Not that long ago, an Xbox executive claimed that an Xbox handheld gaming device is still in the prototyping stage, with a launch expected to take place sometime in the next two to three years. There is no denying that the handheld segment is an incredibly lucrative space, boosted by the impressive performance and efficiency gains made by the chip giants in recent years. Microsoft clearly intends to take a piece of the pie, and as a recent report by Windows Central pointed out, the first Xbox-branded handheld is in development and may even see the light of day as early as the third or fourth quarter of this year. Now, a fresh report by The Verge has revealed that Microsoft might be collaborating with ASUS in order to bring the handheld gaming device to market.

This is quite interesting, considering that ASUS is one of the most well-known players in the handheld segment, thanks to its ROG Ally lineup. But the conflict of interest shouldn't be much of a hassle - Lenovo is also a major player in the segment, and did not hesitate teaming up with Valve to bring the first third-party SteamOS handheld to the market. Microsoft is likely targeting something similar, intending to combine Xbox and Windows platforms in order to improve the experience for developers and players alike, allowing better inter-compatibility of games between handheld, PC, and console platforms. Essentially, the handheld will reportedly feature an Xbox-like interface, but will be powered by Windows underneath. The aforementioned late-2025 launch timeline is still in place, but considering the very nature of early reports, accept this information with a grain of salt.

Software redesigns are often a polarizing affair. No matter how a company approaches the task, the final product will always please some people, while displeasing others. However, this fact has hardly ever hindered tech giants from tinkering - or 'innovating', as they call it - and the same is expected for this year's iOS 19 and macOS 16 operating systems. As multiple sources have pointed out, including the reliable Mark Gurman, iOS 16 is likely to receive a major redesign this year, which will include design elements borrowed from Apple's VisionOS - the operating system that powers the Vision Pro.

The same applies to the upcoming macOS 16, internally code-named "Cheer", which is also borrow inspiration from VisionOS. We have witnessed hints of this in iOS 18 already, which includes round icons in the control center, as opposed to its predecessor's square icons with rounded edges. Interestingly, Gurman did not confirm whether all app icons will switch to a round shape, which will be quite interesting since older macOS and OS X versions, all the way to Catalina, boasted round app icons. Of course, design changes are often cyclic, especially in the case with Apple. Moreover, increased translucency should also be prevalent throughout macOS 16 and iOS 19 - yet another design choice that is likely to be divisive in nature. Either way, both iOS 19 and macOS 16 are expected to debut in the summer at WWDC 25, which means we don't have much waiting to do before being granted a sneak peek into the future of macOS and iOS.

One of the main pillars that vendors of Arm-based processors often cite as a competitive advantage versus x86 processors is a keen focus on energy efficiency and predictability of performance. In the quest for higher efficiency and performance, Arm vendors have largely designed out the ability to operate on multiple threads concurrently—something that most enterprise-class CPUs have enabled for years under the technology description of "SMT"—which was also created in the name of enabling performance and efficiency benefits.

Arm vendors often claim that SMT brings security risks, creates performance unpredictability from shared resource contention and drives added cost and energy needed to implement SMT. Interestingly, Arm does support multi-threading in its Neoverse E1-class processor family for embedded uses such as automotive. Given these incongruities, this blog intends to provide a bit more clarity to help customers assess what attributes of performance and efficiency really bring them value for their critical workloads.

Microsoft is currently testing a completely reimagined version of its Copilot app for Windows 11—a significant departure from the previous web-based model towards a fully native interface. This preview, exclusively available to Windows Insiders, introduces a modern interface that mirrors the design principles of Windows 11, featuring refined elements such as mica blur effects, built-in context menus, and an optimized sidebar for managing chat sessions. Built on Microsoft's native UI framework, the updated app offers faster launch times and smoother interactions while delivering a cohesive visual experience. Although the core functionalities remain unchanged—allowing users to engage in text chats, utilize Copilot Voice, and access saved conversations—the redesign emphasizes enhanced visual appeal and usability.

A dedicated "new chat" button and a well-organized sidebar work together to simplify navigation and encourage more frequent use of AI-driven features. The update also preserves key settings like launching Copilot at startup and activating it via the Alt+Spacebar shortcut. This rollout follows last week's unexpected launch of a native Copilot app for macOS, which was odd given Microsoft's longstanding focus on Windows. With this update, Microsoft appears starts an era of offering a consistent experience across platforms, besides its core Office suite. The preview, identified as version 1.25023.106.0 and available through the Microsoft Store, invites Windows Insiders to test the new design—while a public release is anticipated pending further feedback.

