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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Microsoft is taking the fight to Chromebooks in schools with the $250 Surface Laptop SE, but inexpensive hardware is only part of the equation. One reason Chromebooks have succeeded in education is because of Chrome OS, which is well-suited for lower-end hardware, easy for IT administrators to manage, and hard to break with errant apps or malware.

Microsoft's answer to Chrome OS is Windows 11 SE. Unlike past efforts like Windows in S mode (which is still its own separate thing), Windows 11 SE isn't just a regular version of Windows with a cheaper license or a cut-down version that runs fewer apps. Windows 11 SE defaults to saving all files (including user profile information) to students' OneDrive accounts, and it has had some standard Windows 11 features removed to ensure a "distraction-free" learning environment that performs better on low-end devices. The operating system also gives IT administrators exclusive control over the apps and browser extensions that can be installed and run via Microsoft Intune.

If you're a school IT administrator with a fleet of PC laptops or desktops, you might wonder if you can buy and install Windows 11 SE on hardware you already have so you can benefit from its changes without buying new hardware. The answer, Microsoft tells us, is no. The only way to get Windows 11 SE is on laptops that ship with Windows 11 SE. And if you re-image a Windows 11 SE device with a different version of Windows 10 or Windows 11, it won't even be possible to reinstall Windows 11 SE after that.

[...] Microsoft has published documentation (PDF) that more fully explains the differences between Windows 11 SE and the other editions of Windows (including Windows in S mode).

Original Submission

upstart writes:

Zero-day bug in all Windows versions gets free unofficial patch:

A free and unofficial patch is now available for a zero-day local privilege escalation [(LPE)] vulnerability in the Windows User Profile Service that lets attackers gain SYSTEM privileges under certain conditions.

The bug, tracked as CVE-2021-34484, was incompletely patched by Microsoft during the August Patch Tuesday. The company only addressed the impact of the proof-of-concept (PoC) provided by security researcher Abdelhamid Naceri who reported the issue.

Naceri later discovered that threat actors could still bypass the Microsoft patch to elevate privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges if certain conditions are met, getting an elevated command prompt while the User Account Control (UAC) prompt is displayed.

CERT/CC vulnerability analyst Will Dormann tested the CVE-2021-34484 bypass PoC exploit and found that, while it worked, it would not always create the elevated command prompt. However, in BleepingComputer's tests, it launched an elevated command prompt immediately, as shown below.

Luckily, the exploit requires attackers to know and log in with other users' credentials for exploiting the vulnerability, which means that it will likely not be as widely abused as other LPE bugs (including PrintNightmare).

The bad news is that it impacts all Windows versions, including Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2022, even if fully patched.

[...] While Microsoft is still working on a security update to address this zero-day flaw, the 0patch micropatching service has released Thursday a free unofficial patch (known as a micropatch).

Original Submission

upstart writes:

New Windows 11 build fixes widespread printer issues, system freezes:

Microsoft has fixed a long list of issues impacting Windows 11 in a newly released build for Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels.

Among the significant bugs addressed in Windows 11 Build 22000.346 (KB5007262), Redmond has addressed known issues preventing USB Print devices with support for Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Over USB from completing the installation and leading to some USB Print installers reporting that they don't printer after they were plugged in.

Another printing issue fixed in today's Windows 11 preview build caused 0x000006e4 (RPC_S_CANNOT_SUPPORT), 0x0000007c (ERROR_INVALID_LEVEL), and 0x00000709 (ERROR_INVALID_PRINTER_NAME) error codes when connecting to remote printers shared on Windows print servers.

This fix is expected to roll out to all impacted Windows 10 and Windows 11 customers during the December 2021 Patch Tuesday.

The originating update for this known issue is the mandatory KB5006670 cumulative update released during the October 2021 Patch Tuesday with security updates for two Windows Print Spooler vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-36970 and CVE-2021-41332).

Since the October Patch Tuesday updates have been released, Windows 10 admins and users have been reporting widespread network printing issues in a 22-page forum topic at BleepingComputer.

Prior to today's update, on Thursday, BleepingComputer also shared a fix for the 0x0000007c printing error allowing users to work around the printing issue.

