Longhorn and Palladium
 

Anyone who knows anything about this knows what I mean. How can M$/AMD/Intel seriously consider this? I mean, security is one thing, but controlling my computer after I have bought it? Thats just plain dumb.

For those of you who dont know, the long and the short of it is this: The new Longhorn Windows edition (set to be released in 2006) for 64-bit processers, will come with a security device called Palladium which will enable M$ to close off parts of your HDD if they deam the info on it 'Illegal/Security Risk' and there will be no way to access said portions short of a reformat.

What do you guys think about this? Please be objective in your responses, no 'OMG thats the dumbest idea ever!' stuff.

Well, MS could say that this "feature" is necessary to keep your personal info safe, but I think there's more than that. Seems to me like it's just another way MS is trying to take over the technology industry. Think about it: Say if you install a browser other then IE (say, Mozilla). MS could see that and lock you out of it, and do so for every non-IE browser you download, effectually forcing you to use IE. See what I mean? Methinks MS's idea will backfire, big time.

Official opinion: Another reason to use Linux or Mac.

<Official opinion: Another reason to use Linux or Mac.>

Or stick with the reliable Windows version you may have (I.e., XP Pro)

*Snigger*

I'd rather go out for Solaris. Just because it's in Java, and I can write stuff into it if I wish to do so.

YAR!

That's seems really problematic. Knowing Microsoft, it's only a matter of time before a virus shows up that will be able to close off key sections of your hard drive. I wounder if there will be a public outcry about this. It seems really sketchy at best. I know when Intel originally shipped the Pentium III processor they all had indentification numbers that caused an outcry that caused them to get rid of them.

Yes, you could do that. But do you see very many people using say Win 98 on a computer less than 3 years old? No. Why? Comps age. If Longhorn comes out in 2006, by 2009, you probably wont be using XP anymore.

i think they will market longhorn more towards the industries than PC's. Seems like a company would be more apt to purchase something with this type of "security" than a home user. I mean, I dont want my questionable parts of my HDD locked away :(

It is only a problem if they can monitor every potential security risk... Unless Palladium were something like an Internet filtering program, which would mean that it would lock out a lot more stuff than they intended to.

And no, I don't want the questionable parts of my HDD locked away either... That's where I keep all my questionable pictures...

OMG thats the dumbest idea ever! Sorry, had to get it out of my system...

Anyway, I also think that when this becomes public knowledge, as in when it's completed and they start putting it one computers, their will be a huge public outcry. I may suffer an invasion of privacy from my government, but I'm not going to ake it from a company, and that's what this is. I would think the invasion of privacy lawsuits would fly as soon as it hits computers and people learn what it can do, because to properly determine what is a security risk, they would have to be able to look through all of your files and see what they are, and that's right on the level of hacker for invasion. Either way, if they do release it with that ability, I'll stick with XP until they remove it.

Seconded. I do not want anyone deciding which parts of my data are Good or Bad. That's my responsibility, which I'm aware of.

And I still use Win98, being too lazy to change and having no plans on major upgrading, this will stay a while.