This afternoon at Mobile World Congress 2025 (MWC), Newnal Inc. will unveil another global breakthrough in personal blockchain and AI innovation, the Newnal personal AI operating system (OS). Built on a web3 foundation, Newnal's blockchain-based OS can be embedded and accessed via any device. Newnal gives people the power to design, drive and protect the experiences and opportunities they care about the most.

"With Newnal ai, each of us can now create another 'I'," said founder and Chief Creative Officer YT Kim, "The last generation of technology underserved humanity. Web3 ai Newnal gives the power of creativity and experience back to people, allowing each of us to enhance our lives in ways that we could only have imagined in the past. It's AI focused on our hearts."

LG Electronics (LG) is bringing its Gaming Portal to a wide range of screens and platforms in 2025. Currently available on LG Smart TVs running webOS 23 and above in 19 markets, the service will extend to additional markets, platforms and devices - including LG Smart Monitors and StanbyME lifestyle screens - by the second quarter of the year. This expansion aims to enhance the overall game streaming experience by providing seamless access to popular and new titles.

The Gaming Portal serves as a central hub for gameplay options, offering an effortless way to discover new titles and enjoy the ones gamers already love. Through partnerships with leading cloud gaming services like NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, Boosteroid, Blacknut and soon Xbox Cloud, along with many native webOS app games, LG delivers a wide variety of games across different genres.

Hackers successfully cracked the Linux version of Sid Meier's Civilization VII four days before its scheduled February 11 release. The compromise stems from the Linux build's DRM-free architecture, which contrasts its Windows counterpart's Denuvo anti-tampering protection. The cracked version, identified under the signature "Linux-Razor1911," has proliferated across multiple file-sharing networks and torrents, presenting immediate challenges for publisher 2K and developer Firaxis Games. The straightforward exploitation process utilizes standard Linux mounting protocols and executable script deployment. While the crack enables immediate access to the base game, circumventing official distribution channels could compromise essential network features and post-launch stability patches.

The persistent vulnerability of DRM-free releases on alternative operating systems potentially influences future platform support strategies among major publishers. Widespread pre-release piracy could significantly impact initial sales figures and threaten future native Linux port development. Firaxis Games and 2K, game publishers, are presumably investigating the crack, though the DRM-free nature of the Linux release limits their immediate response options. As the official launch approaches, this incident shows the ongoing challenge of balancing platform-specific security measures with maintaining broad operating system support in modern game development. While the SteamOS and Linux community represent a significantly smaller market than Windows gamers, it still has a noticeable impact on publishers relying on sales from all compatible platforms.

NVIDIA today unveiled NVIDIA Project DIGITS, a personal AI supercomputer that provides AI researchers, data scientists and students worldwide with access to the power of the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell platform. Project DIGITS features the new NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, offering a petaflop of AI computing performance for prototyping, fine-tuning and running large AI models.

With Project DIGITS, users can develop and run inference on models using their own desktop system, then seamlessly deploy the models on accelerated cloud or data center infrastructure. "AI will be mainstream in every application for every industry. With Project DIGITS, the Grace Blackwell Superchip comes to millions of developers," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "Placing an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher and student empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI."

Intel today, in a letter to the press, presented an overview of the lower than expected performance of its latest Core Ultra "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors, which the company released this October, to less than enthusiastic reviews. The top Core Ultra 9 285K ended up barely faster than the previous Core i9-14900K in gaming performance, and moderately faster in applications. AMD's November release of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D extended the green team's lead over Intel, prompting Intel to get to work on identifying why "Arrow Lake-S" isn't as fast as the company hoped, and if there was something the company could do about it.

Last month, Intel announced that it had identified probable reasons why "Arrow Lake-S" underperforms and that it is working on a combination of fixes that include OS-level updates from Microsoft, some motherboard-vendor level fixes to their UEFI setup programs, and a microcode update for its processors. Intel's microcode updates have been in the news throughout 2024, as one such update proved crucial in fixing the faulty voltage regulation behavior of its Core "Raptor Lake" processors, which was causing irreversible damage to the chips. Today, the company released documentation that highlights all issues the company identified by Intel, their technical root cause, and what's been done about it. Long story short—most of these issues are already addressed, but the Microcode update should be in circulation by January 2025, when the company expands its Core Ultra 200-series desktop processors with 65 W models.

