WinFS No Longer Part of Windows Roadmap
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft no longer has concrete plans to incorporate the next-generation Windows File System, or WinFS, into the Windows operating system, but instead will incorporate the technology into other products, including the next release of SQL Server, codenamed "Katmai," according to a posting on a company blog site last week. To some people, it might appear that Microsoft is sounding the death-knell for the much-maligned piece of software engineering, but Microsoft maintains it's a new beginning. READ MORE >

Intel Comes Out Swinging with Woodcrest Xeons
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The two-socket SMP server is arguably what made the X86 architecture the dominant server platform in the world, and with the latest iteration of the Xeon, code-named "Woodcrest" and finally launched by the chip maker Monday, Intel is finally back in the driver's seat, pushing performance and efficiency, by many measures, above rival Opteron chips from Advanced Micro Devices. While Intel is enjoying some time in the sun starting this week, as Woodcrest goes into production, AMD is not just sitting around, and the question is whether or not Intel can keep pace. READ MORE >

Sentillion Launches Virtualized Remote Access Solution
by Alex Woodie

Sentillion on Monday launched a new virtualization product designed to reduce the complexity of remotely accessing server-based applications. Called vThere, the offering leverages a VPN connection and desktop virtualization software to create a sandboxed operating environment on a remote computer. So instead of fumbling with traditional remote access products or worrying about malware, users just click the vThere icon, and thereby gain access to a virtual Windows environment that houses all their business applications. READ MORE >

Certeon Takes Network Acceleration to Secure New Heights
by Alex Woodie

Network acceleration device maker Certeon has only been in business for a few months, but it's already making waves. The company's approach to accelerating content--providing application-specific pattern matching using Level 7 of the TCP/IP stack--is very likely the wave of the future, as the network acceleration device industry seems to have reached a performance plateau with existing techniques. The company is also one of a small but growing number of vendors providing acceleration for encrypted content. READ MORE >