6 ms·

Microsoft, just go all in: embrace Linux kernel and make a MS GUI on top of it, call it MSLinux or something. It will save time/money along the way I believe.

devmor 6y ago
Microsoft actually already has a linux distro of their own for internal use. So they're partway there.
- jonpalmisc 6y ago
  Any more info on this available? I'd be curious to read about it.
  - neilsimp1 6y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Sphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Sphere As far as I know, it's the only Linux distro that requires Windows and VS in order to build it.
  - favorited 6y ago
    It's called CBL-Mariner: https://github.com/microsoft/CBL-Mariner https://github.com/microsoft/CBL-Mariner
    - disk0 6y ago
      Coincedentally, The system distro is where all of the magic happens. The sytem distro is a containerized Linux environment where the WSLg XServer, Wayland server and Pulse Audio server are running. ... The system distro is based on the Microsoft CBL-Mariner Linux. This is a minimal Linux environment, just enough to run the various pieces of WSLg. For details on how to build and deploy a private system distro please see our build instructions. [0] [0]: https://github.com/microsoft/wslg#wslg-system-distro https://github.com/microsoft/wslg#wslg-system-distro
voidfunc 6y ago
Why? Theres literally no good reason to do this except for the developer/ops market and its not clear its a major benefit over the current approach which works well for most users.
dcow 6y ago
Dear Microsoft, please release an open source window manager that runs on linux. You can call it windows. If you add tiling support I will never touch another Mac. Only you can usher in the era of the linux desktop. Make Linus’ dream a reality. Humbly, your servant.
- Beached 6y ago
  there is a hint of /s here, but the linux desktop world is a complete mess imo. windows going head to head with the incumbents like gnome could be huge for linux. I know I would be very interested to see what ms could do in this space.
  - dcow 6y ago
    I’m actually pretty serious and mostly poking fun at myself for how excited I would be if MS actually did this.
smoldesu 6y ago
I think that long-term, that's the plan. They're going to need a few years to switch their tooling over though, but I think Linux could have an incredible Windows Legacy Layer if Microsoft had the initiative to make one desu.
brundolf 6y ago
One of the main values of Windows today, at least for businesses, is backwards-compatibility- not the GUI. DOS programs still run on it, if that tells you anything. So they aren't going to be dropping Windows Proper in favor of a skinned Linux distro any time soon. That said, maybe it would be feasible if they built a "Linux subsystem for Windows" that could run any legacy Windows app inside Linux, just like Windows can currently run any legacy DOS app (without actually being based on DOS). An official Wine, if you will.
- mixmastamyk 6y ago
  64-bit Windows doesn't support 16 or 8 bit applications any longer, a VM is needed. At that point it doesn't matter much what the host OS is.
- marcodiego 6y ago
  > DOS programs still run on it, I don't think that is correct. Any windows after 9x will need something like dosbox to run dos programs.
  - sumtechguy 6y ago
    NT has NTVDM. It worked on many applications up until they added 64 bit into the mix. At which point they never ported it over. Once you move to any 64 bit version you can no longer do that and need a VM or DOSBox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine Also NTVDM was kind of hit or miss. So if you are using a 32 bit version of any windows you may still get away with running many DOS and win16 applications. But within a particular set of limitations.
    - anthk 6y ago
      The only good NTVDM is the ReactOS' one. The one from MS itself is very flakey.
      - efreak 6y ago
davidgerard 6y ago
As predicted by Wired in 2005: https://www.wired.com/2005/02/microsoft-5/ https://www.wired.com/2005/02/microsoft-5/
Narishma 6y ago
Call it Xinux.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

devmor 6y ago

Microsoft actually already has a linux distro of their own for internal use. So they're partway there.

jonpalmisc 6y ago
Any more info on this available? I'd be curious to read about it.
- neilsimp1 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Sphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Sphere As far as I know, it's the only Linux distro that requires Windows and VS in order to build it.
- favorited 6y ago
  It's called CBL-Mariner: https://github.com/microsoft/CBL-Mariner https://github.com/microsoft/CBL-Mariner
  - disk0 6y ago
    Coincedentally, The system distro is where all of the magic happens. The sytem distro is a containerized Linux environment where the WSLg XServer, Wayland server and Pulse Audio server are running. ... The system distro is based on the Microsoft CBL-Mariner Linux. This is a minimal Linux environment, just enough to run the various pieces of WSLg. For details on how to build and deploy a private system distro please see our build instructions. [0] [0]: https://github.com/microsoft/wslg#wslg-system-distro https://github.com/microsoft/wslg#wslg-system-distro

voidfunc 6y ago

Why? Theres literally no good reason to do this except for the developer/ops market and its not clear its a major benefit over the current approach which works well for most users.

dcow 6y ago

Dear Microsoft, please release an open source window manager that runs on linux. You can call it windows. If you add tiling support I will never touch another Mac. Only you can usher in the era of the linux desktop. Make Linus’ dream a reality. Humbly, your servant.

Beached 6y ago
there is a hint of /s here, but the linux desktop world is a complete mess imo. windows going head to head with the incumbents like gnome could be huge for linux. I know I would be very interested to see what ms could do in this space.
- dcow 6y ago
  I’m actually pretty serious and mostly poking fun at myself for how excited I would be if MS actually did this.

smoldesu 6y ago

I think that long-term, that's the plan. They're going to need a few years to switch their tooling over though, but I think Linux could have an incredible Windows Legacy Layer if Microsoft had the initiative to make one desu.

brundolf 6y ago

One of the main values of Windows today, at least for businesses, is backwards-compatibility- not the GUI. DOS programs still run on it, if that tells you anything. So they aren't going to be dropping Windows Proper in favor of a skinned Linux distro any time soon. That said, maybe it would be feasible if they built a "Linux subsystem for Windows" that could run any legacy Windows app inside Linux, just like Windows can currently run any legacy DOS app (without actually being based on DOS). An official Wine, if you will.

mixmastamyk 6y ago
64-bit Windows doesn't support 16 or 8 bit applications any longer, a VM is needed. At that point it doesn't matter much what the host OS is.
marcodiego 6y ago
> DOS programs still run on it, I don't think that is correct. Any windows after 9x will need something like dosbox to run dos programs.
- sumtechguy 6y ago
  NT has NTVDM. It worked on many applications up until they added 64 bit into the mix. At which point they never ported it over. Once you move to any 64 bit version you can no longer do that and need a VM or DOSBox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_DOS_machine Also NTVDM was kind of hit or miss. So if you are using a 32 bit version of any windows you may still get away with running many DOS and win16 applications. But within a particular set of limitations.
  - anthk 6y ago
    The only good NTVDM is the ReactOS' one. The one from MS itself is very flakey.
    - efreak 6y ago

davidgerard 6y ago

As predicted by Wired in 2005: https://www.wired.com/2005/02/microsoft-5/ https://www.wired.com/2005/02/microsoft-5/

Narishma 6y ago

Call it Xinux.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]