Introduction
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft have released the beta version of their next new operating system code named "Longhorn" which will probably be called "Windows Vista". The expected release date is towards the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007, there is no set date, as usual Microsoft have started the marketing campaign (media releases) long before the product is going to be available.
The new operating system is promising to have a plethora of new features and improvements - the one which caught my eye was the improved file and folder search functions - Windows Indexing service is particularly weak and services like "Google" have jumped on this weakness with their desktop search tool, which Microsoft will plug with their own superior search functions within the operating system.
If you are an apple mac user, then of course you have had superior file search functionality for some time! As the months progress, I will be bringing you more news of the imending "Vista" features and issues.
Broadband becomes broader
You may have noticed that broadband speeds have been increasing, first they gave us 512 Mbits/s and now some providers have upped this to 1024 Mbits/s as standard, and if your BT exchange has been upgraded then you can get 2048Mbits/s. (Mbits/s = Mega Bits Per Second - In the advertisements they often just put 512k or 1MB or 2MB etc..)
Well they are set to increase even further with the introduction of
ADSL 2+ which is being introduced and has already gone on trial in the UK, This technology enables service providers to offer speeds of upto 24 mbits/s which is a huge step forward. To give you some idea of the speed, the average office network is probably running at 100Mbits/s.
But the higher speeds with only be accessible to those in cities and close to telephone exchanges, however, the reach of ADSL 2+ is greater than with ADSL because by lowering the speed the provider can extend to a 7km distance but this is likely to only over speeds less than 1Mbit/s. This does mean that some form of broadband will be accessible from more rural
areas and for the larger villages and towns then a promised
DSLAM extension is possible, which basically means these rural areas can have broadband too.
With the technologies available today, it is possible to network offices together with high capacity and resilience for cheaper than it was possible in the past. Maybe it is time to review your internet connectivity strategy? If you are thinking of upgrading your broadband or simply have a question then I would be happy to help.
Tagged
Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has recently been allocated a radio frequency spectrum by
Ofcom, giving is a license free status.
This means that we shall now start seeing the use of RFID tags rather than barcodes on merchandise on shops and in other real work applications.
The Civil-rights campaigners have raised concerns that there will be tags which cannot be turned off and these could be embedded into products, which results on individuals and products being traceable long after the purchase has completed in a stop.
The manufacturer benefits of embedding a tag during production means that that product can be tracked and recorded from manufacture to point of sale. Marks & Spencer recently completed a trial of RFID Tags and the tags were not scanned at the checkout and their system ensured that products could not be tracked to individuals.
There is some comfort in that "The Data Protection Act 1998" protects individual users and would encompass RFID tags used with personal data, thus individuals would need to be made aware of any RFID implications prior to their personal data being used.
This is a new technology implementation and you should expect to see more issues about it raised, as the usage spreads.
Inside Track
I am currently have these special
offers.
Security bulletin
Microsoft issued security bulletins for the month of
October 2005.
