It wasn't a banner year for new Microsoft product releases. But Microsoft did get more 'transparent' in 2004. Microsoft watchers won't hail 2004 as a banner year for new products from Microsoft. But the year was memorable for another reason. In 2004, Microsoft was far more open about its product-release foibles than ever before. Microsoft's increasing "transparency," as company execs like tend to label its new-found openness, isn't due to a sudden desire to make amends for past c...

Although the next version of Windows is still about two years from release, Microsoft on Friday offered developers an early look at the new graphics engine that will accompany it. Avalon was originally envisioned as a core feature of Longhorn, the next version of Windows. It will still be a part of that operating system, but it will also be made available as an add-on for users of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The main purpose of the new technology preview is to test Micr...

A half built Supercomputer being built for the US Government by IBM, already has a run at the title of the Worlds Fastest even though it is only partially complete. The US energy secretary said on Thursday that the Supercomputer was able to process 70.72 teraflops per second. This is two times faster then the computer that currently holds the title of the Worlds Fastest Super computer. BlueGene/L as its called is being developed for the US department of energy's National Nuclear Security A...

Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday formally announced a low-cost Internet device targeted at emerging markets. AMD's Personal Internet Communicator is designed to provide Net connectivity and Windows-based computing for consumers in emerging economies. It features functions such as browser, e-mail, word processing and the ability to view images and multimedia files. It is a sealed device, operates without a fan and can only be upgraded by the service provider, reducing the risk of...

On April 9, 2003, Microsoft officially announced that it would support AMD's then-upcoming 64-bit Opteron and Athlon 64 microprocessors with 64-bit native versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The news must have sent shivers down the spines of executives at Microsoft partner Intel, whose 64-bit Itanium product line has languished because of slow performance and incompatibilities with today's existing 32-bit software. For AMD, of course, it was--and still is--a major victory. No...

The good old days of home electronics weren't so good for the Analog family. Those were the days when each room of their home and each of their electronic devices was an independent island in a vast electronic archipelago. Those were the days when there were few choices if they tried to bridge these islands or take their music, videos and pictures on the go. When they could only watch DVDs or listen to their music collection in one room of the house. When downloading music was equally co...

As the hubbub of alternative Web browsers keeps growing—from speculation over a so-called "Gbrowser" from search-engine leader Google Inc. to the many advances in the open-source Mozilla project—in the background, America Online Inc. has been quietly testing its own Web browser, dubbed "AOL Browser," for more than a month. Departing from its past embedded strategy, the company has made the forthcoming AOL Browser a stand-alone piece of software and it will not need the America Online client ...

Honeypots are a relatively new and highly dynamic technology. Because they are so dynamic, it is difficult to define just what they are. Honeypots are unique in that they are not a solution in and of themselves; they do not solve a specific security problem. Instead, they are highly flexible tools with many different information security applications. This contrasts with such technologies as firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDSs), which are easier to define and understand as they s...

New computer code that exploits a recently disclosed hole in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer Web browser is circulating on the Internet and could allow remote attackers to take full control of vulnerable Windows machines, according to warnings from antivirus companies and Internet security experts. Two new "proof of concept" exploit programs first appeared Wednesday, and were posted to Web sites and Internet news groups frequented by security experts. The new code is more dangerous than ...

First, there was Gmail. Is the Gbrowser next? A Google Web browser is the latest in the never-ending speculation about what search leader Google Inc. is going to do next after raising $1.7 billion from its public offering. The evidence: a spate of high-profile hires, Google's domain-name registration of the gbrowser.com name and a duo of Mozilla Foundation bug reports that name Google. Following a New York Post story over the weekend about Google's potential jump into the browser war...

Passwords as we know them could be yesterday's news if two-factor authentication solutions from VeriSign Inc. and RSA Security Inc. catch on with enterprises. Two-factor solutions combine a pass phrase with a key chain token that continually generates unique passwords that are used only once each time a user logs on to a network. The process is in stark contrast to traditional password solutions, which involve a single, user-generated password that's used continually over a period of time. ...

With its eyes firmly set on the living room, Microsoft plans to release next month a new incarnation of Windows XP Media Center Edition, an entertainment-oriented version of Windows XP. The company has scheduled an Oct. 12 event in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, where it's expected to release an update to the operating system, as well as introduce the first crop of Media Center extendersdevices that allow television shows recorded on a Media Center PC to be watched on a television ...

The next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, will do away with Microsoft's laissez faire approach to connecting portable storage devices to systems. Instead of the familiar Plug and Play (PNP), which has seen little change in function since Windows 95, a new technology called "Plug and Play Extensions" will make its debut in Longhorn to allow businesses to regain their rightful jurisdiction over PNP devices. A consensus has formed among security professionals that the industry's chi...

Microsoft is introducing a new line of keyboards and mice this week, including some with fingerprint readers that lets users scan a finger instead of having to enter a log-in name and password when accessing online services or logging on to the PC. A keyboard, mouse, and a stand-alone fingerprint reader were added to Microsoft's hardware lineup. The products are aimed at consumers and are meant for convenience use only. Strong, or hard-to-guess passwords are still recommended for sensitive ...

In late 2003, Microsoft reorganized its business yet again. Part of that reorganization saw the Tablet PC team become part of a wider Mobile Platforms Division, which is now responsible for spearheading the development of the company's mobile operating systems, applications, services, and tools. In case it's not obvious, this change also means that Microsoft is serious about getting its Tablet PC innovations into every product where it makes sense. Thus, it's pretty clear that, eventually, the T...