Update Dec 19th: We tested the new OS patches, and unfortunately we have to report that this not a general fix for Arrow Lake, but just a fix for performance problems specific to 24H2. More in our article.

Update Dec 20th: Last night, ASUS released a non-Beta BIOS with microcode 0x114, we tested it and the findings are included in the Dec 19 article linked above.

The RPCS3 team has announced the successful implementation of arm64 architecture support for their PlayStation 3 emulator. This development enables the popular emulator to run on a broader range of devices, including Apple Silicon machines, Windows-on-Arm, and even some smaller Arm-based SBC systems like the Raspberry Pi 5. The journey to arm64 support began in late 2021, following the release of Apple's M1 processors, with initial efforts focused on Linux platforms. After overcoming numerous technical hurdles, the development team, led by core developer Nekotekina and graphics specialist kd-11, achieved a working implementation by mid-2024. One of the primary challenges involved adapting the emulator's just-in-time (JIT) compiler for arm64 systems.

The team developed a solution using LLVM's intermediate representation (IR) transformer, which allows the emulator to generate code once for x86-64 and then transform it for arm64 platforms. This approach eliminated the need to maintain separate codebases for different architectures. A particular technical challenge emerged from the difference in memory management between x86 and arm64 systems. While the PlayStation 3 and traditional x86 systems use 4 KB memory pages, modern arm64 platforms typically operate with 16 KB pages. Though this larger page size can improve memory performance in native applications, it presented unique challenges for emulating the PS3's graphics systems, particularly when handling smaller textures and buffers. While the emulator now runs on arm64 devices, performance varies significantly depending on the hardware. Simple applications and homebrew software show promising results, but more demanding commercial games may require substantial computational power beyond what current affordable Arm devices can provide.

Microsoft has finally opened the iron gate guarding the Windows 11 upgrade for systems running incompatible hardware, including systems lacking TPM 2.0. This is excellent news for users who are rocking older systems or have been without the TPM 2.0 module in their system but want to upgrade to the newer OS release. Microsoft opened an official support page, noting that "Installing Windows 11 on a device that doesn't meet Windows 11 minimum system requirements isn't recommended. If Windows 11 is installed on ineligible hardware, you should be comfortable assuming the risk of running into compatibility issues. A device might malfunction due to these compatibility or other issues. Devices that don't meet these system requirements aren't guaranteed to receive updates, including but not limited to security updates."

However, an interesting disclaimer appears once a user tries to install Windows 11 on a PC that doesn't meet minimum requirements:

MicrosoftThis PC doesn't meet the minimum system requirements for running Windows 11 - these requirements help ensure a more reliable and higher quality experience. Installing Windows 11 on this PC is not recommended and may result in compatibility issues. If you proceed with installing Windows 11, your PC will no longer be supported and won't be entitled to receive updates. Damages to your PC due to lack of compatibility aren't covered under the manufacturer warranty. By selecting Accept, you are acknowledging that you read and understand this statement.

Today, Lenovo announced the introduction of ThinkShield Firmware Assurance as part of its portfolio of enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions. ThinkShield Firmware Assurance is one of the only computer OEM solutions to enable deep visibility and protection below the operating system (OS) by embracing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) component-level visibility to generate more accurate and actionable risk management insights.

As a security paradigm, ZTA explicitly identifies users and devices to grant appropriate levels of access so a business can operate with less risk and minimal friction. ZTA is a critical framework to reduce risk as organizations endeavor to complete Zero-Trust implementations.

In an exclusive interview with Hot Hardware, Intel acknowledged that its recently launched Core Ultra 200 desktop processors, codenamed "Arrow Lake," have significant performance issues. However, Intel announced that a set of fixes are being developed. As our review confirmed, the launch of these new processors fell short of both consumer expectations and Intel's own projections, particularly in gaming performance, despite showing promise in productivity, content creation, and some AI workloads. In a discussion during a recent livestream, Intel's Robert Hallock, VP and general manager of client AI and technical marketing, addressed these concerns head-on, describing the Arrow Lake launch as "disastrous" and attributing the underwhelming performance to inadequately optimized systems.

Robert HallockI can't go into all the details yet, but we identified a series of multifactor issues at the OS level, at the BIOS level, and I will say that the performance we saw in reviews is not what we expected and not what we intended. The launch just didn't go as planned. That has been a humbling lesson for all of us, inspiring a fairly large response internally to get to the bottom of what happened and to fix it.

