The Hot Take: As Linux gains market share just put a target on its back for compromise.
A new report from Sonatype identifies 21,764 malicious open source packages in the first quarter of the year, up 21 percent from the same period last year and bringing the total logged since 2017 to 1,346,867. The npm registry continues to be the target of most new malicious attacks, at 75 percent, seeing the equivalent of 46 malicious packages per day, with the quarter defined by credential theft, host reconnaissance, and staged payload delivery aimed at developer and CI/CD environments. Python package index PyPI saw 18 percent of total malware in Q1, with other registries significantly lower, suggesting that attackers⌠[Continue Reading]
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The Hot Take: I guess IPv6 wasn't doing it w/out backward comparability?
A newly surfaced IPv8 draft describes a conceptual network protocol designed to extend the capabilities of existing Internet infrastructure while maintaining compatibility with IPv4.
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The Hot Take: I mean really, WHY do they want us on ARM??
Qualcomm has the stars to align for Windows on Arm. The chip is strong enough, and the software situation is improving, so this could be the point where ARM Windows laptops stop being a niche joke and start going mainstream.
The timing for Snapdragon X2 Elite looks spot on, with a faster chip aimed at the Fruity Cargo Cult Appleâs M5 series and the usual x86 crowd, plus Windows on Arm gaining more native apps.
Developers are starting to treat Qualcommâs top-end SoC like a platform worth bothering with, rather than a science project that only runs half their tools. That should have been the point where everyone stopped playing silly games and started building volume.
Instead, a Reddit thread suggests that OEMs shipping Snapdragon X2 Elite machines are leaning into premium pricing to chase margins while the software stack remains fragile. If the pricing stays daft, adoption stays niche, and the whole thing risks stalling before it has properly started.
Redditor Large_Bear_6962 wrote: âDevelopers are less likely to invest their time and effort in an architecture if user adoption is limited. Notebook manufacturers who price their machines out of reach for the majority of buyers are ultimately creating a difficult barrier to entry, which is whatâs currently being faced by the Snapdragon X2 Elite.â
ASUS did not help by launching the Zenbook A16 at $1,599.99, then slapping on a $100 hike after reviews went live, once the hype had done the marketing for them.
The argument is that Windows on Arm has the technical base now, but developers will not spend months optimising for a tiny installed base. If users do not buy the machines, the apps do not arrive, and everyone goes back to pretending emulation is fine.
Not everyone is blaming the laptop brands, because Qualcomm is not exactly running a charity either. It is the only realistic option for Windows notebook makers who want this platform, and it prices its Snapdragon X2 Elite family as if it were already a hit.
There is grumbling that Qualcomm should subsidise early designs to undercut rivals, then make money once volume and app support land. Instead, it charges a hefty upfront premium, making every machine look like a luxury purchase.
There is more noise about Qualcomm being too lax about pushing partners to deliver timely software updates, leaving bugs to fester and souring the user experience. That kind of drift is poison when you are trying to convince developers that the platform is stable.
Apple is sitting there with Apple Silicon MacBooks and a wider software library, which makes premium-priced Snapdragon X2 Elite laptops a harder sell than they need to be. Some âExtremeâ designs are already landing near M5 and M5 Pro money, and that is a nasty place to start a platform fight.
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The Hot Take: Question is - Why do they really want us on AMR instead of x86/CISC chips?
A new powerful chipset has arrived to take on x86 CPUs and Apple's M5, writes Wccftech.
The blog Windows Central writes that "Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 processors are here" â and they run Windows:
Microsoft has done a massive amount of work to improve compatibility and has also convinced developers to embrace Windows 11 on Arm. Users of Windows 11 on Arm PCs spend 90% of their time on Arm-based apps that run natively. Additionally, apps that do not run natively can often run through Prism emulation, which has improved dramatically since launch...
[A]pp compatibility issues are overblown by many, and unfortunately those sharing false information are the same folks people rely on to make purchases... Works on Windows on Arm maintains a list of compatible apps and games for the platform. There, you'll see well-known apps like Google Chrome, the Adobe Creative Suite, and Spotify. We also have a collection of the best Windows on Arm apps to help you out. Snapdragon X PCs aren't gaming PCs, but there is a growing library of games that can run on the chips.