Microsoft privately distributed the same fix using ADMX installers that added new Windows Registry values, which disabled the problematic changes from October.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Microsoft is no longer bringing x64 emulation to Windows 10 on ARM

Last December, Microsoft announced that it would bring x64 emulation to Windows 10 on ARM, a feature missing from the fledgling OS. Windows 10 on ARM already supported x86 emulation but making sure you have a 32-bit installer is not ideal. Initially, Microsoft brought x64 emulation to the Windows Insider Program, although you need a preview version of the Qualcomm Adreno graphics driver for some ARM machines that supported Windows 10 ARM.

Since then, Microsoft has released Windows 11, including an ARM version. For some reason, the company has now decided to quietly drop any intentions of integrating x64 emulation within Windows 10 on ARM. Inexplicably, it only confirmed this change in a Windows Blogs post where most people would miss it.

Windows Insider blog. Also at The Verge.

Previously: Microsoft Document Details Windows 10 on ARM Limitations

Original Submission

upstart writes:

You'll need a Microsoft account to set up future versions of Windows 11 Pro:

Now that Windows 11's first major post-release update has been issued, Microsoft has started testing a huge collection of new features, UI changes, and redesigned apps in the latest Windows Insider preview for Dev channel users. By and large, the changes are significant and useful—there's an overhauled Task Manager, folders for pinned apps in the Start menu, the renewed ability to drag items into the Taskbar (as you could in Windows 10), improvements to the Do Not Disturb and Focus modes, new touchscreen gestures, and a long list of other fixes and enhancements.

But tucked away toward the bottom of the changelog is one unwelcome addition: like the Home edition of Windows 11, the Pro version will now require an Internet connection and a Microsoft account during setup. In the current version of Windows 11, you could still create a local user account during setup by not connecting your PC to the Internet—something that also worked in the Home version of Windows 10 but was removed in 11. That workaround will no longer be available in either edition going forward, barring a change in Microsoft's plans.

While most devices do require a sign-in to fully enable app stores, cloud storage, and cross-device sharing and syncing, Windows 11 will soon stand alone as the only major consumer OS that requires account sign-in to enable even basic functionality.

Original Submission

mcgrew writes:

My (not so) old Dell Windows 10 notebook that poorly converts to a tablet is on its last legs; the E, A, and 5 keys are troublesome. Annoying; I have an old HP laptop running XP that mostly works; the headphone jack and DVD are shot, but everything else works, albeit with a noisy fan.

So I replaced it with a new, non-convertible Asus notebook running Windows 11, and it was an incredible surprise. For the first time I've seen since DOS 6.2 (I skipped Windows 8 after finding out it was just a test to see how much grief Windows' customers were willing to take), Microsoft actually produced an operating system that not only didn't suck worse than the last iteration, but is an actual improvement in a few ways.

It seems to be snappier than 10. Usually a brand new Windows on a brand new computer is slower than the old one, if you've maintained it, because of the bloat. Yes, that's not always true for everyone, but the hardware looks to be mostly compatible with the old Dell. It actually does some things, like copying to or from a thumb drive, faster than Kubuntu and Dolphin.

Microsoft may have actually started listening to their customers! Setting up the new computer was far less hassle and nonsense than the old Windows 10 computer, but not nearly as effortless as installing Linux on a new, clean drive. Like 10, it gave me nonsense when I tried to install open source software, but I didn't have to jump through nearly so many hoops to install everything that is on all of my Windows computers. And Audacity will play on Windows 11, unlike 10 after their last "upgrade". I don't know if it will record because like the Dell, its sound input is hard-wired to the microphone, which you can record with.

Microsoft is Finally Done With Windows 7 and 8.1

upstart writes:

Microsoft Is Finally Done With Windows 7 and 8.1:

Windows 7 has had a long life, and even though Windows 8 and 8.1 were less popular, there are still many people who haven't updated to Windows 10 or 11. Microsoft is now saying goodbye to both 7 and 8.1.

[...] Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 were all significant milestones for Microsoft, and the entire PC industry. Windows 7 fixed many of the rough edges that kept PC buyers away from Vista. Windows 8 was a radical departure towards a tablet-friendly design that not everyone was happy with — including some people here at How-To Geek. Microsoft followed it up with 8.1, which re-introduced some desktop elements and fixed a few issues, and later fully merged the two design principles with Windows 10. The varying problems meant many people simply stayed on earlier versions — StatCounter reports that 11% of PCs worldwide are still on Windows 7, while 2.59% are on 8.1.

