Windows hot-patching on Itanium uses a simpler approach than AArch64, overwriting the first instruction bundle with a nop and a 64-bit long branch instruction to redirect execution. Itanium's fixed-size instruction bundles eliminated the need for spare patching space, and contrary to appearances, function-preceding breakpoint bundles serve alignment purposes rather than hot-patching.
Windows implements hot-patching on AArch64 with a simpler mechanism than x86, leveraging fixed-length instructions and 4-byte alignment to avoid mid-instruction patching risks. A 12-byte patch space before each function holds a three-instruction trampoline that redirects execution, while the function entry point itself contains a single branch instruction back to the patch space.
Google is rolling out skills in Gemini, a feature that lets users save and reuse custom instructions to automate repetitive tasks. Skills will replace Gems across Gemini chat and Google Workspace, with phased deprecation starting November 2024 for personal accounts and extending to 2027 for enterprise customers.