NOT a conspiracy theorist, but...

[Azul]

Suprisngly I have not heard much about this or seen any post on Microsoft leaking its source code.

I have seen a few blurbs here and there on cnn.com which at one point reported that the source code had been obtained from a linux machine. Now it is believed to be leaked from a company called MainSoft, which had access to the source code.

From what I heard on NPR, it was about the middle third of the code for NT4 and windows 2k and is of no relavant use to anyone.

Doesn't this seem incredibly odd to any?

Microsoft had somthing as important as their source code on a Linux box, which they claim is inferior.

Only the middle third was leaked, and only for nt4 and w2k? It it the users of nt4 and w2k that microsoft has had the most trouble getting to buy into XP/Server 2003.

It is their code but someone else leaked it, but only a little bit and only on their old stuff.

There isn't any thing that I have seen or heard about HOW it was leaked.

[pickarooney]

Ho ho ho...

/*
TOP SECRET Microsoft(c) Code Project: Chicago(TM)
Projected release-date: Summer 1994
*/

#include "win31.h"
#include "win95.h"
#include "evenmore.h"
#include "oldstuff.h"
#include "billrulz.h"
#define INSTALL = HARD

char make_prog_look_big[1600000];
void main() {

while(!CRASHED) {

display_copyright_message();
display_bill_rules_message();
do_nothing_loop();
if (first_time_installation) {

make_50_megabyte_swapfile();
do_nothing_loop();
totally_screw_up_HPFS_file_system();
search_and_destroy_the_rest_of_OS/2();
hang_system();

}
write_something(anything);
display_copyright_message();
do_nothing_loop();
do_some_stuff();
if (still_not_crashed) {

display_copyright_message();
do_nothing_loop();
basically_run_windows_3.1();
do_nothing_loop();
do_nothing_loop();

}


}

if (detect_cache()) disable_cache();

if (fast_cpu()) {

set_wait_states(lots);
set_mouse(speed, very_slow);
set_mouse(action, jumpy);
set_mouse(reaction, sometimes);

}

// printf("Welcome to Windows 3.11");
// printf("Welcome to Windows 95");
printf("Welcome to Windows 98");
if (system_ok()) { crash(to_dos_prompt); }
else {

system_memory =open("a:\swp0001.swp", O_CREATE);
while(something) {

sleep(5);
get_user_input();
sleep(5);
act_on_user_input();
sleep(5);

}
create_general_protection_fault();

}

[bwkaz]

MainSoft had access to the source because they signed an NDA with Microsoft (part of the Shared Source thingy, I think). My guess is that they only had the parts of the OS that were relevant to whatever it was that they were writing -- for example, if they were making COM components, they'd have a good bit of the implementation of COM sitting in front of them. Sometimes the documentation just isn't good enough -- and most of the time, it happens with Windows. :D

Anyway, my other guess is that whatever machine this was has been passed around a few times inside the company, and nobody bothered to do a full disk wipe between owners. Somebody eventually browsed around their hard drive, found something interesting, and leaked it.

Again, this is all speculation, I don't know for sure.