If you're still using Windows 7 or 8.1, you should really upgrade to Windows 10, or Windows 11 if that's even an option. Switching to Linux may be an alternative, though many modern distributions will struggle on most Windows 7-era hardware. Debian still supports 32-bit x86 PCs, among other distros.

Sorry, Microsoft Has Finally Stopped Support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1

upstart writes:

Windows 7 is more than a decade old, but the company had previously extended security support for those willing to pay:

Poor, beleaguered Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 are now officially strolling the Elysian Fields of dead operating systems as Microsoft that the end of its support for them finally arrived on Tuesday. [Jan. 11]

[...] Of course, both operating systems will still run on computers, but a lack of software patches does open up plenty of vulnerabilities. The last patch Windows 7 received for ESU customers was back in December.

[...] In the meantime, adoption of Windows 11 has been pretty slow for Microsoft's tastes. Analytics firm Statcounter reported at the tail end of last year that the latest OS accounts for just under 17% of Windows market share. It barely beat out Windows 7, which claimed 11%. Last year, the company included a host of new features for the OS, including new accessibility and security features, but that still hasn't made enough of a case for the 68% of Windows 10 users to finally make the switch.

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

fliptop writes:

BlackLotus represents a major milestone in the continuing evolution of UEFI bootkits:

Researchers on Wednesday announced a major cybersecurity find—the world's first-known instance of real-world malware that can hijack a computer's boot process even when Secure Boot and other advanced protections are enabled and running on fully updated versions of Windows.

Dubbed BlackLotus, the malware is what's known as a UEFI bootkit. These sophisticated pieces of malware hijack the UEFI— short for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface—the low-level and complex chain of firmware responsible for booting up virtually every modern computer. As the mechanism that bridges a PC's device firmware with its operating system, the UEFI is an OS in its own right. It's located in an SPI-connected flash storage chip soldered onto the computer motherboard, making it difficult to inspect or patch.

[...] The second thing standing in the way of UEFI attacks is UEFI Secure Boot, an industry-wide standard that uses cryptographic signatures to ensure that each piece of software used during startup is trusted by a computer's manufacturer. Secure Boot is designed to create a chain of trust that will prevent attackers from replacing the intended bootup firmware with malicious firmware. If a single firmware link in that chain isn't recognized, Secure Boot will prevent the device from starting.

While researchers have found Secure Boot vulnerabilities in the past, there has been no indication that threat actors have ever been able to bypass the protection in the 12 years it has been in existence. Until now.

[...] To defeat Secure Boot, the bootkit exploits CVE-2022-21894, a vulnerability in all supported versions of Windows that Microsoft patched in January 2022. The logic flaw, referred to as Baton Drop by the researcher who discovered it, can be exploited to remove Secure Boot functions from the boot sequence during startup. Attackers can also abuse the flaw to obtain keys for BitLocker, a Windows feature for encrypting hard drives.

Previously:

• Custom-Made UEFI Bootkit Found Lurking in the Wild
• First-Ever UEFI Rootkit Tied To Sednit APT

Original Submission

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/05/microsoft-patches-secure-boot-flaw-but-wont-enable-fix-by-default-until-early-2024/

Earlier this week, Microsoft released a patch to fix a Secure Boot bypass bug used by the BlackLotus bootkit we reported on in March. The original vulnerability, CVE-2022-21894, was patched in January, but the new patch for CVE-2023-24932 addresses another actively exploited workaround for systems running Windows 10 and 11 and Windows Server versions going back to Windows Server 2008.

The BlackLotus bootkit is the first-known real-world malware that can bypass Secure Boot protections, allowing for the execution of malicious code before your PC begins loading Windows and its many security protections. Secure Boot has been enabled by default for over a decade on most Windows PCs sold by companies like Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and others. PCs running Windows 11 must have it enabled to meet the software's system requirements.
[...]
Additionally, once the fixes have been enabled, your PC will no longer be able to boot from older bootable media that doesn't include the fixes. On the lengthy list of affected media: Windows install media like DVDs and USB drives created from Microsoft's ISO files; custom Windows install images maintained by IT departments; full system backups; network boot drives including those used by IT departments to troubleshoot machines and deploy new Windows images; stripped-down boot drives that use Windows PE; and the recovery media sold with OEM PCs.

