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TECH UPDATE
China to invest in Linux-based software industry
The Chinese government plans to throw its financial weight behind Linux-based computer systems that could rival Microsoft Corp.’s Windows in one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets, an official said.
China would build a domestic software industry around Linux — a cheaper software standard that can copied and modified freely — said Gou Zhongwen, a vice minister at the powerful Ministry of Information Industry.
“Linux is an opportunity for us to make a breakthrough in developing software,” he was quoted as saying on the ministry website
Gou did not give details on the amount of planned government investment in Linux.
China’s information technology market is growing at 20 percent a year, with software sales expected to reach $30.5 billion in 2005, according to research house International Data Corp.
Japan, China and South Korea agreed in September to collaborate on building a new computer operating system as an alternative to Windows. Japanese media reported they would likely build an open-source system such as Linux.
Chinese officials have said they preferred to use software with open source codes to ensure that software guarding sensitive state information and networks cannot be tampered with easily.
New Intel chip design
Intel Corp. has said that it has found a breakthrough way to insulate transistors that could solve one of the semiconductor industry’s most fundamental problems: how to make computer chips ever-smaller while preventing them from losing power and throwing off heat.
As semiconductor manufacturers design microprocessors packed more densely with transistors, those components, which are the fundamental building blocks of computer chips, are also prone to leak electrical current, much like a dripping faucet.
That means that more powerful chips also drain power, cutting into battery life and throwing off heat, making laptops hot to the touch and forcing companies to set up expensive cooling systems for server computers.
To solve the problem, Intel said it has come up with a new insulating material for transistors to replace the silicon dioxide that has been used as the industry standard for about 30 years.
“The power problem is the most significant problem the industry faces now,” said Rob Willoner, a technology analyst at Intel, the world’s largest chip maker.
As more transistors are added, the silicon dioxide insulation, already only a few atomic layers thick, gets so thin that electrical current leaks out.
The Santa Clara, California company will unveil its new transistor design at a technical forum, the International Gate Insulator Workshop, in Tokyo on Thursday.
MS ships DRM software
Microsoft’s digital-rights-management service for Windows Server 2003 has arrived, but version 1.0 is for internal company use only.
The Windows Rights Management Services, whose price ranges from $29 to $37 per server client access license, will allow employees to apply rights, privileges, and protections to Office 2003 documents distributed within a business network, executives said Monday.
With version 1.0, the author of a Word 2003 document can specify which group of users can open, modify, print, and forward an Office 2003 document and under what circumstances it can be used. For instance, authors can designate a sensitive document as read-only or set an expiration date for a time-sensitive or highly confidential document.
Google on your desktop
Google has introduced software that enables searches from the desktop, effectively removing the search engine from the browser and making access to information that much quicker.
Google Deskbar, a Windows-based application that can be downloaded in a test version from the internet search guru, delivers access to information through a search box in the lower right corner of the computer screen. Access is available without the browser, regardless of the application being used.
The browser is taken out of the equation. Other features include a pop-up blocker, auto-fill capability and custom settings for users’ most popular pages.
Google Deskbar runs on machines using Microsoft Windows OS version 98 or later and the Internet Explorer browser at version 5.5 or higher. — Dawn ScienceDotcom Report
