Linux, Open Source, & anti Microsoft news

Microsoft had to consider businesses’ addiction to Internet Explorer 11 in its roadmap for Edge Enterprise, the business aspect of its new web browser based on Google’s Chromium project. Group program manager Sean Lyndersay and senior program manager Colleen Williams said of the roadmap, rolled out yesterday, that “one of the features available for evaluation is Internet Explorer Mode … our customers made clear to us … that their web apps that rely on IE11 tend to be critical to many of their business processes.”

Schools in the central German state of Hesse have been have been told it’s now illegal to use Microsoft Office 365. The state’s data-protection commissioner has ruled that using the popular cloud platform’s standard configuration exposes personal information about students and teachers “to possible access by US officials”.

Faced with continued rumbles of discontent from its reseller network on the eve of its Inspire conference, Microsoft has climbed down from plans to pull free software licences from its channel chums.

Microsoft recently hit a particularly notable milestone: its Android edition of Microsoft Word has passed the 1 billion mark for installs, according to the Google Play Store (via Android Police).

Microsoft assembled the Azure Sphere OS on Linux to provide a secure platform for its IoT Azure Sphere environment.

Earlier today, Microsoft published its monthly roll-up of security updates known as Patch Tuesday. This month, the Redmond-based company patched 77 vulnerabilities, including two zero-days — security flaws that were being actively exploited in the wild.

If you use a Microsoft app on your Android phone, Microsoft might be quietly advertising its other apps in your “Share” and “Open” menus. Android Police has pointed out that some Microsoft mobile apps add extra options to your menus when you interact with a file. These icons show Microsoft apps that aren’t on your phone, taking up real estate that’s usually reserved for programs you chose to install. Microsoft is setting a bad precedent here. If every app developer followed its lead, Android menus would be even more crowded and confusing than they are today.

Microsoft is no stranger to security problems as I have reported here at Forbes on far too many occasions for my liking. From the BlueKeep ticking time bomb that prompted an official warning from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to Windows 10 security features being borked by official updates and even failures to patch zero-day exploits despite being given three months notice. However, now it has been confirmed that Microsoft is looking for security advice from the unlikeliest of sources: the Linux development community.

Windows 10 continues to be a danger zone. Not only have problems been piling up in recent weeks, Microsoft has also been worryingly deceptive about the operation of key services. And now the company has warned millions about another problem. Spotted by the always excellent Windows Latest, Microsoft has told tens of millions of Windows 10 users that the latest KB4501375 update may break the platform’s Remote Access Connection Manager (RASMAN). And this can have serious repercussions.

Microsoft’s hostility to Linux has softened dramatically in recent years, but the scars from the war against Linux are still visible today.