The battles of operating systems continue, and one fight is internal to the Microsoft Windows user base. Recent data from StatCounter shows that Windows 11 now accounts for 35.58% of Windows installations as of October 2024, recording a modest 3% increase. Meanwhile, Windows 10 continues to power most Windows computers, with a 61% market share. The gradual shift toward Windows 11 comes as Microsoft pushes software updates and hardware partnerships. Large organizations have begun adopting the newer OS, drawn to its updated security features. These include mandatory secure boot protocols and improved protection against credential theft, addressing growing cybersecurity concerns. For individual users, Windows 11 offers updated gaming capabilities through DirectStorage and a redesigned interface. However, many still prefer Windows 10's established stability and broader compatibility with existing hardware and software. Microsoft's recent announcement of a $30 yearly Extended Security Updates subscription acknowledges this divide.

Starting in October 2025, when Windows 10's standard support ends, users can purchase these updates to maintain security protections. Unlike previous programs restricted to business customers, this subscription will be available to all users. The move to Windows 11 faces a significant hurdle: strict system requirements that exclude many older computers. While these standards aim to ensure better performance and security, they effectively prevent many current Windows 10 users from upgrading. Microsoft's plan to add new AI features like Recall and Copilot to Windows 11 could attract more users. Still, the transition largely depends on hardware replacement cycles and users' willingness to adapt to a new system. As Microsoft manages both operating systems, its strategy reflects the challenge of maintaining existing Windows 10 installations while encouraging gradual migration to Windows 11.

The age of automation is upon us. Anthropic, the company behind top-performing Claude large language models that compete directly with OpenAI GPT, has today announced updates to its models and a new feature—computer use. The computer use allows Claude 3.5 Sonnet model to access the user's system by looking at the screen, moving the cursor, typing text, and clicking buttons. While only being experimental for now, the system is prone to errors and creating "dumb" mistakes. However, it allows for one very important feature: driving the operating system designed for humans using artificial intelligence.

There is a benchmark that evaluates AI model's ability to use computers like a human does on human-centered operating system. Called OSWorld, the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model has managed to score 14.9% in screenshot-only category, and 22.0% in some other tasks that require more steps. A typical human scores around 72.36% in this testing, which proves to be difficult even for natural intelligence. However, this is only the beginning as these models advance rapidly. Usually, these models work with other types of data, like text and static images, where they process it and do computation based on it. Working on computers designed for human interaction first is a great leap in the capabilities of AI models.

RISC-V International, the global standards organization, today announced that the RVA23 Profile is now ratified. RVA Profiles align implementations of RISC-V 64-bit application processors that will run rich operating systems (OS) stacks from standard binary OS distributions. RVA Profiles are essential to software portability across many hardware implementations and help to avoid vendor lock-in. The newly ratified RVA23 Profile is a major release for the RISC-V software ecosystem and will help accelerate widespread implementation among toolchains and operating systems.

As the steward of the RISC-V standard, RISC-V has more than 80 technical working groups that collectively advance the capabilities of the RISC-V ISA. RISC-V addresses the need for portability across vendors with standard ISA Profiles for applications and systems software. Each Profile specifies which ISA features are mandatory or optional, providing a common target for software developers. Mandatory extensions can be assumed to be present, and optional extensions can be discovered at runtime and leveraged by optimized middleware, libraries, and applications. To be ratified, the RVA23 Profile underwent a lengthy development, review, and approval process across numerous working groups, before receiving the final ratification vote by the RISC-V Board of Directors.

Plasma 6 has come into its own over the last two releases. The wrinkles that always come with a major migration have been ironed out, and it's time to start delivering on the promises of the new Qt 6 and Wayland technology platforms that Plasma is built on top of. One of the outstanding issues has been to make Plasma a more artist-friendly environment by providing full support for the hardware that creative people need to get their work done.

For Digital Artists
Plasma 6.2 includes a smorgasbord of new features for users of drawing tablets. Open System Settings and look for Drawing Tablet to see various tools for configuring drawing tablets.

Following Epic Games's recent victory over Apple, which effectively forced the iPhone maker to allow third-party apps on iOS in the EU, the game developer and distributor has won a similar case against Google, except in the US, this time. The ruling places several restrictions on what Google can and can't do when it comes to the Android operating system and how it positions its own apps and services on Android phones, including prohibiting Google from paying device manufacturers to include its Play software on their devices and forcing developers to use Google's payment platform.

