Linux, Open Source, & anti Microsoft news

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has expressed “serious concerns” over whether the contractual terms of agreements between EU institutions and Microsoft, for use of products such as Windows and Office 365, is compliant with data protection rules.

The Redmond giant confirmed on Friday an unspecified glitch prevented customers in North America from receiving the multi-factor auth (MFA) codes they need to sign into their cloud-based accounts. Obviously, those not using MFA are not affected.

Microsoft Windows 10 users, I feel for you. Following a run of frustrating, limiting, chaotic and quite bizarre update problems (and a whistleblower), one the worst updates in some time has struck again. Picked up by both TechDows and MSPoweruser, they are warning the KB4517389 update (which is already causing Start Menu, search and browser problems) is now causing the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on some PCs as well.

“The operating system is no longer the most important layer for us,” was the message from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella yesterday.

Microsoft announced a bunch of stuff at its event including a dual-screen device running new Windows 10X, the Surface earbuds, and the Surface laptop 3. And then, out of nowhere, it hit us with a dual-screen device that runs Android. That’s right! Microsoft’s new Surface Duo is a dual-screen device running the Android operating system.

Microsoft has annoyed some of its 900 million Windows 10 device users after apparently removing the ‘Use offline account’ as part of its effort to herd users towards its cloud-based Microsoft Account.

Microsoft has already said there’s nothing technically stopping it from bringing its Chromium-based Edge browser to one-time Windows foe Linux. But the company now appears to be actually doing it and is seeking out feedback from Linux developers to help with “some assumptions”.

Microsoft today issued a rare emergency security update for Internet Explorer to address a critical flaw in the browser that’s being exploited right now in the wild.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium des Innern or BMI) in Germany says it will reduce reliance on specific IT suppliers, especially Microsoft, in order to strengthen its “digital sovereignty”. ‘Pain points’ include data collection, lock-in and uncontrollable costs.

ORACLE HAS SHOWN OFF Oracle Autonomous Linux, an autonomous operating system that requires no human supervision to run. The operating system was unveiled this week by Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and chief technology officer, at the firm’s OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, and is – according to the company -the world’s first autonomous operating system capable of tuning and patching itself while running.