Microsoft Just Launched Its Own Version Of Linux OS

The tech giant Microsoft has its own operating system with proprietary code, so they have never had to launch a Linux based operating system. However, the company has been gradually approaching open source operating systems, being able to use the Bash console in Windows 10. Now, the company has directly launched a new operating system based on Linux.

Azure Sphere: Microsoft’s IoT environment

Its name is Azure Sphere, and it is a solution that has three components to guarantee the security and protection of your IoT devices. The first of these are certified microcontrollers for Azure Sphere, the second is a cloud-based security service called Azure Sphere Security, and finally, we have the Azure Sphere operating system based on the Linux kernel.

This is particularly interesting because although the tech giant Microsoft has its own operating system (Windows 10 IoT), it has preferred to create another one that is also based on Linux. In fact, the company itself boasts that “they combine the security innovations they have created in Windows and a custom Linux kernel to create a secure and reliable environment for IoT experiences.” Do they imply that Windows is not safe enough for this environment?

So many devices connected to the network are vulnerable to hacking, so security in them is paramount. With the Linux kernel, they make sure they are up to date on security without having to invest in it to patch vulnerabilities. In addition, the operating system is lighter and allows IoT device manufacturers to update them more easily. Windows 10, which is designed for computers, is less modular and much harder to scale for these devices.

The first devices will arrive at the end of the year

Currently, the tech giant Microsoft has confirmed that MediaTek is already manufacturing chips and certified hardware for Azure Sphere, and later will be adding other manufacturers. The first IoT devices based on Azure Sphere will reach the market by the end of the year, so in 2019 we will begin to see a greater presence of Internet of Things devices. The first development kits will begin to be deployed by mid-year. Among devices that can equip this hardware are electrical appliances, cars, sensors in electrical networks, etc.

For a few years, Microsoft, with Satya Nadella at the helm, has realized that Linux is not the enemy and that it can coexist perfectly with it, in addition to being able to use it. Microsoft has been collaborating Canonical for a year to launch an Ubuntu kernel designed specifically for the Azure cloud service, and today is a step in demonstrating that Linux can be very useful to the company.

This step is probably not the last, because the next thing we could see is how its applications and programs could reach Linux. Currently, most of their applications are available (more or less), since Android uses Linux and in it, we can run Office or Edge adapted for mobile. However, for desktop GNU/Linux distros this still does not happen.