The ruling (PDF) and its consequent restrictions will start on November 1, 2024, will last three years, and Google isn't particularly happy about the mandated changes, having already confirmed that it will appeal the decision, citing security concerns and arguing that the order would negatively affect developers: "these changes would put consumers' privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps, and reduce competition on devices."

According to new latest testing, the latest AGESA (AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture) update, version 1.2.0.2, promises a significant boost in performance for AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" processors. This update is targeting one of the most crucial aspects of multi-core processing: inter-core latency. The AGESA 1.2.0.2 update addresses challenges initially reported in AMD's Zen 5 architecture, particularly in scenarios demanding rapid communication between multiple cores. Early reports suggest a remarkable reduction in inter-core latency by up to 58%. According to Overclock.net testing, older AGESA 1.2.0.1A showed the cross-CCD latency at around 180 ns. However, with the new AGESA 1.2.0.2 BIOS, the latency is seemingly around 75 ns.

Interestingly, the update has arrived on the ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E motherboard, with BIOS version 2401. BIOS updates with the latest AGESA 1.2.0.2 are still rolling out, so it will be interesting to see further testing and possible improvements. It could be that the cross-CCD latency has just been reported badly, so final testing will conclude the latency increase from Zen 4 to Zen 5 debate.

Primate Labs, the developer behind the popular Geekbench benchmarking suite, has launched Geekbench AI—a comprehensive benchmark tool designed to measure the artificial intelligence capabilities of various devices. Geekbench AI, previously known as Geekbench ML during its preview phase, has now reached version 1.0. The benchmark is available on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS, making it accessible to many users and developers. One of Geekbench AI's key features is its multifaceted approach to scoring. The benchmark utilizes three distinct precision levels: single-precision, half-precision, and quantized data. This evaluation aims to provide a more accurate representation of AI performance across different hardware designs.

In addition to speed, Geekbench AI places a strong emphasis on accuracy. The benchmark assesses how closely each test's output matches the expected results, offering insights into the trade-offs between performance and precision. The release of Geekbench AI 1.0 brings support for new frameworks, including OpenVINO, ONNX, and Qualcomm QNN, expanding its compatibility across various platforms. Primate Labs has also implemented measures to ensure fair comparisons, such as enforcing minimum runtime durations for each workload. The company noted that Samsung and NVIDIA are already utilizing the software to measure their chip performance in-house, showing that adoption is already strong. While the benchmark provides valuable insights, real-world AI applications are still limited, and reliance on a few benchmarks may paint a partial picture. Nevertheless, Geekbench AI represents a significant step forward in standardizing AI performance measurement, potentially influencing future consumer choices in the AI-driven tech market. Results from the benchmark runs can be seen here.

According to The Verge, Valve confirmed its intention to extend support for its Linux-based SteamOS to rival gaming handhelds, including the ASUS ROG Ally. This move marks a significant step towards realizing Valve's decade-old vision of a widespread "Steam Machine" ecosystem. Lawrence Yang, a designer at Valve, confirmed to The Verge that the company is actively working on adding support for additional handhelds to SteamOS. This revelation came after eagle-eyed observers spotted a curious line in Valve's latest SteamOS 3.6.9 Beta release notes mentioning the addition of "support for extra ROG Ally keys." While the development is still in progress, Yang emphasized that SteamOS isn't quite ready for out-of-the-box use on rival devices. However, he assured that the team is making "steady progress" towards this goal.

This initiative doesn't necessarily mean that manufacturers like ASUS will officially endorse Valve's installer or ship their devices with SteamOS preinstalled. Many companies, including ASUS, have cited various reasons for sticking with Windows, including Microsoft's dedicated validation teams that ensure compatibility across diverse hardware configurations. Other devices, such as Lenovo Legion Go, AYANEO, and GPD Pocket 4, ship with Windows, but it could be interesting to see with SteamOS. Alongside support for third-party handhelds, Valve is also working on a general release of SteamOS 3 for non-handheld PCs. Finally, Valve hasn't forgotten about its promise to enable dual-booting on Steam Deck devices. While there's no specific timeline, Mr. Yang confirmed that it remains a priority for the company. We remain to see how this will materialize, and with added bells and whistles to SteamOS, the adoption of Linux-based gaming could be pushed even further.

