If last year's seemingly endless rounds of security updates didn't seriously undermine the credibility of Microsoft's "Trusted Computing" initiative, the new year has probably convinced even Bill Gates that the people who do put their trust in Microsoft are almost certainly insomniacs.

After a year in which the company released no less than 72 security updates - and sent its programmers back to school for a "Secure by Design" crash course - 2003 brought fears that Microsoft had adapted its unique talent for transparency to an entirely new environment.

With Britain's Orange telephone network investigating reports that hackers were using Microsoft's new Smartphone 2002 operating system to send rogue software to its cell phones, it seemed that the virus plague built on Microsoft's PC operating systems might now spread to telephone communications.

Far more disturbing, however, for those of us who use Microsoft Outlook, was the possibility that Microsoft might have released a virus that eats holidays.

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