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None of the software and services you mentioned require Windows though - they could be made to run on Linux, and some already do. As more and more revenue shif
by Alupis 9mo ago
None of the software and services you mentioned require Windows though - they could be made to run on Linux, and some already do.
As more and more revenue shifts from desktop/servers to cloud and services, it doesn't seem too far-fetched for Microsoft to decide maintaining the entire OS stack themselves makes less and less sense. A Microsoft Windows linux distro would free up resources to focus on what makes Windows unique.
- p_ing 9mo agoExchange is very dependent on Win32 and .NET Framework. As is ODSP and Dynamics. Azure under the hood is Hyper-V with most services built upon that dependency. Yes, millions of man hours, monkies, and typewriters you could transform this to Linux. The economics aren't there when Azure/M365 keeps pulling in money running on it's current platform hand over fist.
- pseudony 9mo agoWell, for one, you may have noticed that MS put in the work, over years, to make .NET the same implementation across all three platforms. So that’s at least one pillar of impossibility removed.
- p_ing 9mo agoExcept ODSP/EXO/Dynamics don't use CoreCLR -- they use good ole fashioned .NET Framework. Those products with their 20+ year old code base would require a full rewrite. That doesn't make economic sense.
- Alupis 9mo agoOver 60% of customer workloads running on Azure are Linux. And that statistic is skewed by those using things like AzureAD (basically workgroups). At some point it will become a burden to develop new technologies on Windows instead of Linux. If that hasn't already happened. Desktop already is a dwindling revenue stream for Microsoft. Microsoft is already pushing for companies, from small garage startups to mega enterprises, to migrate to online services where the underlying OS doesn't matter. Windows has inertia, a lot of it. But all things in motion eventually come to rest.
- p_ing 9mo agoAll of those Linux workloads are running on NT.
- Alupis 9mo agoAre they? Not a single one of the other public clouds runs Windows at it's core... As far as deployed operating systems go, Windows is in the extreme minority.
- pjmlp 9mo agoYes they are, on top of Azure Host OS. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windowsosplatform/azure-host-os-%e2%80%93-cloud-host/3709528 https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windowsosplatform/a...
- gitaarik 9mo agoWell we now have those millions of manhours and monkeys in the form of AI ;)