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• June 25, 2002 •
Microsoft revealed an ambitious new project to redesign the personal computer in order to ensure privacy and security.
The new technology to be introduced is called Palladium, after the Greek statue of the goddess Athena, Pallas. Legend has it that the statue safeguarded the ancient city of Troy.
Palladium is a combined software/hardware solution to the problem of security and intellectual property rights. The hardware would be a new security chip added to the PC. Reportedly AMD and Intel have already signed up for the project.
The software will most probably be incorporated in a future Windows version - possibly Longhorn, which is scheduled for a 2004 release. The heart of Palladium's security effort centers on authentication and encryption. On one hand this should ensure that you could rely on someone's identity (users are who they say they are); on the other hand it will foil the running of unauthorized code (viruses and worms) on your system. It should also stop spam (unsolicited email) from clogging up your mailbox, and further strengthen Digital Rights Management (DRM).
According to reports it will be at least 18 months before the first tangible efforts will be available, and it will take much longer (3-5 years) for mainstream products to arrive.
Palladium's big hurdle as I see it (and I'm sure many agree with me) is trust. Do we trust Microsoft to do the right thing? Or is this just another attempt to strengthen its grip on the market? According to Microsoft Palladium will be easily portable to other operating systems, and according to Jim Allchin, Group Vice President, of Microsoft's Platforms division, the system's source code will be published.
According to Paul England, one of the Microsoft researchers working on the project, one shouldn't expect wonders until version 2.0 or 3.0 (sounds familiar for Windows users doesn't it!), and he is also quoted as saying: "I firmly believe we will be shipping with bugs"... That could of course undermine confidence in the system at an early stage.
Right now it is too early to tell if this is going to work. The potential for disaster looms: your personal information will be encrypted, and this encryption depends on a silicon chip... What'll happen if the chip goes bust?
We'll probably hear some more about this new initiative over the coming months...
Related Article(s):
Microsoft Changes Name of Palladium, Discusses Details.