I.E.: You will have to turn "Secure Boot" off in order to install Linux, probably.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Microsoft is alerting users and system administrators that Windows will soon phase out support for older TLS specifications. TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 will be disabled in upcoming Windows releases, as announced in the Windows message center. This change is only for future versions of Windows and newer Windows 11 releases, as indicated by Redmond. It applies to both client and server editions, but current versions of Windows will remain unaffected.

[...] TLS 1.0 (introduced in 1999) and TLS 1.1 (introduced in 2006) have long been outperformed by TLS 1.2 and 1.3. Modern internet software's TLS implementations are engineered to attempt a connection using the highest available protocol version. Data indicates that the usage of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 is relatively low currently. Microsoft is evidently striving to enhance the security of the Windows platform by promoting the adoption of contemporary protocols.

Consequently, starting with the Windows 11 Insider Preview builds set for release in September 2023, TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 will be disabled by default. This change will also be seen in Windows 12 and subsequent versions. Microsoft has conducted tests on TLS deprecation and identified a "non-exhaustive" list of applications that are dependent on TLS 1.0 or 1.1. This list features older versions of SQL Server, Turbo Tax, BlueStacks, ACDSee Photo Studio, among others.

Microsoft clarified that most contemporary applications support TLS 1.2 or higher versions, so the majority of users should face no issues. However, if an application does encounter problems, forthcoming updates for Windows 11 and Windows 12 will offer an option to reactivate the older protocols through a modification to the System Registry.

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

I am still amazed how few people – even in IT – have heard of Windows Copilot. Microsoft's deep integration of Bing Chat into Windows 11 was announced with much fanfare back in May.

Microsoft hasn't been quiet about it – indeed it can’t seem to shut up about Copilot this and Copilot that – yet it seems that the real impact of this sudden Copilotization of all the things has somehow managed to fly under the radar.

[...] Microsoft has rushed to get Copilot into its operating system

[...] Windows Copilot looks just like Bing Chat – which may be why IT folks haven't given it a second look. Bing Chat has been available in Microsoft's Edge Browser for months – no biggie.

But Windows Copilot only looks like Bing Chat. While Bing Chat runs within the isolated environment of the web browser, Copilot abandons those safeties. Copilot can touch and change Windows system settings – not all of them (at least not yet) but some of them, with more being added all the time. That means Microsoft's AI chatbot has broken loose of its hermetically sealed browser, and has the run of our PCs.

[...] Every day we learn of new prompt injection attacks – weaponizing the ambiguities of human language (and, sometimes, just the right level of noise) to override the guardrails keeping AI chatbots on the straight and narrow. Consider a prompt injection attack hidden within a Word document: Submitted to Windows Copilot for an analysis and summary, the document also injects a script that silently transmits a copy of the files in the working directory to the attacker.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Microsoft has stopped developing VBScript after a 27-year relationship and plans to remove the scripting language entirely in a future Windows release.

The IT giant said on Monday that VBScript, short for Visual Basic Scripting Edition, has been deprecated in an update to its list of "Deprecated features for Windows client."

"VBScript is being deprecated," Microsoft said. "In future releases of Windows, VBScript will be available as a feature on demand before its removal from the operating system."

Only a month ago, Microsoft announced the pending retirement of another software elder, WordPad.

VBScript debuted in 1996 and its most recent release, version 5.8, dates back to 2010. It is a scripting language, and was for a while widely used among system administrators to automate tasks until it was eclipsed by PowerShell, which debuted in 2006.

"Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition brings active scripting to a wide variety of environments, including Web client scripting in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Web server scripting in Microsoft Internet Information Service," Redmond explains in its help documentation.

Unfortunately, Microsoft never managed to get other browser makers to support VBScript, so outside of Microsoft-exclusive environments, web developers tended to favor JavaScript for client-side tasks.

[...] VBScript's pending demise also means the end for Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, which depends on VBScript. MDT is already on notice now that it's not supported with Windows 11.

Microsoft's planned discontinuation of VBScript may be in part motivated by security concerns, given that VBScript can be a malware vector.

Original Submission

canopic jug writes:

Multiple sites are reporting from Reuters that new digital restrictions management requirements in Vista11 will send an estimated 480 million kg of otherwise viable desktops and notebooks prematurely to the landfill as e-waste.

