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Today’s topics include the extent that Windows 10 will be free, the new Open Container Project, backed by the Linux foundation, an expansion from Pica8 and the airline industry’s thoughts on the Internet of things.
Microsoft caused a stir earlier this year when it said it was breaking from tradition and making Windows 10 available as a free upgrade even for Windows users running pirated copies.
In May, the company backtracked, revealing that only legitimate Windows installs were eligible for the free update. Now it seems users could potentially go legit if they join Microsoft’s software testing community and remain a part of it.
Microsoft General Manager Gabriel Aul announced on June 19 that Windows Insider members who link their free Microsoft Account to their PCs are essentially entitled to a copy of Windows 10 when it officially launches on July 29. Microsoft is requiring Insiders to link their MSA accounts to improve the program.
The open-source container community is uniting today with the new Open Container Project, which is backed by the Linux Foundation. The OCP ends months of speculation and debate in the Docker community about container specifications and unites the biggest backers of containers behind a common purpose.
With the Open Container Project, the goal is to mend fences and find common ground to define a base specification for containers that will work across Docker, CoreOS and any other OCP-based container technology.
Pica8, whose open software is designed to help customers more easily adopt network virtualization technology on commodity white boxes, is expanding its capabilities in the service provider space by supporting Power-over-Ethernet in network switches.
Company officials on June 22 announced that Pica8’s network operating system, PicOS, can now run on Edge-Core Networks’ AS4610-54P bare-metal switch.
The vast majority of airlines (86 percent) expect that the Internet of things will deliver clear benefits in the next three years, and more than one-third (37 percent) already have allocated budget to it, according to a survey by SITA, an air transport communications and IT vendor.
By 2018, 16 percent of the 200 major airlines surveyed said they plan major programs, and a further 41 percent plan to invest in research and development. The results of the survey indicate that IoT investments will be focused in the areas of check-in, bag drop and bag collection.