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Microsoft has expanded Microsoft Defender, its anti-malware and endpoint security product, to support major Linux distributions for enterprise use. The Linux version includes a next-generation antivirus engine, vulnerability management, device inventory, and threat-hunting tools, mirroring capabilities already available on Windows.
Epic Games is building a new version of its Easy Anti-Cheat system for Linux, called EAC Linux V2, designed to match the capabilities of the Windows version. It relies on existing Linux security features like Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 and Kernel Lockdown rather than a kernel driver, and runs as a systemd service only while a protected game is active. Distros including Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Bazzite and Debian already have recognized signing keys, meaning users on those systems could play protected titles if their hardware meets the other requirements.
Linus Torvalds has posted his first LLM-assisted patch to a Linux kernel development branch, addressing a long-standing cache contention issue that occurs when many CPUs read the same file, such as in shared libraries, databases, or web servers. Torvalds says a synthetic benchmark showed a 23x performance improvement, but cautioned that real-world workloads won't see gains anywhere near that figure.
John Harrison and Juneyoung Lee have released a tutorial intended as an easier on-ramp to the HOL Light theorem prover than its existing manual. The guide walks new users through installation, including options for Windows users via Windows Subsystem for Linux or Cygwin, followed by a graded set of worked examples. It is presented as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the standard HOL Light manual.
Canonical has released Ubuntu 26.10, codenamed Stonking Stingray, built on the upcoming Linux 7.3 kernel and featuring GNOME 51. The release adds TPM-backed full disk encryption on hardware lacking a root of trust, 100% Rust-based coreutils, an updated App Center with a unified Snap/Debian view and a dedicated drivers page, plus a local AI speech-to-text tool called Myna and tighter Microsoft Entra ID integration. Security and software updates for this interim release will run for nine months, through July 2027.
A developer trying to digitize family photo negatives found their Plustek 8200i scanner's new chipset lacked Linux support. Inspired by a method shared by Tom Crider for fixing a mouse driver, they used Claude AI alongside a Windows VM to capture USB data during scans, producing a working SANE driver within hours and a near-complete one, including infrared support, within days. They also built a companion scanning app called Negative Vibes, though they later found someone had independently submitted official SANE support for the same scanner.
A developer has released DEsk, a Wayland-based Linux desktop environment formerly known as DeskWM, designed with realistic skeuomorphic visuals reminiscent of iOS 6. The desktop renders windows as paper on a ray-traced walnut desk, with a drawer-style dock, bookshelf app launcher, and a post-box notification system. Version 0.1.2 is a beta release with installers for Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, and Fedora, alongside a new Discord server for bug reports and feature requests.
A threat actor using the account 'marchos1as' uploaded trojanized packages to the Arch User Repository, typosquatting the popular yay and paru helper tools. The packages bundled legitimate upstream code with a malicious install script that ran a remote shell script with root privileges, discovered by the community on October 13. Arch Linux maintainers banned the account and removed the malicious uploads after users flagged them on the project's mailing list.
Microsoft has launched a public preview extending Defender for Endpoint to Linux desktop distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and RHEL, not just servers. The expanded offering includes antivirus, endpoint detection and response, vulnerability management, threat hunting, and device isolation, using the same deployment methods as server onboarding. Access requires a Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5/E7 subscription.
Epic Games has released a preview build of a new, AI-generated Games Launcher, citing third-party benchmarks showing it cold-starts in 5.47 seconds versus Steam's 10.07 seconds on Windows. The company also touts a revamped interface with title summary pages, custom top bars, library aggregation, and storage/download monitoring tools. Epic says Fortnite will eventually come to Linux through this client once Easy Anti-Cheat is rebuilt and kernel-level agreements are reached with major distros.
The Netherlands' Tax and Customs Administration has cancelled its planned rollout of Microsoft 365 on the public cloud after about 5,000 employees had already migrated. The government paused the project in July following a June recommendation from the Dutch Advisory Council on ICT Assessment, and State Secretary Eelco Eerenberg has now outlined a replacement plan moving mail and calendar functions on-premises in 2027, followed by European open-source tools for storage and collaboration in 2027-2028.
QA Wolf has developed infrastructure that spins up disposable Windows virtual machines to run automated desktop app tests, launched from Linux hosts, addressing a gap where no standard tooling existed to parallelize thousands of Windows UI test runs per month. The system handles booting fresh VMs, maintaining active logged-in sessions required for Windows UI Automation, and discarding machines after each run to avoid state carrying over between tests.