system.

An independent study by British cyber security firm, mi2g, has found Apple`s OS X Server and the Berkely Software Distribution (BSD) open source systems on which it is based, to be the most secure online server operating systems in the world, according to a recent published report.

In what may come as a surprise to many, the study also found that open source operating system, Linux, was the "most-breached server operating system in January" and that Microsoft`s server solution had improved substantially.

The study, which was conducted by mi2g`s Intelligence Unit, was based on the number of successful attacks against UK government and private server systems in January this year. Together, OS X Server and BSD represented only 3%, Windows 12%, while Linux was most prone to attack at 80%.