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images/news/hardware.jpgFor the first time in more than 60 years a Colossus computer is cracking codes at Bletchley Park. The machine is being put through its paces to mark the end of a project to rebuild the pioneering computer.
It is being used to crack messages enciphered using the same system employed by the German high command during World War II. The Colossus is pitted against modern PC technology which will also try to read the scrambled messages.
Colossus is widely recognised as being one of the first recognisably modern digital computers and was developed to read messages sent by the German commanders during the closing years of WWII. It was one of the first ever programmable computers and featured more than 2,000 valves and was the size of a small lorry.
Tony Sale, who led the 14-year Colossus re-build project, said it was not clear whether the wartime technology or a modern PC would be faster at cracking the codes. "A virtual Colossus written to run on a Pentium 2 laptop takes about the same time to break a cipher as Colossus does," he said. It was so fast, he said, because it was a single purpose processor rather than one put to many general purposes like modern desktop computers.
Mr Sale it could be Friday before the teams find out if they have managed to read the enciphered messages correctly.
Re-building the pioneering machine took so long because all 10 Colossus machines were broken up after the war in a bid to keep their workings secret. When he started the re-build all Mr Sale had to work with were a few photographs of the machine.
Read More, and see the old clunker HERE
It is being used to crack messages enciphered using the same system employed by the German high command during World War II. The Colossus is pitted against modern PC technology which will also try to read the scrambled messages.
Colossus is widely recognised as being one of the first recognisably modern digital computers and was developed to read messages sent by the German commanders during the closing years of WWII. It was one of the first ever programmable computers and featured more than 2,000 valves and was the size of a small lorry.
Tony Sale, who led the 14-year Colossus re-build project, said it was not clear whether the wartime technology or a modern PC would be faster at cracking the codes. "A virtual Colossus written to run on a Pentium 2 laptop takes about the same time to break a cipher as Colossus does," he said. It was so fast, he said, because it was a single purpose processor rather than one put to many general purposes like modern desktop computers.
Mr Sale it could be Friday before the teams find out if they have managed to read the enciphered messages correctly.
Re-building the pioneering machine took so long because all 10 Colossus machines were broken up after the war in a bid to keep their workings secret. When he started the re-build all Mr Sale had to work with were a few photographs of the machine.
Read More, and see the old clunker HERE
I should get one.. he he 
