Microsoft Hits Snags in Anti-Piracy Net
by Alex Woodie

Like the nation's war on terror, Microsoft's war on software pirates has seen its ups and downs. Controversies ensued in 2005, when Microsoft launched its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program, and again last year, when Microsoft's Software Asset Management (SAM) ran into accusations of heavy-handedness. Now with Windows Vista, Microsoft has locked down the operating system even more with the new Software Protection Platform (SPP), but some are wondering if the software giant has given them the right tools to co-exist with SPP. READ MORE >

AMD Delivers Faster and Cooler Rev F Opteron Chips
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Advanced Micro Devices will today crank the clock another notch on its dual-core Rev F Opteron processors, raising the top speed of the chips to 2.8 GHz. And because AMD is in a price and technology war with Intel, AMD will be giving customers that extra 200 MHz of performance at the same price as it charged for its 2.6 GHz parts and will cut prices across the line as it shifts its bins.READ MORE >

Microsoft Hypes the NAP, Unveils New Security Appliance
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft is showing off one of the most important new security features in Windows Vista, Network Access Protection (NAP), at RSA Security's annual conference February 5 through 9. This week, the software giant announced that it has signed up more than 100 partners that are supporting NAP, giving the fledgling security capability real teeth in the real world. Microsoft also unveiled its own edge security appliance, the Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) 2007. READ MORE >

VMware, XenSource Launch Virtualization Bundles
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The battle over the virtualized server environment on X64 servers continues to heat up, and Monday industry juggernaut VMware is rejiggering its products a bit in an effort to blunt competitive attacks from XenSource, the creator of the open source Xen hypervisor, and Virtual Iron, which created its own hypervisor and management software two years ago and which has subsequently adopted the Xen hypervisor to get more traction for its complete virtualization package. READ MORE >