Good Morning! Microsoft is rolling out exciting new AI developer tools at Ignite, including a $4 million security competition. Google plans to merge Chrome OS into Android, aiming to create a more powerful platform for tablets and laptops. Linux 6.12 has finally landed with real-time computing capabilities and broad hardware support across major platforms.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Microsoft Ignites AI Innovation with New Developer & Enterprise Tools

Context: Microsoft's annual Ignite conference kicked off today, showcasing the company's latest enterprise tech and developer tools. While AI remains center stage, this year's announcements focus heavily on practical applications and developer empowerment.

The spotlight is on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's unified AI application platform that bridges the gap between cutting-edge AI and practical business implementations. The platform includes a new SDK with 25 prebuilt app templates and an agent service for orchestrating and scaling AI applications.

Security Deep Dive: In an interesting move, Microsoft is launching "Zero Day Quest," their answer to Black Hat. This in-person hacking event offers a $4 million prize pool specifically targeting cloud and AI security vulnerabilities. It's a clear signal that Microsoft is taking AI security seriously as enterprise adoption grows.

Key Developer Updates:

• Windows Copilot is getting significant upgrades, including offline file search capabilities using local AI processing, new taskbar "companions" for quick access to Microsoft 365 data, and Windows Hotpatch for rebootless updates (finally!)

Teams Integration: For developers working with Teams, there's a new real-time translation feature called Interpreter that supports speech-to-speech translation in nine languages. More impressively, it can simulate the speaker's voice in the target language, potentially changing how we handle multilingual meetings.

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Chrome OS and Android Set to Unite: Google's New Platform Play

Google is planning a significant shift in its operating system strategy by merging Chrome OS into Android. This multi-year project aims to create a unified platform that could better compete with Apple's iPad dominance, particularly in the premium tablet segment.

The desktop-optimized version of Android will replace Chrome OS on future Chromebook devices, bringing several technical enhancements:

• Extension support in Chrome browser

• Native Linux application compatibility via a new Terminal app

• Enhanced external display handling

• Improved keyboard and mouse input systems

• Multiple desktop space management

Technical Impact: The merger leverages Android's Linux kernel and frameworks as the foundation, potentially streamlining Google's development resources. While Chrome OS has been successful in the education sector and budget laptop market with its lightweight Linux-based architecture, the transition to Android could introduce additional overhead – current Android tablets typically require 12GB RAM for smooth multitasking, compared to Chrome OS's efficient 4-8GB usage.

Looking Forward: This consolidation could significantly benefit the Android ecosystem by expanding its user base and attracting more developers to build desktop-optimized applications. Reports also suggest Google is developing a high-end Pixel laptop that could showcase these new capabilities, though the company hasn't officially confirmed the merger plans or timeline.

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Linux 6.12 Drops: Real-Time Computing Finally Hits Mainline

After two decades of development, real-time computing capabilities have finally landed in the mainline Linux kernel with version 6.12. This release, expected to become 2024's Long-Term Support (LTS) kernel with updates until 2026, marks a significant milestone for Linux in industrial and enterprise applications.

What's New: The star of the show is PREEMPT_RT, bringing microsecond-level response times to Linux by making kernel processes fully preemptible. This feature now works across ARM64, RISC-V, and x86 architectures, opening doors for precise-timing applications in robotics, industrial control, and audio production.

The kernel team hasn't been slacking on hardware support either. Here's what's fresh:

• AMD: RDNA4 GPU support and OverDrive overclocking for SMU 14.x

• Intel: Lunar Lake and Panther Lake processor support, with stable Xe2 graphics

• ARM: Initial Raspberry Pi 5 mainline support

• Misc: Improved Wacom tablet support and various laptop firmware updates

Under the Hood: Linux 6.12 introduces sched_ext, an eBPF-powered extensible scheduler that lets you fine-tune process scheduling for specific workloads. File system enthusiasts get goodies too, with EROFS gaining file-backed mount support and various improvements to Btrfs and XFS. There's even a neat QR code system for kernel panics now – because who doesn't love debugging with their phone camera?

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🔥 More Notes

• First developer preview of Android 16 marks start of faster release cycle for Android APIs

• Bluesky tops 20M users, narrowing gap with Instagram Threads

• Microsoft and Atom Computing combine for quantum error correction demo

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