There may be another win for the open source movement today, as there has been some interesting legalese found in the recent publication of the Windows Store Application Developer Agreement. If you are unfamiliar with the Windows Store, basically Redmond is launching a storefront for Windows 8 aimed at cashing in on the micro-transaction craze going on. The section in question states that apps released under a license from the Open Source Initiative (GPL, Apache, etc.) can be distributed in the Windows Store. Further, it says that the OSI license will trump the Microsoft Standard Application License Terms, namely the the restriction on sharing applications.

The reasons behind this decision to include open sourced apps are unclear. Perhaps Microsoft is trying to both distance itself from Apple and make amends for its bullying of Android hardware manufacturers. Alternatively, maybe Redmond has finally realized that the cost of doing business is to work with developers who freely distribute their code. Probably the most interesting thing about this inclusion is that it was done quietly. Why not trumpet this fact from the podium during the announcement of the Windows Store? Is it because they were hoping no one would notice? Highly doubtful.

My opinion is that this is yet another move in the quiet chess game that Redmond is playing with its competitors. If you have had a chance to look at the developer preview of Windows 8, Windows Phone 7, and the upcoming Win 8 tablets, you will notice that Microsoft will soon achieve platform unity across all of its devices — something that Google and Apple are still some distance from. A user who goes through their day switching between the latest generation of Windows-based devices will have an experience that will be unified. Even across the Xbox 360, the look and feel are going to be the same. Even the wildly popular Kinect peripheral is in the mix as a bridge between devices.

If you consider all of the above, and then contrast it with the vicious Android-related patent warfare, Microsoft’s strategy starts to swim into focus.

First, slow down the competition with frivolous lawsuits, use the money that some are inevitably going to pay to fund new development then quietly do what they have not been able to. Fragmentation is still rampant in the Android OS; case in point we have yet to see a Google Experience ICS powered tablet, even though ICS source has been released. ICS was supposed to end the fragmentation issues by unifying the platform, instead it created another crack in the Android ecosystem. As for Cupertino, Apple’s Mac App Store has not seen the adoption that it would like, especially when compared to the iOS App Store. Nor is there any unity across its devices in the form of a universal iOS.

Second, embrace the open source community that Apple has shunned, hopefully mending some fences that were broken during the Android litigation at the same time. Let some sharp eyed writers find the loophole so that it looks like everything is altruistic, which does nothing but increase public opinion of the company. It’s brilliant really, and shows that there may be some savvy maneuvering finally returning to Redmond.

We are less than a year away from seeing this unification effort from Microsoft come to fruition. Once it does, there is a good chance that it will help propel the software company back into the battle for market supremacy. In the meantime, enjoy those open sourced applications in the Windows Store.

Read more at Windows Dev Center (warning, EULAesque language abounds)