Microsoft is likely to further water down its
Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB) security technology,
originally designed to be a major feature of Longhorn, the next
version of Windows.
Formerly known as Palladium, NGSCB was launched in 2002.
Microsoft had promised an update on the fledgling technology by the
end of last year, but nothing was announced.
It was then expected to feature heavily at this week’s Microsoft
WinHEC developers’ conference, one of the last major Microsoft
technical events before Longhorn makes its first commercial
appearance next summer.
But the only new security feature for Longhorn unveiled at the
show was secure start-up.
NGSCB was originally planned to increase PC security by enabling
the isolation of software through a combination of software and
hardware refinements, including configuration changes in chipsets
and graphics cards.
Applications would also have to be modified to deliver the
isolation feature.