Linux, Open Source, & anti Microsoft news

Microsoft was, and maybe still is, considering injecting targeted adverts into the Windows 10 Mail app. The ads would appear at the top of inboxes of folks using the client without a paid-for Office 365 subscription, and the advertising would be tailored to their interests. Revenues from the banners were hoped to help keep Microsoft afloat, which banked just $16bn in profit in its latest financial year.

This month, Microsoft has kicked out fixes for 62 CVE-listed vulnerabilities for both its workstation and server editions of Windows as well as Office, Edge and Internet Explorer.

Experts raised privacy concerns when a data protection impact assessment found Microsoft covertly collects personal data from users of the enterprise version of Office ProPlus.

Microsoft’s activation servers have started accidentally downgrading expensive Windows 10 Pro systems into cheaper Windows 10 Home PCs, then invalidating their licences. Needless to say, that’s a nasty financial hit (Home is $119, Pro is $199) and affected users are furious.

The first paid-for Linux distro for Windows 10 is available from the Microsoft Store, the tech giant has announced. WLinux is a $20 open-source, Debian-based distribution, designed to run on Windows 10’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Two vulnerabilities, discovered by exploit developer Yushi Laing with help from Alexander Kochkov, could allow an anonymous user execute code remotely, and potentially seize control of a user’s device.

Microsoft might be patting itself on the back prematurely for wrangling the technical gremlins that downed its Office 365 services for some users in the UK and the US.

Microsoft’s Office 365 has been giving some users cold sweats. No matter how hard they try to log in, they simply can’t access the service and haven’t been able to for hours – others say it has wobbled for days.

At the end of August, Valve announced a new version of Steam Play for Linux that included Proton, a WINE fork that made many Windows games, including more recent ones ,such as Witcher 3, Dark Souls 3 and Dishonored, playable on Linux. Just two months later, ProtonDB says there are over 2,600 Windows games that users can play on Linux, and the number is rapidly growing daily.

IBM is acquiring Red Hat, a major distributor of open-source software and technology, in a deal valued around $34 billion, the companies announced on Sunday.