Apple device management vendor Kandji has introduced new tools designed to protect corporate devices from vulnerabilities. Dubbed Vulnerability Response, the software lets customers configure accelerated software updates for more than 200 Mac applications based on the severity of the vulnerabilities. 

I caught up with Justin Safdie, the company’s general manager of endpoint security, and Weldon Dodd, distinguished solutions engineer at Kandji, to find out a more about these new tools and take a temperature check about Apple’s place in enterprise markets. The two also weighed in Apple’s recent enterprise announcements at WWDC.

What matters about Apple’s enterprise advances?

Apple’s enterprise credentials are growing as the opportunities for its devices in the enterprise space expands. With the imminent shuttering of Windows 10 support, “enterprise customers are more open than ever to allowing user choice for a work computer,” said Dodd. 

“With enterprise adoption of macOS at an all-time high, this is definitely a good time to consider adopting Mac instead of Windows 11 PCs,” Dodd said. “The lifetime cost of a Mac is often significantly lower than supporting a PC over three to four years, so it is a good time to encourage users to pick [a] Mac for their next work device.”

This isn’t just a pipedream — the move to Apple’s ecosystem across business is a visible trend, Dodd told me. “We talk to customers every day that are looking to expand their Mac deployment,” he said. “I’m thinking of one of our enterprise customers that has a Mac fleet of 40,000.”

He noted that since those thousands of Macs were deployed, the company is seeing other employees requesting Apple hardware because they see the usability and productivity benefits their colleagues enjoy.

Managing and management

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the company’s attempt to build its own customer base, Dodd was particularly keen on Apple’s recently announced Device Migration tool, which makes it easier to migrate between MDM systems.

“Previously, moving between Device Management services would result in the device being erased and going through setup again. Moving Mac fleets can be a little more involved, but Device Migration offers similar benefits,” he said.

Dodd also pointed to improvements in Platform SSO, which now allows for the creation of the very first account on the Mac using cloud identity credentials, and the new Apple Business Manager API that makes it easier to integrate AppleCare warranty data with ITSM solutions such as Service Now.

What is Vulnerability Response?

Apple did announce improvements to its implementation of Declarative Device Management at WWDC. To some extent, you could argue that these cover some of the same ground as Kandji’s new offering, but they are not connected. “Our vulnerability detection and patching solutions rely on the existing Kandji device management capabilities to collect app version info from managed devices,” Dodd said.

“Apple has extended Declarative Device Management (DDM) in future versions of macOS Tahoe to include installing application packages,” he said, suggesting the improvements also “open new doors for Kandji to push device management even further, particularly around automated app deployment.”

Kandji’s new tool is a policy within the MDM. Once it’s in place, the Kandji agent knows to check installed Mac apps against the latest Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) data. “If it detects a vulnerable app, the agent applies your predefined rule for that CVE’s severity. You can tell it to patch the app right away, schedule the update for a specific time that respects the user’s local time zone, or simply log the issue and take no action,” Safdie said.

“Updates are driven by real‑time vulnerability data instead of a generic ‘once‑a‑week’ Windows patch, which means security gaps close as soon as fixes are available,” Safdie said. “Enabling Vulnerability Response should have no additional impact to resource usage, as it is leveraging the data and processes that are already in place for our MDM solution.”

Patch fast to survive

The solution should be of particular benefit to businesses that need to meet strict patch‑management SLAs (such as NIST), patching high-severity vulnerabilities within 30 days. “It is designed for any industry where audit‑ready remediation timelines are business critical or lean IT teams that want their security updates to happen automatically,” Safdie said.

Of course, the ongoing insecurity landscape is what makes this solution potentially useful to Kandji customers. The recent Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) told us that 20% of breaches in 2024 were directly attributed to attackers exploiting known, unpatched vulnerabilities.

Companies at present seem slow to protect themselves, with almost 75% of them taking more than a month to secure against vulnerabilities once they are identified, leaving businesses wide open to attack.

That’s bad for any business. And while it remains true to say Apple products remain inherently more secure, that security is not complete; a combination of factors — from user error to slow update installation — leaves even those systems at risk. In other words, tools to help deploy essential software patches should be mandatory across any organization, even on a Mac.

