Microsoft reveals glimpse of ‘Trustworthy Computing’

Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp. over the past week has quietly unveiled details

about a key new security initiative code-named Palladium, giving the first

glimpse into its plan to deliver on its promise of "Trustworthy

Computing."

Named after a protective statue of the Greek goddess of wisdom,

"Palladium" is being used to describe a broad-based security system

for the Windows operating system that will involve both hardware and software.

As Microsoft wraps up its antitrust case and settles into marketing its

newest Windows operating system and seven-month-old Xbox video game console, the

cash-rich software giant is directing attention toward its next generation of

products, including Palladium and others carrying code-names such as

"Longhorn" and, reportedly, "Freon."

John Manferdelli, product manager for the Palladium business unit, said in an

interview published on Microsoft's Web site that the new initiative "will

give individuals and groups of users greater data security, personal privacy and

system integrity."

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had outlined a promise of "Trustworthy

Computing" in a widely publicized, companywide memo in January. The

palladium was famed in ancient Greece for safeguarding Troy. Legend had it that

as long as the statue was kept safe, the city could not be captured.

Instead of storing sensitive information such as passwords on software,

Palladium will also aim to protect information at the hardware level -- for

example, encrypting keystroke or video display signals carried over wires.

To achieve this, Manferdelli said that Microsoft is calling for industrywide

collaboration with hardware makers and is already working closely with chip

giants Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on the new security

architecture.

With a cash war chest of more than $30 billion, the Redmond, Washington-based

company is trying to move beyond software and into a new realm of services and

hardware that will keep it growing.

Next Windows, Xbox in the works



Palladium will most likely be an integral part of the next version of Windows,
which is code-named "Longhorn."

In a detailed interview with Fortune Magazine this week, Gates provides a

broad view of what Longhorn will hope to accomplish once it succeeds the current

Windows XP (once code-named Whistler) operating system sometime after 2005.

Gates explains that Longhorn will be much more intelligent in that it will

recognize users and tasks seamlessly, and tailor itself to specific situations

and needs. "Why can't I tap into all my stuff at home or at work from any

device that's mine, and have it just be available because it knows I'm me?"

Gates asked in the Fortune article.

Another pet project mentioned in the article is "Broadbench" a huge

video screen that is supposed to be as big as -- and eventually evolve into -- a

desk. Beyond software and office hardware however, Microsoft has already laid

bare its ambition to penetrate the entertainment hub of the home, the living

room, with its Ultimate TV digital television recording system and Xbox video

game console.

"Freon" is the code name for a future version of Xbox that will

combine the Xbox machine's gaming abilities with the ability to record and play

back programs on a hard drive, according a report in the Wall Street Journal on

Monday.

A Microsoft spokeswoman did not confirm the new Xbox code name or the

project, which reportedly takes aim at Sony Corp.'s lead in digital TV recording

with the TiVo system and its unmatched success with the PlayStation series of

video game machines.

Xbox had the code name "Midway," after the World War II naval

battle in which the United States effectively ended the threat of a further

Japanese invasion in the Pacific.

While Freon appears to be far off, another code name that is close to

becoming a product is "Mira" the so-called "smart display"

that allows users to detach flat screen monitors from their personal computers

but still access their PC and the Internet from another room using a pen and

wireless connection.

Mira-based products will debut this fall, alongside the portable Tablet PC,

Microsoft has said.

(C) Reuters Limited.