I smiled when I read the story, and even the response to which I am responding.
Windows appears to be going down the path to become more an more like that "30 year old" operating system all the time. Separation of the GUI, heck even text console from the core of the O/S makes a lot of sense. Push as much to user-space as makes sense.
The reality is that the open source kernels have evolved to become incredibly stable and flexible. Open source kernel development hasn't slowed, the core of the MS kernel really has slowed. There actually may be the potential that kernel development by MS could be shelved to save engineering effort and money. Why not? The kernel is the most important part of the system that most users never see if it works well.
If MS can produce a shell/GUI that sits on top of Linux/BSD/whatever and still keep compatibility and performance, the users may remain happy, they save time, and money. Heck, MS could even build a few bridges to the open source community and improve their image. Kind of like an olive branch, if people could possibly believe it.
Sooner or later MS will realize that if you cannot beat them, join them. Consider that MS is smart enough to turn a potential loss into a big win. Conceptually they could bringing real developers back to do the hard kernel work happily and better yet, for free. Slap a nice smooth GUI on it that doesn't break compatibility and profit.
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