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Source:: Computer World

Europe’s deep tech future hinges on evolving investment strategies. The reason for this is that traditional funding models cannot support the long-term financial commitments that innovation demands. There is a European paradox where, despite substantial scientific research, early commercialisation and a focus on shorter-term goals prevent the region from realising the full potential of deep tech. Although startups provide strong support, the sector still lags behind the US and Asia in bringing breakthroughs from the lab to market. To maintain a competitive industry, Europe needs to advance technologies like AI, robotics, synthetic biology, and quantum computing, which are at the…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Deepti Pathak A humanoid AI robot named Ai-Da has painted a portrait of King Charles III. What makes…
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OpenAI has taken an important step to advance its global ambitions by signing a strategic agreement with the UK government to deploy its AI models and background expertise to overhaul government services.

With high and unsustainable UK public spending coupled to a hidebound central government, government departments need to address weak delivery and chronic public sector waste. The ambition is that AI will help them do so.

There’s a lot at stake for both sides in this deal. The UK government will need to see results at some point, while OpenAI will see the challenge as a chance to prove its technology in the face of some skepticism.

The agreement doesn’t go into much detail about how OpenAI’s technology will be deployed, but it’s clear that the government and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) see the US company as an important partner in their quest to evaluate the technology’s potential.

The focus will be on helping the government implement the priorities set out in January’s AI Opportunities Action Plan. Beyond that, the government wants to embed AI knowhow in the wider economy while encouraging companies in the sector, including OpenAI itself, to expand their footprint in the country.

“AI will be fundamental in driving the change we need to see across the country — whether that’s in fixing the NHS [National Health Service], breaking down barriers to opportunity, or driving economic growth,” said UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle. “This partnership will see more of their work taking place in the UK.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also enthusiastic. “Britain has a strong legacy of scientific leadership, and its government was one of the first to recognize the potential of AI through its AI Opportunities Action Plan. Now, it’s time to deliver on the plan’s goals by turning ambition to action and delivering prosperity for all,” he said.

The government announcement alluded to the need to build a domestic AI capability and not simply offshore expertise in a way that might lead to technology dependency. The agreement would, “support the UK’s goal to build sovereign AI in the UK: ensuring that the UK continues to drive critical AI research and participates actively in development of this unique technology,” said the official Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Well-worn path

In the UK, public sector IT projects have a habit of going off the rails or costing too much. The most extreme example was the infamous Post Office Horizon scandal that led, over more than a decade, to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of innocent users for accounting fraud.

The worry is that AI will eventually follow this well-worn path of unfulfilled potential. In May, a Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report found that, so far at least, AI’s benefits inside government have been modest.

However, the announcement with OpenAI hints at more realistic expectations. Initially, the government will probably be happy if they can encourage OpenAI to expand its local AI infrastructure and workforce.

This is already bearing fruit. “Alongside the partnership agreement with the UK Government, OpenAI confirmed its intention to increase its footprint in the UK,” said OpenAI in its announcement of the partnership.  “OpenAI will share more details on its expansion in the summer.” Its first European office opened in 2023 in London and currently employs around 100 people.

‘Big AI’ risk

But OpenAI’s motivation might not be just all about billing for project work. As a government partner, it will also get access to a lot of data, an essential ingredient in improving AI’s usefulness.

However, the advent of AI in government is raising concerns among some UK businesses.

“Experience shows that introducing new tools into existing systems without proper restructuring typically creates expensive chaos,” said Karli Kalpala, head of strategic transformation for UK and Ireland at business automation company Digital Workforce. “Departments need to ensure that they do not deliver AI in siloes, which could create disconnected initiatives that duplicate effort whilst solving little of the substance.”

“If ministries use AI merely to accelerate current processes, they’ll create sophisticated digital assistants rather than intelligent, autonomous systems and workers that can deliver genuine transformation,” Kalpala said, noting that getting into bed with big AI would never be risk-free.

“Single vendor partnerships create dangerous dependencies,” he pointed out. “A more sensible approach would involve specialist AI companies with deep sector knowledge, such as healthcare AI firms for the NHS or defense technology specialists for security services. These focused partnerships would reduce vendor lock-in risks.”

Hilary Stephenson, managing director of usability design company, Nexer Digital, also has doubts. To fulfil its ambitions, she argued, the government will need to develop inhouse AI knowledge and not simply outsource all the thinking to external partners.

Its mistake was to see AI as purely about technology, she said. “We welcome innovation, but with it comes a responsibility to maintain transparency, protect public trust, and avoid deepening existing inequalities. People have a right to know how their data is being used.”

Source:: Computer World

The first public beta of iOS 26 is about to ship (probably on Wednesday, July 23). When it does, it will introduce two powerful new call-related features that should make a difference to business and personal communications: smart call and iMessage screening.

