Software Development 17 October 2025 - 16 April 2026

Google Gemini Mac App Launches As AI Assistants Fight For Your Desktop
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Google Gemini Mac App Launches As AI Assistants Fight For Your Desktop

April 18, 2026, 08:32 PDT—Mountain View, California. Google has brought its Gemini AI assistant straight to Apple desktops with a new Mac app, transforming it from a web-only chatbot into a native macOS feature that sits alongside users’ work. “Designed to live right where you work,” said Michael Friedman, group product manager for Gemini App, describing the app as a fully native desktop experience.
April 18, 2026
OpenAI Codex Update Turns the Mac App Into a Desktop AI Agent With Browser, Memory and More
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OpenAI Codex Update Turns the Mac App Into a Desktop AI Agent With Browser, Memory and More

OpenAI on Thursday launched a sweeping Codex upgrade, giving the desktop app the ability to steer Mac software with its own cursor. There’s also a built-in browser now, plus image generation, memory, and a batch of automation features that expand Codex well past just code-writing. The rollout starts today for Codex desktop users logged in with ChatGPT. OpenAI says weekly Codex users top 3 million developers. This release stands out as the most explicit indication yet of OpenAI’s ambitions to build Codex into a desktop “superapp” that pulls in ChatGPT and the Atlas browser under one roof. “We realised we were spreading our efforts across too many apps and stacks,” chief of applications Fidji Simo wrote in an internal note,
April 16, 2026
OpenAI’s GitHub rival idea puts Microsoft’s developer platform in the spotlight
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OpenAI’s GitHub rival idea puts Microsoft’s developer platform in the spotlight

OpenAI is working on its own code-hosting service that could challenge Microsoft’s GitHub, The Information reported Tuesday. That would put the ChatGPT creator on more competitive footing with one of its main supporters. For Microsoft, the stakes are clear. GitHub underpins its developer segment. These code-hosting platforms—where software lives, changes get tracked, and teams coordinate—form the backbone of today’s software development.
March 4, 2026
OpenAI’s GPT-5.3 Codex lands with a 25% speed boost — and bigger ambitions than coding
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OpenAI’s GPT-5.3 Codex lands with a 25% speed boost — and bigger ambitions than coding

OpenAI dropped GPT-5.3-Codex on Thursday, a fresh update to its Codex agent. The company claims it’s 25% faster and designed for complex tasks that mix research, tool use, and coding tweaks. It’s now live on paid ChatGPT plans, spanning the Codex app, command-line interface, IDE extension, and web. Benchmarks show solid jumps: 56.8% on SWE-Bench Pro and 77.3% on Terminal-Bench 2.0. OpenAI also revealed that early builds of the model helped with debugging training and handling deployment—calling this the first AI “instrumental in creating itself.” This update is significant since coding now serves as the testing ground for “agentic” AI—systems capable of planning and executing tasks, not merely finishing text. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted this week that “code plus
February 5, 2026
Notepad++ hit by months-long update hijack blamed on China-linked hackers — what users need to know
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Notepad++ hit by months-long update hijack blamed on China-linked hackers — what users need to know

Notepad++ revealed on Monday that its software update process was compromised last year, allowing attackers to push malicious downloads to a limited group of users. Researchers have tied the campaign to hackers linked to the Chinese government. The open-source text editor enjoys broad use on Windows PCs, especially within corporate environments. When software updates are compromised—a supply-chain attack where hackers exploit a trusted distribution channel—it provides a stealthy entry point for attackers into networks.
February 2, 2026
Google leak reveals “Aluminium OS” — Android desktop for PCs caught on video
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Google leak reveals “Aluminium OS” — Android desktop for PCs caught on video

Alphabet’s Google accidentally leaked screen recordings hinting at its much-speculated Android-for-PC project, called “Aluminium OS,” before quickly restricting access to the bug report containing the footage, according to tech sites. This leak stands out as the most concrete public insight into Google's plans to extend Android beyond just phones and tablets, raising questions about the future role of Chromebooks—a lineup that’s leaned on ChromeOS for over ten years.
January 28, 2026
OpenAI’s $20 billion run-rate lands as Apple picks Google Gemini to remake Siri
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OpenAI’s $20 billion run-rate lands as Apple picks Google Gemini to remake Siri

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar revealed the company’s annualized revenue — based on current sales run-rate — topped $20 billion in 2025, up sharply from $6 billion the previous year. This growth coincided with computing capacity jumping from 0.6 gigawatts to 1.9 gigawatts. Friar added that OpenAI’s 2026 priorities will center on “practical adoption,” with a focus on health, science, and enterprise sectors. The revenue surge is crucial as the AI boom shifts into a costly battle over distribution. Model creators require funding for chips and data centers, plus prime spots on phones and browsers to hold onto users.
January 20, 2026
GrapheneOS Breaks Free from Pixel Exclusivity as Major Phone Maker Joins Forces
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GrapheneOS Breaks Free from Pixel Exclusivity as Major Phone Maker Joins Forces

GrapheneOS – widely regarded as one of the most secure, privacy-first Android distributions – is breaking free from its Google Pixel shackles. The project’s developers confirmed via social media and community forums that they’ve been working with a major smartphone maker since mid-2025 to bring GrapheneOS to that company’s devices dataconomy.com. Until now, GrapheneOS has run exclusively on Google’s own Pixel phones, making those Pixels the go-to choice for users seeking a hardened, de-Googled mobile experience. That long-standing exclusivity may finally end as soon as 2026, with GrapheneOS poised to support at least one new device from its unnamed partner’s upcoming lineup dataconomy.com dataconomy.com. This move is a potential game-changer for the privacy-focused OS. GrapheneOS has built a reputation among
October 17, 2025