ServerWatch writes:

Along with the massive surge in e-mail usage around the globe, an even more astounding and troublesome trend continues to emerge. A rapidly increasing percentage of e-mail messages are unsolicited — and sometimes malicious, from conventional spam to virus-laden carriers to so-called phishing scams. In early 2003, the oft-cited estimate of e-mail considered spam was approximately 40 percent; by early 2004 this figure had jumped to 60 percent. At the start of 2005, some sources estimate spam comprises as much as 70 percent to 80 percent of global e-mail traffic.

Not surprisingly, anti-spam and anti-virus features have been the most common upgrades to mail server packages in the past year. A strong anti-spam feature set will offer several defenses, which work in combination to trap the majority of incoming spam.

Security will probably remain the e-mail server focus for 2005, as servers grow more sophisticated in their ability to minimize the crushing weight of unsolicited messages. Expect to see a wider implementation of tools to enforce e-mail authenticity and challenge messages with questionable origins.

The Economist writes about eBay's initiative in this area:

eBay, the world's leading online auction business, has come up with an innovative way to encourage people to sell, donate or recycle their old machines over the internet. A web-based program “reads” the redundant computer's components and gives its specifications (like its memory and processor speed). Owners can then ascertain the value of their old PC, put it up for sale and get a special mailing kit to simplify shipping. The site also makes it easy to donate a PC to charity or get it to a nearby recycler.

John Dvorak writes about Google's possible future plans:

If Google does a modified Firefox browser you can be certain that it will be optimized for Google searching and may incorporate shortcuts to make things easier for the user although you can expect much of its orientation will be aimed at promoting gmail and blogger among other Google properties. And it will probably be designed to be the front-end or client screen for perhaps a more secret project, the development of a so-called Internet OS to replace Windows.

If you follow the Google strategy their incursions are leading directly down a path often discussed during the late 1990's -- a browser-centric Internet OS. Netscape hinted about this possibility and Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile) got freaked about it, since it would marginalize its Windows OS.

These concepts are not lost on Google. Think of the potential advertising revenue you can generate when you own the entire desktop environment.

And what's to stop them at the operating system level? What about a Googlebox? An actual machine.

Since all the X86 computers are essentially generic machines made in China, why wouldn't Google leverage its brand name and roll out the Google X1 -- the "computer for the X-Generation!" It could probably get an Apple-like premium for such a machine and load it up with proprietary software too.