Perhaps they've become closer buddies with MICROS~1. I wouldn't be surprised if they did this in exchange for "AI" compute, i.e. that losing the Linux audience is worth less than being seen favourably by elder oligarchs.
MS doesn't care about Linux any more like they did in the 90's and 00's.
Sure they do. They really, really don't want government agencies and non-techies to realise that there is a better option for most everyday computer tasks.