Open-source Windows? The unthinkable is already happening, says Microsoft

However unlikely a future in which Microsoft makes Windows open source may sound, Microsoft has already taken considerable strides in that direction.
But instead of allowing developers to make changes to Windows and other products, it’s Microsoft’s fingers at the keyboard.
According to Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich, a future that includes an open-source Windows could happen. “It’s definitely possible,” Russinovich reportedly told an audience at the ChefCon conference in Santa Clara this week. “It’s a new Microsoft.”
“Every conversation you can imagine about what should we do with our software—open versus not-open versus services—has happened,” Russinovich added.

MICROSOFT

Mark Russinovich

Why this matters: Saturday marks Microsoft’s 40th anniversary. Just a few years ago, such a statement by Russinovich would have been anathema to Microsoft—and if Bill Gates were still at the CEO’s desk, it might have resulted in a letter of termination. But this is the new Microsoft, forced into a spirit of cooperation and collaboration by increasing pressure on the PC and on its business model. This is still pie-in-the-sky stuff—but science fiction can become reality. Just ask Dick Tracy’s watch.

You can't just toss away $4 billion per quarter

An open-source Windows would be unlikely in the near term, however. That would require Microsoft to expose its reams of code to public view, theoretically allowing developers to create their own proprietary, incompatible forks of Windows. That’s an absolute example, of course—Microsoft could decide to open the code to certain components within the OS—perhaps what will turn into the “legacy” browser, Internet Explorer. But open-sourcing Windows—and perhaps make it free to use—would also require Microsoft to give up a large chunk of the $4 billion or so a quarter it collectively receives from Windows, Windows Phone, and Office licenses.

As Wired points out, Microsoft has agreed to provide OEMs a free copy of Windows for devices with displays under 8 inches. And it’s far more open to running open-source products on top of its Azure cloud services than it was.