More and more open source pieces of software are compatible with the Windows operating system, according to statistics from the Geeknet network. Asked by Microsoft to deliver a perspective over Windows’ position in relation to the open source ecosystem, Geeknet revealed that, at the end of 2009, over 82% of open source pieces of software were playing nice with the Redmond company’s proprietary operating system. The good news for Microsoft is that this percentage has been steadily increasing. Only 72% of OSS was compatible with Windows in 2005, Scott Collison, senior director of Platform Strategy at Microsoft, but also responsible for driving product and partnerships at Geeknet, revealed.

“In terms of actual numbers, this means that some 350,000 Open Source projects are now Windows compatible, out of a total of about 433,000 Open Source projects,” Collison explained. “This growth pretty much mirrors Microsoft's increased engagement with Open Source Software, with increased participation in open source projects, supporting open source applications on its platforms and even using open source code in some of its products.”

Collison stressed the fact that open source developers built increasingly platform agnostic products, and he indicated that the reason was the availability of scripting languages and managed runtimes. At the same time, the immense market share of Windows has also left repercussions on the world of open source software. According to Collison, no less than 23 out of the top 25 all-time most-downloaded projects on SourceForge also ran on Windows. But 14 of the top 25 most popular SourceForge are compatible exclusively with Windows.

“Interestingly, our research also found that Windows is the only operating system that runs all of the top 10 all-time most downloaded projects on SourceForge: eMule, Azureus/Vuze, Ares Gallery, 7-Zip, Filezilla, GTK+ and Gimp Installer for Windows, Audacity, PortableApps.com: Portable Software/USB, DC++, and BitTorent,” Collison added.