A non-Windows OS? Microsoft drops clues

[JMH]

Over the past couple of weeks, there were two interesting developments around Microsoft's "Midori" operating system project.
First, I heard from two of my contacts that Midori -- Microsoft's non-Windows-based operating system project -- moved into the Unified Operating System group under Executive Vice President Terry Myerson. (Before that, it was an incubation project, without a potential commercialization home inside the company.)

A non-Windows OS? Microsoft drops clues | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[cluberti]

Yes, M# is what came out of it, and it's possible that the M# additions to C# will become a reality, or at least some of them. I don't think Microsoft will blast away the thing that keeps the Windows revenue rolling in, but languages like M# (just as secure and sandboxed in .NET by default, but execution should be much faster than something written in C#) which are backwards compatible with things written in C# without any changes to the C# code could be a real boon for running across all form factors and device types, from the highest-end Intel CPUs down to smaller, less powerful Atom and ARM devices. I think it's interesting to see where this might be headed with Microsoft's desire to reduce the number of variants of Windows it uses across the desktop, tablet, phone, and XBox devices.

Note - this is all my opinion, I have no inside knowledge.