Multiple key barriers prevent Windows 10-compatible PCs from running Windows 10, including a need for a 64-bit processor listed by Microsoft as a 'supported CPU,' at least 4 GB of RAM, a minimum of 64GB storage, and UEFI firmware with Secure Boot capability instead of the older BIOS. Additionally, a crucial requirement is TPM version 2.0 for enhanced security, which supersedes the TPM 1.2 version supported by some Windows 10 devices. In addition, Windows 11 also demands a DirectX 12-compatible GPU with a WDDM 2.x driver, which leaves out many older iGPUs. Many systems are still running outdated CPUs and using BIOS instead of UEFI with no SecureBoot support.

Canalys believes that a staggering 240 million PCs do not comply with Windows 11's requirements and are set to be rendered obsolete by Windows 10's October 14, 2025 support deadline. While recycling remains a viable option for these systems, the lack of compatibility with the latest Windows iteration significantly devalues them, making refurbishment less feasible. Consequently, despite growing capabilities in the refurbishment sector, many of these devices are still destined for landfills. This situation highlights a critical challenge in managing and disposing of electronic waste, Canalys believes. 

The effective lifespan of these devices could be preserved, and the waste reduced, by upgrading to more efficient, open software such as the GNU/Linux distro of your choice.

Via:
Tom's Hardware: Microsoft's draconian Windows 11 restrictions will send an estimated 240 million PCs to the landfill when Windows 10 hits end of life in 2025
NDTV: Microsoft Ending Windows 10 Support To Affect 240 Million Computers: Report
The Economic Times of India: Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million PCs to landfills: report
NeoWin: 240 million PCs could end up in landfills when Windows 10 support ends

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

There's always Windows 10, 11, or Linux!

For now, Steam might continue to work with these older operating systems. Valve announced the retirement as its launcher depends on some software vendors' security patches. More specifically, Steam relies on a version of Google Chrome that's not supported on Windows 7. As you'd expect with such announcements, Valve recommends that users jump to Windows 10 or newer. 

[...] The end of support for these operating systems won't impact many Steam users. December's Steam hardware survey shows these operating systems represent between 0% and 0.01% of Steam users worldwide. However, Windows Server 2019 is still supported as Microsoft will keep rolling out security updates until Jan. 9, 2024, impacting about 0.06% of Steam users.
 
[...] Over 96.40% of Steam users are on Windows, while MacOS and Linux have a negligible share in comparison. It will be interesting to see if newer users would migrate to Windows 10, Windows 11, or any of the Linux distros. Arch Linux Ubuntu 64-bit is a home for 0.15% to 0.14% of Steam's user base.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

One of the Windows updates in the current cycle is for KB5034441, which addresses CVE-2024-20666. From what I can tell, exploiting this vulnerability requires physical access, so there's no risk of this being used in remote attacks. The actual risk to most users is probably very low. Still, it allows security features to be bypassed, so it should be fixed.

The problem is that this update is failing for many users with error code 0x80070643. Microsoft claims that this is due to the recovery partition not being large enough on some systems, though the error code is cryptic and unhelpful. Here's what Microsoft said about that:

Known issue Because of an issue in the error code handling routine, you might receive the following error message instead of the expected error message when there is insufficient disk space:

        0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE

Windows isn't even telling users the correct error. Microsoft claims the update is failing on systems where the recovery partition isn't large enough. From my own experience, I have systems where I allowed the Windows installer to partition the drive automatically, meaning that Windows determined the size of the recovery partition. Windows 10 chose a size of 509 MB on my systems, and this doesn't seem to be scaled depending on the size of the user's drive. For most users, this is probably set automatically by the installer or the computer manufacturer. That said, I've read a user comment that the update failed on a system with a 15 GB recovery partition, so I'm not certain that this can really be blamed on insufficient disk space.

Microsoft's advice to users is that they need to manually resize the recovery partition. The commands are not intuitive, and there's absolutely no reason that Microsoft should be expecting ordinary users to be doing this. Resizing partitions is a fairly high risk operation, one that carries a risk of data loss if not done properly.

This vulnerability probably just isn't a risk at all for most users, but that's not necessarily obvious. They just see the message that a security update failed with a cryptic error message. It's Microsoft's responsibility to ensure that security updates just work when they're being installed on a system in a reasonably standard configuration. If the Windows installer chose a recovery partition of 509 MB, then Microsoft needs to make their updates work with a recovery partition of that size, or they need to automatically resize the partition. This is a dumpster fire, and it's inexcusable to expect Microsoft to expect users to manually repartition their drives.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

- Homepage: https://www.hirensbootcd.org/
- Download: https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

We have occasionally picked out specific piece of Linux software that we think might be of interest to some in our community. For example, TAILS gets an occasional mention, and we frequently discuss 'improvements' to web browser that are supposed to make our lives better in some way. This one is slightly different. It is, as far as I can recall, the first time that we have received a submission for a Windows Boot Disk.