Intel has officially started shipping the "0x129" microcode update for its 13th and 14th generation "Raptor Lake" and "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors. This critical update is currently being pushed to all OEM/ODM partners to address the stability issues that Intel's processors have been facing. According to Intel, this microcode update fixes "incorrect voltage requests to the processor that are causing elevated operating voltage." Intel's analysis shows that the root cause of stability problems is caused by too high voltage during operation of the processor. These increases to voltage cause degradation that increases the minimum voltage required for stable operation. Intel calls this "Vmin"—it's a theoretical construct, not an actual voltage, think "speed for an airplane required to fly". The latest 0x129 microcode patch will limit the processor's voltage to no higher than 1.55 V, which should avoid further degradation. Overclocking is still supported, enthusiasts will have to disable the eTVB setting in their BIOS to push the processor beyond the 1.55 V threshold. The company's internal testing shows that the new default settings with limited voltages with standard run-to-run variations show minimal performance impact, with only a single game (Hitman 3: Dartmoor) showing degradation. For a full statement from Intel, see the quote below.

Interesting things are happening in the gaming community, as Windows 10 operating system has seen an increase in its user base on the Steam platform, while Windows 11 has dipped below the 46% mark for the first time since its launch. According to the latest July data from Steam's hardware and software survey, Windows 10's share rose to 47.69%, marking a significant uptick that contrasts with Windows 11's decline to 45.73%. This trend highlights a growing preference among gamers for the older operating system, which is often praised for its stability and compatibility with a wide range of games and hardware. Many users have expressed concerns over Windows 11's performance and its stringent hardware requirements, which have made it less accessible for some gamers, especially those without the TPM 2.0-enhanced system.

The shift in user demographics is particularly interesting given that Windows 11 was designed with gaming enhancements in mind, including features like DirectStorage and Auto HDR. However, the adoption rate appears to be hampered by issues related to compatibility and performance, leading many gamers to stick with the more familiar and reliable Windows 10. This trend could prompt Microsoft to reevaluate its approach to Windows 11, particularly in terms of addressing user concerns and enhancing compatibility with existing hardware. Other OSes are seeing stagnation, especially with Linux-based distributions recording zero change. Apple's OSX stands at 1.37%, a +0.06% increase from last month.

0patch plans to combat Microsoft's ending Windows 10 support by offering unofficial security updates for the 2015 operating system. Microsoft is ending Windows 10 security updates on October 14, 2025, after which the OS will stop receiving patches for vulnerabilities. The Redmond giant will provide you with an option to update your Windows 10 build, however, with a hefty fee slapped. Extended Security Updates (ESU) pricing structure follows a tiered model that doubles each year. From October 2025 to October 2026, the cost is $61 per device. The following year, from October 2026 to October 2027, the price increases to $122 per device. In the final year, spanning October 2027 to October 2028, the cost rises to $244 per device. For users planning to maintain Windows 10 until October 2028, the total expense over the three-year period would amount to $427 per device.

However, 0patch, a company focused on providing unofficial security updates for Windows OSes, will provide Windows 10 users with free and paid security updates post-end of service. Their system focuses on delivering targeted "micropatches" for critical vulnerabilities that emerge after Microsoft's official support ends. These micropatches are designed to be extremely precise and minimal, often consisting of just a few CPU instructions. A key feature of 0patch's approach is its non-invasive nature. The patches are applied directly to running processes in the computer's memory, leaving the original Microsoft files untouched. This method allows for rapid deployment of security fixes without requiring system reboots or interrupting user activities. The patching process is designed to be seamless and virtually unnoticeable to users. For instance, a user working on a document wouldn't experience any disruption while a micropatch is being applied. This approach is particularly beneficial for servers, where continuous uptime is crucial, as patches can be implemented without any downtime.

The AlmaLinux OS Foundation, the nonprofit that stewards the community-owned and governed open-source CentOS alternative AlmaLinux, today announced the general availability of AlmaLinux 8.10. This latest release brings updates to security and data protection, and improvements in web-console and system roles to automate operations and ensure consistency in intricate IT settings.

The release continues to enhance system availability, reliability, and recovery processes, alongside improving virtual machine snapshot functions in hybrid cloud scenarios. New system roles have been introduced to streamline the creation and administration of logical volume manager (LVM) snapshots for better data backup and recovery processes. Performance, scalability, and reliability continue to be the focus of updates in the 8.10 version to aid developers in application development and management.