The two new features should mean you’ll get fewer weird messages and spam calls than ever before; your iPhone will simply divert them for you.

The two features were announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June, and will be available non-beta users when the final iOS 26 ships this fall.

What does iMessage screening do?

It is highly probable that your personal or work iPhone receives weird spam messages. While all of these are annoying, some can also be quite convincing attempts to trick you into sharing information you really shouldn’t share. Many countries, including the UK and US, experience a spike in fraudulent messages purporting to be from tax authorities when tax filings become due, for example. 

You can reduce this friction in iOS 26 when it becomes possible to screen messages from unknown senders in Messages. Once enabled, messages from unknown senders are placed in a dedicated space in which you can review the message, mark the number as known, ask for more information, or delete. Messages held in this quarantine zone will be silenced until you accept them.

But it’s the other feature that should spell the end for scammers like the taxation scam I mentioned – iOS 26 also spots spam messages when they arrive, popping these neatly into a dedicated spam folder.

Apple

What does Call Screening do?

The Message screening feature is useful, but for many enterprise professionals, the call screening feature might become even more essential. It effectively turns your iPhone into a smart concierge, triaging incoming calls to ensure you only get interrupted by people you know.

At the moment, when you receive calls from unknown numbers, your iPhone will ring, and you’ll have to think about taking the call. With Call Screening, artificial intelligence on your device will find out who’s calling you first and give you a chance to monitor the call before you respond.

The feature is built around Live Voicemail. In use, it means that the iPhone takes the call and gets the caller to share their number and the reason for their call. Once it has that information the phone rings and you can take a look at who they are and why they are calling — then choose whether to answer or reject the call. All the processing takes place on your device, so no one else knows.

This new Apple feature isn’t just nice to have; it also forms a thin red defensive line against the incredibly intrusive robocalling industry. These automated calls really get in the way of your digital life, with billions of dollars made in the US alone. As a result, around 68% of Americans now refuse to answer calls from unknown numbers, reports claim. This is precisely the problem Apple hopes to solve with this Call Screening tool.

One more thing

Apple’s Passwords app gains an interesting new ability in iOS 26 – it can save password histories. What this means is that Passwords will now store a history of your past credentials, meaning that if you need to remember an old password, you can find it in Apple’s password manager. This isn’t something that’s going to be useful all the time, of course, but at those times when you really have to dig up an old password – if only to avoid reusing it later – Apple’s password app is there to help.

The betas are coming

When it announced the latest iterations of its operating systems for Apple products, the company promised public betas would be made available in July. These new feature revelations suggest the company is working away to meet that promise.

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Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Spotify has been hit with another AI controversy after publishing computer-generated songs under the names of dead musicians. An investigation by 404 Media found that Spotify is releasing AI-generated songs on the pages of deceased artists — without approval from their estates or labels.  One such track, “Together,” recently appeared on the official page of Blake Foley, a country singer who was murdered in 1989. The song sounds vaguely similar to Foley’s style, but the accompanying image features a blonde, young man who looks nothing like him.  404 Media linked the track to a company account called Syntax Error, which…This story continues at The Next WebOr just read more coverage about: Spotify

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By Deepti Pathak If you are playing Jule’s RNG this month and you’re looking to get free rewards, you’ve…
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OpenAI is currently working on GPT-5, the successor to the GPT-4 large language model (LLM) used in the popular chatbot ChatGPT. The first references to GPT-5 were discovered in code from OpenAI, according to Bleeping Computer.

The company’s apparent plan is to combine the multimodular models in the GPT series with the reasoning models in the o-series, which should mean a real boost in performance compared to what’s in use today.

The version in question is called “gpt-5-reasoning-alpha-2025-07-13,” appearing to confirm that GPT-5 will be a reasoning AI model.

Open AI has also reportedly released a new alpha version of o3, one of the models expected to be part of GPT-5.

Source:: Computer World

Companies need to stop ignoring data security as AI agents take over internal data movement in IT environments, analysts and IT execs said.

“Regulation of AI use cases — such as in healthcare and financial services, [which] are already subject to extensive regulatory oversight and compliance monitoring — will require auditability of the specific AI models or agentic software deployed,” said Richard Searle, chief AI officer at Fortanix.

With those kinds of issues playing out in the real world, some top tech players are embracing the concept of “confidential computing,” which has existed for years but is now finding new life with the rise of generative AI (genAI).

Confidential computing creates a hardware boundary in which AI models and data are locked. Information is released only to those models and agents with proper access to prevent unauthorized use of protected data.