- Hiren's BootCD PE core has been updated to Windows 11 Pro v10.0.22621.2428 (build 22621).
- 340 new drivers have been integrated into the Windows 11 PE image in the IO, Network and Storage categories.
- Almost all utilities have been updated.
- Most of the known bugs have been fixed."

"Hiren's BootCD PE (Preinstallation Environment) is a restored edition of Hiren's BootCD based on Windows 11 PE x64. Given the absence of official updates after November 2012, the PE version is currently under development by the fans of Hiren's BootCD. It features a curated selection of the best free tools while being tailored for new-age computers, supporting UEFI booting and requiring a minimum of 4 GB RAM.

Equipped with these invaluable tools, you can address various computer-related problems. Notably, it does not include any pirated software; instead, it exclusively contains free and legal software.

If your computer does not support a regular Windows 11 installation, it will likely boot with the Windows 11 PE version, as Windows PE versions have significantly lower hardware requirements. For instance, if your computer boots with the Windows 10 PE version, it is highly probable that it will also boot with the Windows 11 PE version.

Upon booting, the PE version attempts to install drivers for essential components such as graphics, sound, wireless and Ethernet cards for your hardware, facilitating connection to a WIFI or Ethernet network. If your WIFI or Ethernet card is not recognized by the PE version, kindly Contact Us with your hardware model. We will strive to incorporate the necessary drivers in upcoming releases.

Yes, I know, haters gonna hate...

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

Microsoft opened its arms to Linux during the Windows 10 era, inventing an entire virtualized subsystem to allow users and developers to access a real-deal Linux command line without leaving the Windows environment. Now, it looks like Microsoft may embrace yet another Linux feature: the sudo command.

Short for "superuser do" or "substitute user do" and immortalized in nerd-leaning pop culture by an early xkcd comic, sudo is most commonly used at the command line when the user needs administrator access to the system—usually to install or update software, or to make changes to system files. Users who aren't in the sudo user group on a given system can't run the command, protecting the rest of the files on the system from being accessed or changed.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, user @thebookisclosed found settings for a Sudo command in a preview version of Windows 11 that was posted to the experimental Canary channel in late January. WindowsLatest experimented with the setting in a build of Windows Server 2025, which currently requires Developer Mode to be enabled in the Settings app. There's a toggle to turn the sudo command on and off and a separate drop-down to tweak how the command behaves when you use it, though as of this writing the command itself doesn't actually work yet.

The sudo command is also part of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), but that version of the sudo command only covers Linux software. This one seems likely to run native Windows commands, though obviously we won't know exactly how it works before it's enabled and fully functional. Currently, users who want a sudo-like command in Windows need to rely on third-party software like gsudo to accomplish the task.

The benefit of the sudo command for Windows users—whether they're using Windows Server or otherwise—would be the ability to elevate the privilege level without having to open an entirely separate command prompt or Windows Terminal window. According to the options available in the preview build, commands run with sudo could be opened up in a new window automatically, or they could happen inline, but you'd never need to do the "right-click, run-as-administrator" dance again if you didn't want to.

Original Submission

SomeGuy writes:

The Verge is reporting, in what appears to be a surprise move, that Microsoft is ending support for its Android subsystem in Windows.

Microsoft is ending support for its Android subsystem in Windows 11 next year. The software giant first announced it was bringing Android apps to Windows 11 with Amazon's Appstore nearly three years ago, but this Windows Subsystem for Android will now be deprecated starting March 5th, 2025.

"Microsoft is ending support for the Windows Subsystem for Android" (WSA), reads a new support document from Microsoft. "As a result, the Amazon Appstore on Windows and all applications and games dependent on WSA will no longer be supported beginning March 5, 2025."

If you currently use Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, then you'll continue to have access to these past the support cutoff date, but you won't be able to download any new ones once Microsoft makes its Android subsystem end of life next year. [Since] March 6th [2024], Windows 11 users will no longer be able to search for Amazon Appstore or associated Android apps from the Microsoft Store.

Original Submission