Microsoft disables buggy Intel patch

[ssfc72]

Buggy patch affects Windows 7, 8 and 10.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42872301

[Jason]

Fascinating as well as concerning. I can't think of another case (though I'm sure one exists) where a company that makes primarily software had to deliberately stop another company's software (unless it was a virus or some other kind of malware). Microsoft doing this with Intel is quite shocking and makes you wonder what is going on. Was the Into patch really that bad that Microsoft had to disable it or could they have worked around it?

It also makes me wonder about the Linux world because I've downloaded quite a few kernel updates, firmware updates and microkernel fixes since Spectre and Meltdown came out. Do these patches contain Intel software, too? Might these cause problems for Linux down the road regarding stability or is it strictly limited to a problem between Windows and Intel's patch for Windows?