The word "security" is used a lot by Microsoft officials when they discuss the company's plan for Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, formerly code-named Palladium. However, if you think NGSCB has anything to do with keeping your future Windows systems more secure from viruses, worms and other security problems, think again.

What Microsoft people really mean when they talk about security is security for Microsoft from you. NGSCB's main purpose is to make sure users such as yourself aren't pirating Microsoft's or partners' software or any other copyrighted content—even if that means taking over your system remotely and removing or disabling the offending untrusted software.

NGSCB will make sure that only "trusted" applications will run, which, according to Microsoft officials, will boost system security. But if the NGSCB version of Outlook is exploited by viruses or worms, your system will still be affected because Outlook will be considered a trusted application.

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