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Security Microsoft

One of Windows' most hated features just helped catch a 19-year-old hacker

Using a VPN couldn't save him
The big picture: People have grumbled about Windows telemetry for years, to the point that an entire cottage industry of tools that clean up the OS now exists just to strip the tracking bits out. While there are privacy concerns with the feature, in this particular case, it led to federal agents dropping a hacker into a Chicago courtroom.
Full story By Zo Ahmed, 26 comments Hotness 36k
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Microsoft Gaming

Microsoft is cutting 3,200 Xbox jobs and spinning off four game studios

Cutting corners: The first wave of massive layoffs that Microsoft teased several weeks ago has arrived. Most of the losses will hit the Xbox division over the next year as the company consolidates its gaming strategy. Microsoft will spin off Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs, while Arkane enters labor negotiations. Bethesda, ZeniMax, id Software, Activision, Obsidian, and Microsoft's accessibility team will all see deep cuts.
Full story By Daniel Sims, 13 comments Hotness 16k
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Software Microsoft

Microsoft has a hidden Windows 11 edition that supports 6TB of RAM and 256 CPU cores

Windows 11 Pro for Workstations costs $309 and most people have never heard of it
TL;DR: Microsoft released a little-known Windows edition called Windows 11 Pro for Workstations in 2021. It's a client operating system built for high-end PCs and workstations, offering support for more memory and CPU sockets than Windows 11 Pro, along with ReFS storage features, SMB Direct networking, and persistent-memory workloads.
Full story By Kishalaya Kundu, 8 comments Hotness 15k
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Hardware Industry

Meta is using old DDR4 memory in DDR5-only AI servers to save on hardware costs

Cutting corners: Faced with rising memory costs, Meta says it is reusing old DDR4 RAM in its servers rather than buying new hardware. The company revealed this week that it is repurposing DDR4 memory from decommissioned servers into its new DDR5-only machines, using a custom CXL ASIC that avoids the compatibility issues and major latency penalties that typically come with mixing memory generations. The design reportedly cuts AI inference server count by up to 25% and reduces job-restart and fragmentation overhead by 33%.
Full story By Kishalaya Kundu, 9 comments Hotness 13k