Microsoft goes Open?

Filed in archive Newsdesk 2.0 on February 22, 2008

Microsoft has announced a lot recently. It all started with the bid on Yahoo, which was (and still is) wiped off the table by Yahoo but more recently more radical announcements were done. First announcement is that the company is opening up the gates.

Microsoft will be releasing today at MSDN.com over 30,000 pages of API and communication protocol developer information on its major products: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007; with more info coming by June on Windows Vista (including the .NET Framework), Office 2007 and Office SharePoint 2007. (WebWorker Daily)

MS also claims an initiative with the Open Source community. First question that comes up is: "Why??" Is it just to please the EU? I don't think so. If you know MS well enough, it is not that difficult. MS is unable to beat the Open Source community to a certain death, and if you can't beat something, join it. One of the first rules of business.

Another announcement MS did is upping online storage to 5GB for Windows Live SkyDrive, an online storage solution for consumers. (Source: Lifehacker)

All in all, positive news. But just like the EU, I'll be happy when I see it.