Mark Russinovich said the possibility of Windows open source

The open source version of Windows is “definitely possible,” said one of Microsoft’s leading engineers, Mark Russinovich, at the 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, open source is not so easy. Moreover, Microsoft has already given away one version of Windows, for free (although not opening the source code). 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's not hard to guess how the discovery of Windows sources can be useful for Microsoft, especially after the publication of research by the National Security Agency, which indicates 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, research suggests that the problem with proprietary software is that independent confirmation of the absence of any loopholes or vulnerabilities that can be used to spy on people is impossible.

Allowing to investigate the open source version of Windows may restore trust in the operating system. Even if Microsoft were an impeccably reliable company, users couldn’t just take their word for it. The reason is that technology companies are forbidden to disclose some government requests, and, moreover, there may well be software vulnerabilities that companies do not know about.
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Perhaps the open source version of Windows will never happen. But it is clear that Microsoft was discussing the possibility of opening its platform to the public. And if it does happen, it can restore some of the trust that has been lost in recent years.