Palladium changes name, but not stripes

By Cory Doctorow at 9:18 am Saturday, Jan 25

Palladium -- Microsoft's "trusted computing" program that may be used to protect users from getting hacked but is more likely to be used to undermine competition -- is changing names. Dan Gillmor reproduces a note from Microsoft's PR team:

"Microsoft is adopting a new name to replace the code name Palladium. Effective today, we will use "next-generation secure computing base" to describe the technology and the related development efforts that have until now been done under the Palladium banner. This includes development of a nexus and nexus computing agents (NCAs), along with other enhancements to the Windows operating system.

"The adoption of the new name means that we will no longer use the term Palladium. There are several reasons for this. As a code name, Palladium was successful in gaining widespread attention. Unfortunately, it was also imprecise. "Next-generation secure computing base" more accurately describes what we are working toward -- to help build a more secure Microsoft Windows operating system. Moreover, the adoption of the new name reflects a new phase of maturity for the effort as it integrates with Microsoft's comprehensive security-related initiatives.

As Dan sez: "You can put makeup on a pig. It's still a pig." Seems to me that the principle "advantage" of calling Palladium "next-generation secure computing base" is that no one will be able to remember the new name. Link Discuss