Microsoft removes barriers for open source on Windows 8

How magnanimous.

Translation: "Developers were staying away in droves"?

Could you add: "We woz gettin' desperate !!" ?

Wow, now you do not have to puchase a Microsoft proprietary toolchain to do "open source" development on Windows 8. duh

Now you can use a lesser (crippled) Microsoft proprietary tool chain to do your work. I suppose the gnu tool chain is still banned, at least it wasn't mentioned in the article as an alternative.

This is Microsoft's version of "open source development"! I hope the Microsoft developers are enjoying their new found freedoms. (not)

The old iron shackles have been replaced with new brass shackles.

Quoting:Translation: "Developers were staying away in droves"?

Microsoft's move could be seen as a chance to not only attract the "droves" of reticent developers to Windows 8, but to also pre-empt such developers from moving to fully open-sourced (GNU) tool chains as just mentioned above or from using crossover tools such as the constantly developing wine.

Although perhaps counterintuitive at present, Microsoft could also be somehow setting the stage for some kind of additional Embrace, Extend, Extinguish maneuver(s).

Pretend you'll have absurd restrictions to your up-and-coming product. The blogosphere goes nuts, free publicity that generates a lot of noise.

Later come back with a more sound proposition, which might have been the original idea all along. Look like the nice guys who listen to their customers.

Rinse and repeat.

Remember the original "3 programs running at once" limitation of win7 starter?

Yes, yes, yes... I've already earned my conspiration theorist creds, I know. I also know that what's creepy about microsoft isn't what they tell you, it's what they don't.