Google Postini Offers Web Security at $36 a Year; AMD Boxes Can’t Handle Windows XP SP3, more…

Google’s Postini group strikes again. Many VARs felt blindsided by the group’s radical price cuts earlier this year. And now the Postini Group has added web security to protect networks, priced at $36 per user per year, according to eWEEK. Google Web Security for Enterprise also enforces IT policies at the user, workgroup or company levels and generates reports on Web traffic coming into the network, according to the report. Policy management protects companies from the legal liabilities of inappropriate content and reduces bandwidth congestion. Google’s Postini group uses technology from SAAS security vendor ScanSafe in the product.

It’s been five months since Dell launched its channel program, and with it its deal registration program. Now the company is reporting that 80 percent of deal registrations submitted by partners get approved. Dell’s Channel Chief Greg Davis recently shared this and other details in a progress report on the state of Dell’s PartnerDirect channel program with Channel Insider.

Microsoft says it will roll out four patches this month, with three of the four labeled as “critical,” according to Redmond Channel Partner online. Next Tuesday, Computerworld says, it will patch some more critical flaws including ones that affect Windows, Word, Publisher and anti-malware apps.

And it looks like it will be easier to get Windows XP SP3 for your users because it will soon be available via Windows update, RCP reports. Distribution will be available in the next few months, according to the report. In addition, a “slipstream build” of Win XP SP3 is available to TechNet Plus and MSPDN subscribers. It includes the complete Win XP OS plus SP3 in a single image file. AMD boxes, Computerworld reports. But watch out if your users are on an AMD box. Installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 sends AMD-based machines into a series of endless reboots, Computerword says.

Competition from those consumer big box stores may be easing up just a bit. First CompUSA announced in December 2007 it would close all 103 of its stores. Now Circuit City is putting itself up for sale.

Are you looking to partner with just the right vendor? Channel consulting firm Foster MacCallum has launched an online “dating” service to bring solution providers together with vendors and VARs. The service lets companies register their profiles with details such as name, location, products, services, customers, financial information, any specializations–vertical or horizontal–and partnerships. Potential partners then search based on their needs and the type of vendor they want to work with.

As more vendors get into next iteration of WiFi, 802.11n, there are plenty of partner programs available for VARs. Colubris this week launched another one, according to ChannelWeb. Ruckus, Motorola and Extricom also have recently launched new programs.

The Colubris Advanced Partner Program has three tiers and, offers margin-building incentives and rewards, technical and sales training, marketing support and account management to partners, according to ChannelWeb.

If you think low-priced PCs are just for developing markets, guess again. IDC says the market for low-cost PCs will grow to $3 billion in worldwide revenue by 2012. While laptops such as the Asus Eee PC have gained a lot of attention, IDC says most such notebooks will become secondary devices in mature markets, and not in developing countries, according to an eWEEK report. These notebooks cost less than $500, with displays measuring between 7 and 10 inches diagonally, and have a full operating system, support for some third-party applications and wireless broadband connectivity.