For enterprises concerned about AI security, putting confidential computing into action can alleviate some of those fears, said Craig Matsumoto, a contributing research analyst at Futuriom. “It goes hand-in-hand with enterprises’ preference for private-cloud AI. They want an aspect of control,” Matsumoto said.

Google is now allowing companies to take its proprietary Gemini models and operate them in-house — the first time Google has allowed that to be done. In short, companies don’t need to be connected to the internet or Google Cloud to run Gemini.

One way that’s now possible: confidential computing technology on Nvidia GPUs allows Google to put its AI model on untrusted hardware outside the Google Cloud infrastructure. Gemini is designed to run on the company’s TPU, which is found only in Google Cloud. But in this case, the exported model can run in a confidential virtual machine on Nvidia’s GPU.

“Nvidia’s GPU hosting the model protects the IP of Google Gemini when it’s running in the data center, and also protects the enterprise IP used in these models,” said Justin Boitano, vice president of Enterprise AI products at Nvidia.

Specific technology attests that a user is authorized and able to receive information or access the model.

There is growing interest in this technology for applications that want “local data and local decision making with low latency,” said Sachin Gupta, vice president of infrastructure and solutions at Google.

“A combination of latency and data residency data compliance drives this kind of use case,” Gupta said.

GPUs combine high performance with robust security, which makes them ideal for regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and government, said Steven Dickens, principal analyst at Hyperframe Research. “Compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR is essential,” he said.

Another place confidential computing has come into play involves WhatsApp, which recently got genAI tools that can generate quick summaries of a user’s latest messages. The summaries are private and not visible to Meta or other parties.

The feature represents Meta’s earliest use of confidential computing —the company calls it Private Processing — to secure user information. Meta has struggled for decades with protecting user data, but is now using confidential computing to regain user trust.

Meta essentially built a private computing environment with AMD and Nvidia GPUs; private WhatsApp information is fed into the environment, which generates the summaries without being visible to anyone else.

The private computing model minimizes interception of the data as it moves from WhatsApp to the cloud.

This is the “first use case where Meta applies Private Processing, we expect there will be others where the same or similar infrastructure might be beneficial in processing user requests,” the company said in a post detailing the technology.

Anthropic last month announced “Confidential Inference,” which provides security guarantees to customers using its Claude genAI technology. The feature creates a chain of trust as data moves up and down the AI chain and takes into account AI agents that are increasingly becoming brokers in inferencing.

And, on the Apple side of the equation, there’s the company’s Private Cloud Compute ecosystem.

(Confidential computing can also be used for non-AI applications; AMD and Intel have confidential computing technologies for CPUs that are available via virtual machines.)

Despite the increasing use of confidential computing, there remain concerns about its arrival in cloud environments, where CPUs check system-level attestation and GPUs authenticate data. For one, data travels to GPUs only through CPUs, and any vulnerability will leave a giant gap for hackers to steal data.

“In such an environment, the reliability of confidential computing and attestation becomes very fragile,” said Alex Matrosov, a security expert and CEO of Binarly. 

CPU-based technologies are also susceptible to side-channel attacks, raising concerns about their reliability, Hyperframe’s Dickens said.

A Google-disclosed vulnerability last December affected AMD confidential computing  and required microcode updates.

Source:: Computer World

By Hisan Kidwai Gaming laptops are big and bulky. They take up a lot of space in the backpack…
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By Rachel Gilley As we move into the second half of 2025, the global tech ecosystem is navigating a heady mix of unpredictability and promise. Funding into newer tech firms remains complex, with Startup Genome reporting that while the Beijing, Los Angeles and Tokyo startup landscapes are seeing YoY growth, Paris is flat and the rest of the European ecosystem is in decline. Meanwhile, the technology landscape continues to evolve at an accelerating pace. As Deloitte’s 2025 Tech Trends report states: “technology optimisation and transformation have never been more important as innovation continues to fuel innovation.” This is creating a landscape where large…This story continues at The Next Web

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Microsoft has made concessions to the organization representing Europe’s leading cloud providers, giving its members the ability to offer pay-as-you-go plans, match Azure pricing, and privately host customer workloads.

Some see this as merely one more development, not the culmination of the years-long battle between the tech giant and Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), which has long argued that Microsoft’s contracts harm the European cloud computing market.

