In his membership application letter last week, Microsoft Linux kernel developer Sasha Levin highlighted the company’s role as a Linux vendor. “Microsoft provides several distro-like builds which are not derivative of an existing distribution that are based on open source component. Microsoft customers have millions of cores running the various workloads described above,” he writes. “Microsoft has decades-long history of addressing security issues via MSRC. While we are able to quickly (<1-2 hours) create a build to address disclosed security issues, we require extensive testing and validation before we make these builds public....

The Windows 10 Mobile Insider Program is an extension of the PC Windows 10 Insider Program. It is a preview platform that allows users to pick up features and updates before general release. In return, Microsoft gets beta testers to provide feedback on those features and updates. Since the Windows 10 Insider Program, the company has enjoyed success with the model. Insider programs have opened for several Microsoft services, including Office and Azure....

The company says Forms Pro will be available across Dynamics 365, Office 365, and Microsoft Power. As we discussed last week, the app is an expansion of the existing Forms service. Microsoft Forms is a platform that helps professionals and educators create content in minutes. Forms can be surveys, feedback forms, or quizzes. They can be shared with anyone and form owners can see results of completed forms in real time....

This time, Microsoft is updating To-Do on Windows 10, bumping the application to v1.52.2641.0. While not packed with new features, there are some interesting additions included. For example, To-Do now supports Enhanced Search on Windows 10, allowing users to see specific file activity in searches. Elsewhere, Microsoft has improved attachments in the app, making the process easier. As usual, Microsoft has provided a full changelog for this update: Enhanced Search– Looking for a file but have you forgotten which activity you’ve attached it to?...

If you’re unfamiliar with the Windows Search Box, it is the white search pane located in the taskbar next to the Start button. This is the central search hub for Windows 10, allowing users to search for files, programs, content, settings, and system tools. Microsoft says the new updates is rolling out directly to end users. In other words, it is not an Insider build for preview use. The company points out users must be running Windows 10 1809 or higher....

Even so, this could be a good opportunity for budding security researchers. It includes all Dynamics 365 apps, including Talent, Sales, and Remote Assist, as well as on-premise products like Dynamics CRM. $20k is the max researchers can expect to get, and most won’t get anywhere near that. The big payout is reserved for high severity critical remote code execution bugs. However, you can still get $15k for medium severity RCE’s, or important high severity ones....

By the way, that catchy “living off the land” is Symantec’s wording. The company uses their phrase for malware that exploits legitimate utilities and processes on the target machine. It is an attack method Symantec says is becoming increasingly common. Researchers for the company discovered the latest Windows exploit and says it is a classic example of “living off the land”. The attack exploits something called the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC)....

The plan was to stop users on Office apps from being able to easily enable content in downloaded files if they have macros. Macro malware is one of the oldest cybercrime methods, at least amongst those still in use today. Threat actors have been turning to macros since the 90s, and still getting some success. That’s because this is a simple technique for pushing malware onto a system. During 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft said customers were getting macro emails....

Yes, Minecraft has announced a new DLC pack and it is Star Wars themed. Better late than never, I guess. Over the years, the popular open world block building adventure game has mash ups with many properties, including Mario and Marvel. Star Wars is the next step and the surprise it has not come sooner. It is especially surprising Disney did not seek this collaboration when the new trilogy was in cinemas or when it launched Disney+ last year....

The most notable one for the Dual-screen Duo is a landscape mode. You can now use Microsoft’s Android experience in practically any orientation, the dock simply moving to the end of the screen as everything rotates. It also adds a full-fledged dark mode, turning the search bar, news, timeline, settings, and everything else true AMOLED black. This should save your eyes in the dark, while new icons bring it closer to the modern design language....

On the analytics side of things, mobile users can look forward to a number of additions. MyAnalytics on iOS and Android will let you get straight to the analytics menu from individual files, giving a quick look at where they stand. The service itself has also been improved in terms of accuracy, with the same, more accurate view count system that’s on the web. The file trending system has also been removed in this release....

We will have to wait for Word Online to get Voice Dictation, but OneNote Online users can start using the feature today. The hands-free diction support is currently available in nine languages. Note taking is much easier due to this feature, especially for users with accessibility issues. Diction allows notes to be taken only through voice. Editing is intuitive as it works in real-time without pausing the recording. Microsoft points out it created the feature to help users with dyslexia create documents....

According to The Information, OpenAI is now in advanced talks about Microsoft investing more into the group. It is not known how much investment the group is asking for. It is also known what OpenAI will give Microsoft in exchange if anything at all. The report suggests the group currently has a valuation of around $20 billion in the stock sale from 2021. Microsoft was a $1 billion investor in OpenAI in 2019, which allows Azure to power all cloud services from the open-source AI provider....

ZDNet reports Microsoft has put the device on hold as it irons out issues with Andromeda. This means the OS and the device will not ship later this year alongside Windows 10 Redstone 5. This time it all seemed so different as there was genuine fire with the rumor smoke. Andromeda is real and Microsoft has openly discussed the device that would accompany the OS. The company was also reportedly working on apps with developers, and included Andromeda in its Surface roadmap....

PCMag reports the Xbox Series X will, however, run quiet. This may be a surprise considering the hardware but the fact it will be hot is less of a shock. If you’re unfamiliar with the innards of the console, here’s a refresher: Eight-core AMD Ryzen CPU 12TFLOPS 52-CU RDNA2 GPU (1.8GHz) 1 TB Custom NVME SSD 16 GB GDDR6 RAM Those are some power-hungry, high-end, and powerful specs. Especially when you consider the Series X is basically a relatively small, mostly closed, case....

Details are sparse currently, but Fudzilla says: “Xiaomi started to make its laptops last year and got quite a lot of traction with its thin and light machines powered by Intel processors. Since there is a market and a value proposition with the Snapdragon on Windows 10, Xiaomi started working on its own design.” According to its sources, the Xaomi model will be much cheaper than other OEM’s, and the company’s huge presence in China should help to propel the platform....

“Rust/WinRT follows in the tradition established by C++/WinRT of building language projections for the Windows Runtime using standard languages and compilers, providing a natural and idiomatic way for Rust developers to call Windows APIs,” said Windows developer platform principal software engineer Kenny Kerr in a blog post. “Rust/WinRT lets you call any WinRT API past, present, and future using code generated on the fly directly from the metadata describing the API and right into your Rust package where you can call them as if they were just another Rust module....

Specifically, that means you will need to be running the cross-platform Skype (known as version 8.x). Add-ins are a simple way to integrate services directly into the service. Essentially, an add-on allows you to use a third-party service directly within Skype. Since being introduced with the new experience, Microsoft has added to the list of integrations. With TripAdvisor, users are able search the travel site while in a conversation. TripAdvisor curates travel destinations like hotels, things to do, and restaurants and lets users rate them....

The company has released a new Skype Insider update that bumps the preview app to version 8.41.76.62. Included in the update is a new feature for people with more than 50 people as contacts, whether that’s a normal user or business. Specifically, the feature allows users to enter group calls with up to 50 people. Microsoft has more than doubled the limit of this capability, which previously capped group calls at 25 people....

In documents submitted by Sony, the company suggests it will launch the PlayStation 6 in 2027. While the company does not offer a specific date, it is easy to deduce from Sony’s comments that 2027 is a likely launch date. One of the main points of contention between Microsoft and Sony is the former’s plans with Activision Blizzard franchises such as Candy Crush, Warcraft, and Call of Duty. Microsoft insists it will keep these titles available cross-platform, while Sony has concerns they will become Xbox exclusives....