[Updated 9:00pm PDT] — WindowsForDevices.com reports that Microsoft has “dropped the other shoe”, as it were, announcing the first source code sharing program for its Windows CE embedded OS (or any OS, for that matter) that allows developers and manufacturers to actually redistribute modified OS code in real commercial products. Previously, the commercial use of Windows CE source code was essentially restricted to technical support purposes only, in that developers could use the code to solve problems and understand how to work within the capabilities of the OS, but were not permitted to employ modified Windows CE code to fix bugs, add functions, or tune the OS to tight resource constraints.

Linux Note: During Microsoft's telephonic press conference announcing the new Windows CE source availability program, Microsoft senior vice president and chief technical officer of Advanced Strategies and Policy, Craig Mundie was asked how Windows CE competes with open source embedded Linux. Mundie replied . . .

• Windows CE is different in the way the system is put together, in its capabilities, particulary networking stacks and web services.
• Windows CE's more sophisticated development environment and tools exceed what's there [in Linux]. People can do a lot of homemade work [with Linux], but [Windows CE] is a commercial grade system with commercial grade support.
• The uncertainty around intellectual property issues [with Linux] is not there [with Windows CE]. Our licenses are strictly commercial, and make no claims over any other parts of the system. It's our opinion that GPL affects not only the underlying platform, but also the application that lives above it.
• It's a case of “value for money” — a commercial grade OS with high quality tools, instead of a lot of in-house development.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.