Matt Hartley’s article in Lockergnome’s IT Professionals talks about the Zonbu “green” computer. Well, I’m not so concerned about the green aspect as I am about the security aspect. Zonbu looks like the perfect PC for the computer-illiterate, i.e., the average user. They say it’s immune to most of the bad stuff out there:

There are more than 100,000 viruses targeted at Windows PCs. But Zonbu isn’t susceptible to a single one. Zonbu not only comes with a built-in firewall, it doesn’t invite attacks by announcing itself to the world every time you turn it on. Zonbu also makes sure the latest upgrades and security patches are implemented right away. So you always stay a step ahead of the shady characters who prowl the Internet.

This seems to be the ultimate in secure computing for the masses. It encrypts everything before storing it remotely:

Only you can gain access to your information, so your stuff is safe from prying eyes. Zonbu scrambles your data with state-of-the-art 128 bit encryption before sending it over the net to the secure remote storage servers. As your account is password-protected, personalize Zonbu the way you like and all your preferences stay private.

If there’s ever a problem with the device within the first three years, Zonbu will send a replacement and, when you plug in the new one, all of your settings and data are preserved:

In the unlikely event that your Zonbu device fails within three years of purchase, let us know and we’ll send you a replacement Zonbu device that very day (*). Just plug in your replacement Zonbu device and immediately access your valuable data stored on the Zonbu service, with all of your preferences and settings intact. Once you’re back up and running, send us your old Zonbu device. What could be easier?

It almost sounds too good to be true — and we all know what that means. I hope it’s everything the company says it is. I plan to find out because I’m going to get one (If Zonbu is up to the challenge, I’ll be happy to play with a review unit). I’m going to run it through the paces to make sure it works. By that, I mean I’m going to do everything I can to get the thing infected — something I normally don’t do with Windows PCs.

If it works, I’ll recommend it to everyone I know.

Ch33rz!
The Geek

Have a question? It can be about anything from cooking to science, whatever you’re interested in: Click here to Ask the Geek! Kenny “The Geek” Harthun has been playing with geeky stuff since 1965. He’s a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with Connective Computing, Inc. and loves to learn about anything and everything.

[tags]zonbu, security, windows replacement[/tags]