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A daily dose of today's top news, in brief.
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Microsoft announces Microsoft 365, bundling Office 365 and Windows 10
Microsoft today announced it will offer a way for businesses to buy Office 365 and Windows 10 together, calling the new package Microsoft 365 Enterprise. Though the package is similar to Microsoft's 365 package, it bundles Office 365 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility and Security features into a single subscription.
"Microsoft is also offering Microsoft 365 Business, which will debut in public preview on August 2nd and includes Office 365 Business Premium alongside security and management features for Office apps and Windows 10 devices," The Verge writes. The bundles were announced at Microsoft's Inspire conference, hosting 17,000 attendees.
Both packages become available for purchase on August 1st, with prices for Enterprise to be announced. The company does say it is dependent on both the specific plan and "other factors." Microsoft 365 Business will run companies $20 per user per month, and will be available for public preview on August 2.
Windows 7 still dominates, raising concerns as support cycle nears its end
As of June 2017, Windows 7 still maintains its grip as the most popular Windows OS worldwide, used on over half of all Windows PCs. The continued dominance of Windows 7 is a major point of struggle for Microsoft as the tech giant tries to wrest enterprises away from its old OS's in favor of newer, more fortified options. Windows 7 has only two and a half years of support remaining, with scheduled retirement on Jan. 14, 2020.
While the user share of Windows 7 has dropped below 50 percent, the overall number of machines running the OS is still soundly over half at 53.6 percent, according to analytics firm Net Applications. According to Net Applications, it will likely be difficult for enterprises to fully migrate to a newer operating system before Microsoft pulls support, opening companies up to significant security risks.
"By lagging behind XP's reduction tempo, Windows 7 risks ending its support lifecycle with an even larger fraction of the world's PCs still relying on what will then be an unpatched operating system," Computerworld writes. "And May's WannaCry cyber-attack illustrated just how dangerous that can be."
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But there's more going on in the world than that.
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President Trump backs out of proposed Cyber Security team with Russia
President Trump's idea for a "impenetrable Cyber Security unit" is no more as officials — including the president — step back from the proposal only 13 hours later. "The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't," the President tweeted Sunday night.
Though he expressed doubt in a joint cyber security force, Trump reinforced that now is the time for Washington to work constructively with Moscow. But fellow Republicans and other officials expressed doubt in the President's plans to work with Russia on anything security related, with Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeting "Partnering with Putin on a 'Cyber Security Unit' is akin to partnering with Assad on a 'Chemical Weapons Unit'."
Critics also expressed concern surrounding an agreement between Russia and Trump in light of ongoing investigations into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. Though both Trump and Moscow have denied the allegations, the investigation continues. There is also mounting evidence that Russian attackers compromised voting infrastructure in the 2016 election, a claim numerous US officials have supported.
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And you can't not know this.
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NASA's Juno probe is getting its closest look yet at Jupiter's Great Red Spot
Tonight's the night for NASA's Jupiter probe Juno as it makes its closest flyby to the planet's infamous Great Red Spot. Though astronomers have been aware of the Spot's existence since the 1600s when it was first noticed, there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding the massive storm. Researchers don't know how long the storm has been around, and has been continuously monitored since the 1800s in hopes of learning more about Jupiter's most iconic feature.
"One idea is that the Great Red Spot persists because of something called vertical flows," The Verge writes. "These features transport gas from above and below the storm into the Great Red Spot's center, constantly replenishing the energy needed to keep the gases churning." This theory is entirely based on computer models, however, and still doesn't explain the storm's reddish color.
Due to Jupiter's planetary structure, with thick gas clouds surrounding the planet, it has been difficult to learn much about Jupiter. It's this obscurity that makes Juno's mission so exciting, as the probe is equipped with infrared sensors that allow it to peer below this gas layer and understand what is brewing in the world below. Tonight marks Juno's seventh pass at Jupiter since it entered the planet's orbit on July 4 last year, and will give us the closest look ever at the mysterious gas giant.
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