It's free to code it with the RSA

One of the most famous and respected modern methods encryption is now free. RSA yesterday released its grip on the patent to its commercial data encryption technique. The RSA encryption algorithm can be found in a number of popular security applications, including Netscape's Communicator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. ...more

Windows XP unveiled

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates showed off the new XP operating system yesterday at an event held in the Experience Music Project in Seattle. He described it as "The most important Windows release since Windows 95." Gates and Windows exec Jim Allchin previewed some of the new features of the OS, which has cost some $1bn to develop. ...more

Apple signs lease on Regent Street store

Apple will open a retail store on London's Regent Street after agreeing a deal with Crown Estates, which manages the Queen's property. The Times reports that the 20,000ft store will cost ?1.5m a year in rent and will open before Christmas. ...more

PCs and Macs are rubbish says industry

Engineers ripped into the design of the PC and the Mac at the Association for Computing Machinery conference in Las Vegas this week, calling them non-human and non-intuitive. You may think that your machine has little in common with the systems of 20 years ago, but engineers said the basic box design hasn't changed enough. "If Rip Van Winkle went to sleep in 1982 and woke up today, he'd be able to drive our modern computers with no problem because they're essentially unchanged. ...more

And also today (1-May-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. "Whistler" becomes Windows 2002 Microsoft has announced that the server software formerly code-named "Whistler" will be launched under the "Windows 2002" title. The blue-shirted ones have decided, rather confusingly, to revert to the traditional date-based nomenclature. ...more