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The Hot Take: And the push beings it's fifth or sixth try for Windows & ARM....
Windows 11 on Arm has come a long way, but many reviewers and commenters fall back on horror stories of incompatibility that haven't been true for years.
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The Hot Take: Is this the beginning or Ai push back across the market that might include hardware soon?
Microsoft has started stripping Copilot branding out of Notepad in Windows 11, replacing the old Copilot menu with a more generic "writing tools" label. The AI features themselves aren't going away, but Microsoft seems to be backing off the heavy-handed Copilot branding and extra entry points. Windows Central reports: As promised, Microsoft is now beginning its effort to reduce and remove Copilot branding across Windows 11, with the latest Notepad update for Insiders outright removing the Copilot icon and phrasing. Now, the AI menu is simply called "writing tools," and maintains the same functionality as before. Additionally, Microsoft has also removed references to AI in the Settings area in Notepad. Now, the ability to turn on or off these AI powered writing tools are now listed under "Advanced features."
This change is present in the latest preview build of Notepad which is now rolling out to all Windows Insiders. The app version is 11.2512.28.0, and you'll know you have it if you see the Copilot icon replaced with a pen icon instead. [...] For Notepad, it appears Microsoft has opted to replace the Copilot menu with something more generic. It's still the same functionally, but it's no longer leaning on the tainted Copilot brand. Of course, you can still easily turn off all AI features in Notepad if you don't want them. The Verge reports that the "unnecessary Copilot buttons" are also disappearing from the Snipping Tool, Photos, and Widgets.
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The Hot Take: Of course because the only browser is Edge, M$ doesn't recognize anything else.
BrianFagioli writes: Mozilla is accusing Microsoft of stacking the deck against Firefox, arguing that design choices in Windows steer users toward Edge even when they explicitly choose another browser. According to Mozilla, parts of Windows still open links in Edge regardless of the default browser setting, including results from the taskbar search and links launched from apps like Outlook and Teams. Mozilla says this means Firefox often never even gets the opportunity to handle those links, which quietly shifts user activity back into Microsoft's ecosystem.
The company also points to Microsoft's aggressive rollout of Copilot as another example of platform power being used to push Microsoft services. Copilot appeared pinned to the taskbar, arrived automatically on many systems with Microsoft 365, and even received a dedicated keyboard key on some laptops. Mozilla argues that when the maker of the dominant desktop operating system promotes its own browser and AI tools at the system level, it becomes far harder for independent browsers like Firefox to compete.
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The Hot Take: This is good, as Windows 11 is just a pile of poop these days. I'm waiting on native support from game publishing houses, as I hate abstract/emulation layers. We still need the peripheral companies to publish apps to control all those RGB's on our systems and keyboards too.
Valve's March 2026 Steam Survey shows Linux gaming usage jumping to a record 5.33% share -- more than double macOS's 2.35%. Phoronix reports: Steam on Linux was never above 5% and easily an all-time high for the Linux gaming marketshare, especially in absolute numbers. It was a massive 3.1% spike in March while macOS also jumped surprisingly by 1.19% to 2.35%. The Steam Survey numbers show Windows losing 4.28%, down to 92.33%.
Part of the jump at least appears to be explained by Valve correcting again the Steam China numbers. Month over month they report a 31.85% drop to the Simplified Chinese language use and English use increasing by 16.82% to 39.09%. Other languages also showed gains amid the massive decline in Simplified Chinese use.
The latest numbers for March show around a quarter of the Linux gamers are running Steam OS. Due in part to the Steam Deck APU being a custom AMD product and the popularity of AMD hardware on Linux for its open-source nature, AMD CPU use by Steam on Linux gamers remains just under 70%.
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The Hot Take: When you're pushing skinned version of the edge browser your native apps will start to show signs....
Microsoft is investigating a known issue that prevents some Classic Outlook users from sending emails via Outlook.com. [...]
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The Hot Take: Whoa, now if publishing house start publishing native you might get my buy in.
Steam just released its March hardware and software survey, and it's clear that the PC gaming market is going through a massive flux as inflated prices force buyers into new (and old) areas.
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