However, “it seems like CISPE’s persistence has paid off, and Microsoft has taken a meaningful step toward fairer terms,” said Phil Brunkard, executive counselor at Info-Tech Research Group UK. “The real test will be whether that spirit holds as pricing and licensing evolve in the years ahead.”

What CISPE got out of the deal

Under the terms of the new agreement, qualified CISPE members will be able to offer Microsoft software to their customers on a pay-as-you-go basis through the CSP-Hoster (CSP-H) program. CISPE says this will offer stronger privacy for European customers and create pricing conditions that are “more comparable” to those of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

Members can now access pay-as-you-go licensing models for products including Windows Server and SQL Server, in addition to the Flexible Virtualization Benefit already available to them. They will also have access to a new product, Microsoft 365 Local, what CISPE called another step toward “true digital sovereignty for European customers.”

On the privacy front, members are permitted to host Microsoft workloads as pay-as-you-go on independent European infrastructure, without having to share customer details with Microsoft as previously required; this was one of CISPE’s core concerns.

The new program is open to current CISPE members and eligible providers who join “in the coming months,” according to CISPE. Microsoft will review the program after the first year and could potentially expand access.

Importantly, CISPE notes, the program will be closed to hyperscale cloud providers designated by Microsoft as “Listed Providers” (licensees). This preserves its goal to “support competition and innovation in the European digital ecosystem by strengthening European cloud providers.”

CISPE does acknowledge that the deal lacks two provisions it has been pushing for: It doesn’t allow for Windows 10/11 VDI multi-session on European-owned multi-tenant infrastructure, as Azure Local would have, and it still enforces Entra ID with Microsoft 365, so customers can’t use alternative identity management.

De-escalating years of tensions

The conflict between CISPE and Microsoft goes back for years. Notably, in 2022, the member group filed a formal complaint with the European Commission alleging that the company was charging customers more to run its software on rival clouds. This happened shortly before the adoption of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA), designed to create fairer and more competitive digital markets.

“European cloud providers have long complained that Microsoft’s bring‑your‑own‑license rules pushed customers onto Azure by adding extra fees and paperwork everywhere else,” said Brunkard.

He pointed out that Microsoft ultimately compromised and introduced the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, which allowed customers to use their licensed software on any cloud provider’s infrastructure. However, it still blocked regional clouds from offering Windows Server or Microsoft 365 on “true pay-as-you-go terms.”

In March 2023, the company agreed to change its cloud licensing practices to avoid an EU antitrust probe, and in July 2024, Microsoft and CISPE reached a settlement that required the company to pay €20 million ($21.7 million) and develop a new product, Azure Local.

Azure Local would have allowed members to run Microsoft software on their platforms at prices equal to Microsoft’s. It was to include multitenancy support for customer workloads, pay-as-you-go licensing for SQL Server, unlimited virtualization and multi-session virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) for Windows, and free security updates.

But then in May of this year, the European Cloud Collaboration Observatory (ECCO), which is providing independent oversight of the deal, found that “both Microsoft and CISPE have now agreed that Azure Local will not deliver the full set of features outlined in the agreement.” ECCO also described Microsoft’s offering as “disappointing,” and gave the company an Amber rating, indicating that concerns exist and corrective actions have been proposed.

Under the new agreement, any CISPE member who signs the new addendum can bill Windows, SQL Server, and Microsoft 365 by the hour through the CSP‑Hoster program, Brunkard pointed out. No volume agreement is required, and workloads can reside on a local provider.

“For many customers who want to keep their data within a national provider for sovereignty or latency reasons, the change should translate into simpler bills and lower overall costs once providers pass through the metered pricing,” he said.

The deal also helps Microsoft “cool off the threat” of a full antitrust probe under the DMA, Brunkard noted.

He emphasized that enterprises should treat their next renewal as a health check. “When hosters move to the new model over the coming quarters, customers should make sure that pay-as-you-go savings flow through to them, and that any true-up risk stays with the provider,” he advised.

What about non-CISPE members?

Some say that, while it may be good for CISPE members, the agreement fails to tackle the core issues undermining competition in the EU cloud market.

Mark Boost, CEO at cloud company Civo, pointed out that the concessions apply only to CISPE members, and that there’s no clarity as to what benefits, if any, other European cloud providers may see.

“Is this a private deal for a select few? Who decides who gets access, Microsoft or regulators?” he asked. “Without these answers, it is easy to arrive at the assumption that this is a workaround that protects market power instead of challenging it.”

Ryan Triplette, executive director of the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, called it a stalling tactic that simply gives Microsoft more time to lock in customers with “restrictive and anticompetitive” licensing practices.

