Mark Russinovich announced the possibility of Windows open source

The open source version of Windows is “definitely possible,” said one of Microsoft's leading engineers, Mark Russinovich, during a Chef developer conference .

However, Wired notes that Microsoft will not release an open source system tomorrow. Windows is still a very large part of Microsoft's revenue. And, as Mark says, opening source is not so easy. Moreover, Microsoft has already given away one version of Windows, for free (although without opening the source code). And the corporation also opens the source code for other important parts of its software empire. Mark's public comments show how the technology world has changed. And how much Microsoft has changed.

It is not difficult to imagine how opening up the Windows source code can be useful for Microsoft, especially after the publication of studies by the National Security Agency, which indicate a lack of trust in proprietary software platforms such as iOS and, of course, Windows. While Microsoft claims to have improved the security of its products, studies say the problem with proprietary software is that it is not possible to independently confirm that there are no loopholes or vulnerabilities that can be used to spy on people.

Allowing you to research the open source version of Windows can restore confidence in the operating system. Even if Microsoft were an impeccably reliable company, users could not simply take her word for it. The reason is that technology companies are forbidden to disclose certain government requests, and besides, there may well be software vulnerabilities that companies themselves are not aware of.

Perhaps there will never be an open source version of Windows. But it’s clear that Microsoft was discussing the possibility of opening its platform to the public. And if this does happen, it can restore some of the trust lost in recent years.