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esterday, I wrote about howas the company is opening up and making itself more comfortable supporting and. Along the similar lines, Microsoft has revealed that it has built its own Linux-based operating system. The company has developed Azure Cloud Switch (ACS), which is its own Linux-distro. The company calls it “a cross-platform modular operating system for data networking built on Linux.”

The company writes that Azure Cloud Switch (ACS) is their foray into building homegrown software for running devices like switches. The Linux-based ACS is a software to debug, fix and test software bugs much faster.

In its post about ACS, Microsoft didn’t tell why it needed to develop its own Linux distro. However, Kamala Subramanian, Redmond’s principal architect for Azure Networking says that ACS believes in the power of Open Networking and aims for Easier Configuration and Management. Using Linux, ACS is able to use the vibrant Linux ecosystem and support the Open Source and Third Party applications.

Azure Cloud Switch isn’t something that could be used on laptops or desktops, and it’ll be used for high-end enterprise network hardware of the Microsoft. It allows them to simplify the control of the hardware that powers their cloud-based services.

The company writes, “At Microsoft, we believe there are many excellent switch hardware platforms available on the market, with healthy competition between many vendors driving innovation, speed increases, and cost reductions.”

Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft has turned into a different beast and more open towards adopting open source technologies. This wasn’t possible few years ago and today Microsoft is building its own Linux distro.

What do you think about the New Microsoft with its own Linux distro? Tell us in comments.

Also read: Why Microsoft Showed Up on the Stage of Apple iPhone Event