“This is more smoke and mirrors from Microsoft: Offer weak concessions in an attempt to avoid regulatory scrutiny and disingenuously pretend these actions promote European competition,” she said. “Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to line its pockets at the expense of customer choice around the world.”

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Funding focus is a new series analysing cash flow into the European tech ecosystem. Last week, we looked at the largest investment rounds in fusion energy this year, and now we’re honing in on Europe’s booming defence tech arena.  Europe’s defence tech startups secured $971mn in funding in the first half of this year, as VCs look to capitalise on the continent’s push to rearm amid heightened geopolitical tensions.  Funding in H1 2025 has already shot past the whole of 2024 — the previous record year — which saw defence startups raise $605mn, according to Dealroom data. German startups led the…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Siôn Geschwindt The UK has just launched its most advanced supercomputer — the 11th most powerful in the world.  Isambard-AI, hosted at the University of Bristol, officially went live this week. The machine was built by Hewlett-Packard Enterprises (HPE) using its Cray EX architecture and fitted with over 5400 NVIDIA Grace Hopper superchips.  Its raw computing power is measured at 216.5 petaflops, with a peak theoretical performance of 278.6 petaflops. For the uninitiated, one petaflop is equal to 1 quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) calculations per second. The system is more than 10x faster than the UK’s next-fastest supercomputer — the Njoerd supercluster in London.…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

Windows are cracking. And it’s not just Apple that’s seeing the benefit; some users are jumping on the Linux bandwagon as a way to avoid the Microsoft upgrade tax. Case in point: Linux has broken the 5% barrier for desktop operating systems in the US for the first time ever, according to StatCounter data.

StatCounter claims Windows’ market share has fallen 13% over the last decade to 63.2%. That’s still a huge number, but as Microsoft forces its customers to endure the expense of a Windows 11 upgrade later this year, it represents an attractive congregation of potential Apple and Linux switchers. Millions of Windows users are taking that journey this year. 

Linux takes the leap to 5%

Meanwhile the Linux community is celebrating the fact that it has finally exceed 5% share. Achieving 5% is a symbolic achievement built partly on the desire to find life outside Windows. 

People want more privacy, dislike forced system updates, don’t want to be exposed to adware and want to retain control of their information against Microsoft’s data collection tools. These are just some of the reasons people are migrating to Linux and, more frequently, to the Mac. 

It wasn’t so long ago Apple’s own share stood under 4%.

The word on Windows

None of this is particularly new, of course. The writing on the windows has been visible for years. The international move away from monotheistic operating system monoculture is a good thing, of course — not only does it open the market up to a little competition, but it also helps enterprises become more secure. It means that if one OS goes down the other systems probably will not — and the deep fragility of the Windows ecosystem makes thinking that way mandatory. 

You can expect more of the same, particularly as — on an international basis — the desire for computing experiences that are not completely controlled by US corporate interests will only grow in the current political environment. 

Trust is fading and that makes it inevitable that the soft power of the tech industry will feel that change, even as Linux continues to improve and become more available to non-technical users. It’s also obvious that Apple (which is at least Unix-based) will need to recognize the growing challenge of the smaller platform — though it is good that you can run Linux on your Mac. 

Flies in the ointment

All the same, for many, the advantage of Linux will eventually be that it lacks any form of background AI software gathering data about what you do. As Apple itself likes to say, the best way to keep data secure is not to gather any at all, which Linux doesn’t. At the same time, a recent UK court case in the UK suggests that, at least to some extent, Apple does.

The world is changing and the platforms people choose will reflect this change.

At the same time, while StatCounter’s information accurately reflects changing tastes in desktop computing, I am puzzled at some of the information it has come up with, data that could undermine the central argument it makes. You see, when you look at the details, you’ll soon find that it claims 16.57% of global desktops are running OS X while just 7.72% run macOS.

That data seems suspect, not only because the last version of OS X release shipped nine years ago, but also because data StatCounter provides elsewhere shows that of the two, macOS is by far the most widely installed — with macOS Catalina accounting for 87%. This lack of consistency undermines the credibility of the claims, so while I believe the trends they represent are accurate, I don’t necessarily believe in the Mac OS split. (I dropped a line to StatCounter to see how it explains this and will update this story if it responds.)

Time to look outside the Windows

Sside from these unexplained statistical discrepancies, there is no doubt at all that this year more than any other is a huge opportunity for people to explore life after Windows. 

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Source:: Computer World