WinInfo Daily UPDATE, January 3, 2004

This email newsletter comes to you free and is supported by the following advertiser, which offers products and services in which you might be interested. Please take a moment to visit this advertiser's Web site and show your support for WinInfo Daily UPDATE.

Debunking the Top 5 Myths of Outsourcing Email Security

http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/postini/outsourcingemail/index.cfm?code=0103wininfo

Sponsor: Email Security Whitepaper

As spam and email-borne viruses continue to threaten the productivity and stability of email systems, enterprises are evaluating various anti-spam email security solutions including buying software or appliances for deployment in-house, or outsourcing email security to a managed service. In this free White paper, you'll find out the five most common myths surrounding the concept of outsourcing email security. Plus, you'll gain an understanding of the benefits gained from using a managed service for email security including improved protection against new email threats and attacks, lower infrastructure costs, less administrative burden, and reduced risk and complexity. Get this white paper now!

http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/postini/outsourcingemail/index.cfm?code=0103wininfo

===============

In the News

- IBM's PC Division: No Profit in More Than 3 Years
- Here Comes CES 2005

==== In the News ====

by Paul Thurrott, [email protected]

IBM's PC Division: No Profit in More Than 3 Years

In a regulatory filing with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), IBM revealed that its PC business, which the company recently sold to Chinese computer giant Lenovo Group for $1.25 billion, hasn't been profitable for at least 3 and a half years. The revelation, which IBM wouldn't have made were it not legally required to complete the sale, was unusually blunt about the economics of the PC business.
"The \[PC\] business has a history of recurring loses, negative working capital, and an accumulated deficit," IBM said in the filing. "The ability to settle obligations as they come due is dependent on IBM funding the operations on an ongoing basis." The business lost $258 million in 2003, $171 million in 2002, and $397 million in 2001. In the first half of 2004, IBM's PC business lost $139 million on sales of $5.2 billion.
In recent years, IBM has divested itself of some of the less profitable parts of the PC-making process, selling off almost all its manufacturing operations in 2002 and 2003 (the company still maintains a manufacturing center in China). Since then, IBM outsourced the manufacturing of most of its PCs, although its North Carolina-based offices were still responsible for designing the machines, which include the popular ThinkPad line of notebooks. This situation is in keeping with the original goals of IBM's first PC: The company outsourced the microprocessor to Intel and the OS to Microsoft and other companies; those decisions led to the PC industry we know today. Thanks to cutthroat competition, the only large PC maker that turns a profit on its PC business today is Dell. Although IBM's sale to Lenovo will create a larger number-three PC maker (behind Dell and HP), whether that new company will be able to return to profitability is still unclear.

Here Comes CES 2005

The biggest and most important US-based technology trade show comes rolling into Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees from the computer and consumer electronics markets. As with the past few shows, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2005 promises to usher in the technologies we'll be using throughout the year, especially home- and consumer-based technologies such as digital media, High-Definition Television (HDTV) and home theater, home networking, smart phones, video games, and wireless.
CES 2005 starts with a preconference keynote address by Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates (and if this year's speech is as boring as usual, I'll never attend one of these things again). The address will concentrate on the home-oriented technologies that Microsoft will later display at the show, including Digital Rights Management (DRM), Media Centers and entertainment PCs, new Xbox information, portable video, and Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT) smart watches. Video game enthusiasts are hoping that Gates will publicly demonstrate the next Xbox system during his talk.
As for the rest of CES, promoters say that this year's show will highlight the major technology trends of 2005, including media servers, portable entertainment, smart kitchen accessories, video gaming and interactive entertainment, and telematics, which lets cars and other vehicles connect wirelessly to online services. "It is clear that content is beginning to drive the creation of new devices and that the continued adoption of broadband will allow product innovation to soar," Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), said. "These technologies are slated to bring value to consumers' lives and have the greatest impact on our industry in the months to come."
I'm traveling to Las Vegas this week with Contributing News Editor Keith Furman. We'll report daily from the show starting late Wednesday.

==== Announcement ====

(from Windows IT Pro and its partners)

Get a Free Windows IT Pro Digital Subscription at The Enterprise Alliance Roadshow

Come and join us for this free event and learn how to increase operational efficiency through a more strategic and holistic approach to server consolidation, management, hardware, applications, security, access, and information. Attend and get a free Windows IT Pro 6-month digital subscription. Plus, you could win an iPod! Sign up today.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/serverconsolidation/index.cfm?code=103emailannc

==== Events Central ====

(A complete Web and live events directory brought to you by Windows IT Pro: http://www.windowsitpro.com/events )

True High-Availability for Microsoft Exchange Web Seminar--February 3

Discover solutions that minimize the likelihood of downtime in your Exchange implementation and help to ensure continuous Exchange application availability. In this free Web seminar, learn how you can ensure high-availability through the use of tools that analyze and proactively monitor the health of your entire Exchange environment. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/highavailability/index.cfm?code=103emailannc

====Sponsored Link ====

Data Protection from NSI and Microsoft

Instant recovery and data protection solutions for Exchange and SQL servers
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;12746138;8214395;l?http://www.protect-your-data.com

==== Contact Us ====

About the newsletter -- [email protected]
About technical questions -- http://www.windowsitpro.com/forums
About product news -- [email protected]
About your subscription -- [email protected]
About sponsoring UPDATE -- [email protected]

===============

This email newsletter is brought to you by Windows IT Pro, the leading publication for IT professionals deploying Windows and related technologies. Subscribe today!

http://www.winnetmag.com/rd.cfm?code=00ep204xeb

Manage Your Account

You are subscribed as #EmailAddr#.

You are receiving this email message because you subscribed to this newsletter on our Web site. To unsubscribe, click here:

http://www.windowsitpro.com/email/index.cfm?action=quickunsub&newsletterid=11&email=#emailaddr#

View the Windows IT Pro privacy policy at

http://www.windowsitpro.com/aboutus/index.cfm?action=privacy

Windows IT Pro is a division of Penton Media Inc.
221 East 29th Street, Loveland, CO 80538
Attention: Customer Service Department

Comments

Plain text