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PC Forum 2005

The next PC (Platforms for Communication) Forum will take place from March 20 to 22, 2005, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Join us in exploring this year's theme: "The World Wide World: IT ain't just the Web anymore!"

Don't hesitate to register for the event; the winner's fees will be refunded if he or she is already registered.

Contest calendar
January 20 to February 7, 2005:
Entries submitted

February 16, 2005:
Finalists posted

February 23, 2005:
Winners posted

March 20 to 22, 2005:
PC Forum 2005

The question | Prizes | Contest calendar | Official rules

Click here to see the winners

Click here to see all the finalists

The question

What IT innovation have the experts underplayed...or even completely missed?

The next five years will see major innovations in standard high-volume computing platforms such as virtualization, partitioning, and the universal deployment of multiprocessor configurations. All of these advances represent significant improvements, but none will be as pervasive and dramatic as the introduction of hardware-based security and reliability technology. Microsoft has delayed the debut of its Next-Generation Secure Computing Base technology, but this merely reflects the magnitude of the effort involved in the initiative. By the end of the decade, NGSCB will completely change the way we think about PC hardware and software. It will be literally impossible for unauthorized software to infect PC operating systems or applications. Even legitimate configuration changes will be strictly controlled-- and some changes will even be beyond the authority of the system's users and administrators. The same technology will support unbreakable digital rights management, effective piracy prevention, and-- depending on how it's used-- allow improved personal privacy or undetectable remote monitoring. Hardware will keep these controls from being bypassed under most circumstances, forcing users and IT staff to come to grips with these new limits on their customary freedoms. This new technology will shake up the computer industry far more than anyone suspects today.