Latest on Hardware Catastrophe

• A Major Security Vulnerability Has Plagued 'Nearly All' Intel CPUs For Years

• That Pervasive Chip Bug Is Worse Than Originally Feared

• Fixing Serious Bugs in Widely Used Computer Chips Means Slowing Down Your Machine

  A flaw in many chips leaves devices vulnerable to attack unless they’re patched with software that will make them sluggish. Some semiconductors from ARM, whose chips are popular with mobile phone makers, are also affected. AMD chips may also be affected, though the company told Axios there is a “near zero” risk to its products.

• Researchers Discover Two Major Flaws in the World’s Computers

More Linux Mint 19 Release Details

• Linux Mint 19 Release Date and Codename Has been Announced

  This is a continually updated article to inform you about Linux Mint 19 release date, features and everything important associated with it. Linux Mint 19 codename has just been released. The first release of the upcoming Linux Mint 19 series will be called “Tara”.

• Linux Mint 18.3: A breath of fresh air? Well, it's a step into the unGNOME

  The Linux Mint project turned out to be an early Christmas present, as it usually does, but this release is perhaps more important than usual given that Mint is much more alone in the Linux distro world than it was just one year ago. 2017 saw Ubuntu abandon the Unity desktop and come back to the GNOME fold, which means that Linux Mint is now the most popular distro that doesn't ship with GNOME. Mind you, Linux Mint doesn't just not ship GNOME by default, it doesn't ship a GNOME version at all. That doesn't just make it unique, but also more important than ever.

• Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Release Date Announced: Know Expected Features Here

  The latest release of Linux Mint 18.3 “Sylvia” kicked off the development of the new Linux Mint 19.x series. In a recent blog post, the development team shared some brief updates on the same. It has been confirmed that the first release in this series will be called Linux Mint 19 “Tara.” “Tara is a popular name here in Ireland, and the name of someone we really like,” the announcement read.

• Linux Mint team targets May or June 2018 for Linux Mint 19 release

  The release of Linux Mint 18.3 in November 2017 put the development focus of the team on Linux Mint 19, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. Linux Mint 19 is the first significant release of the operating system since June 2016 when Linux Mint 17, codename Sarah, was released by the team.

And we return to Munich's migration back to Windo- it's going to cost what now?! €100m!

Munich City officials could waste €100m reversing a 15-year process that replaced proprietary software with open source following an official vote last year. Munich officials in 2003 voted to migrate to an in-house custom version of Ubuntu Linux called LiMux and tailor digital docs to be compatible with LibreOffice. Now the councillors have decided that Munich will switch some 29,000 PCs to Windows 10 and phase out Linux by early 2023. The cost of the U-turn could be even more catastrophic if another council vote by the end of 2018 fails to take a more reasoned tally. An approval would replace the open-source office suite LibreOffice with Microsoft Office. That decision will cost the city upwards of €50m plus another €50m to revert to Windows 10, according to reports. The bill results from a combination of buying Windows 10 licences and converting some 12,000 LibreOffice templates and macros along with developing a new templating system for Microsoft Office.

Android Leftovers

• What changes to expect in Android Oreo 8.1

• Micromax to Launch a $31 Android Go Smartphone in India

• Eelo is a Google-less Android alternative from the founder of Mandrake Linux

• Android Go Edition smartphones from Indian OEMs may be launched soon

• LG waving goodbye to G-series brand in 2018

• OnePlus 5 Android Oreo roll out cancelled, OxygenOS 5.0.1 update to be released soon

• How to use iCloud email on Android

• How to Get Portrait Mode on Your Non-Pixel Android Phone

• Some Android games are listening in on your TV viewing habits

• TVPaint Introduces A Free Android Version And Looks Ahead To An Exciting 2018

• Seicane Lets You Put an Android in Your Dashboard

• Android malware mimics Uber's UI to steal your log-in

• Android security chief switches to Nest