Microsoft is already the most popular open source company. The source code of the entire Microsoft legacy product Microsoft Windows is already there on GitHub. Microsft hosts over 300 GBs on GitHub and this shows how important it was for Microsoft to acquire GitHub. Let's see why this strategy is good.
First, they became the owner of their own Windows source code repository. Second, they took a step to make certain parts of Windows open source. Then, they kicked off the other companies to own their repository.
The strategy of Microsoft changed after Bill Gates got retired. Microsoft has become a media/service company that has its own platform to collect the data (Windows 10) collecting from its new product: "users/people".
Examining the amount of data that is collected, now, they can make better ads. If they are not doing that already, I am pretty sure they will do it soon.
Everyone from Big Data technology knows that metadata tells a lot about the market. Do think about the amount of metadata being collect right now.
But how this is it related to the acquisition of GitHub?Well, Windows is going to be Linux. How? They will preserve their rights and the kernel, and then they can leave the rest of the pieces of Windows to the community. The community is a cheaper option because most of the programmers want to show their skills there in order to either promote themselves or to get a better job.
Most of the company's revenue will come from Azure. Its growth was
reported to be 98% in the last fiscal year.
Cloud, the core business that involves the Azure will grow more and more as it is very easy to make money-selling service while maintaining the development teams to keep products with proprietary code is expensive. I know this because in 2011, my company switched from software marketer to online service.
Today, Microsoft Office is the best seller office suite, however, even it will be open sourced soon and will be administered by Artificial Intelligence to manage the quality, the direction to the future will be chosen by its board members.
Companies including Microsoft and other giants are rushing desperately to whatever side feels like there's going to be a future or they can create some billion dollar breakthrough. The acquisition of Skype was just the market positioning as well. So was the purchase of LinkedIn. Facebook bought Instagram and WhatsApp also for market positioning.
With Windows getting open sourced, Microsoft will have a less cost to maintain the cutting-edge teams. This will be an opportunity for Windows to better serve its users.
Conclusion
Windows becoming a free software is just a matter of time. Everything will work to make Azure the main source of Microsoft invoicing, possibly Windows 10+ to go straight to Azure. For a giant company to remain at the top over time should be micro-regulated by independent business cells to cope with the scalar growth of the market, technology, and socio-economic-pluralist groups worldwide. Have you thought of a Windows for the teachers of India, for the lawyers of Portugal, or for the American doctors? In short, an exclusive version for each type of human activity. With Windows OpenSource, this would be possible.
Giant companies will live in everlasting competition, until bigger companies come, coming out of nowhere, adding billions of users with ever-shorter speed. Human needs are endless so there will always be a startup company to change the world as it works today. But, people will still find themselves around a table just as they have always done since the beginning of hunting and fire control.