14 DAY TRIAL // The deafening silence around the non-Windows Microsoft Midori operating system cracked a little with the departure of Jonathan Shapiro. However, it is yet too early to tell whether any leaks are to follow, or if Microsoft continues to keep under a tight lid all details about the managed code operating system still in incubation. It was almost a year ago that microkernel developer Jonathan S. Shapiro (who worked on the BitC language and the Coyotos operating system) announced that he had decided to join Microsoft.
At that time, he noted that he had decided to accept a “fairly senior position at Microsoft associated with the Midori project.” Almost a year later, Shapiro has left the Redmond company, according to All about Microsoft. He confirmed this himself, noting that today, March 19th, was his last day with the company.
“As I get ready to leave Microsoft, I'm once again thinking about BitC. I want to get the implementation and the language definition to a point of usability, and this seems like a good time to examine some of the things that I think, in hindsight, were mistakes or might warrant re-examination. Most of these issues are mundane practical things. A few of them are deeper design choices/issues,” Shapiro stated.
“Since I'm not formally out of Microsoft yet, I need to emphasize that I'm not engaged in this discussion on behalf of the company, that so far as I know Microsoft has no interest in BitC one way or the other. They've been gracious in allowing me to restart this set of conversations before my last day (which is March 19th),” he added.
There’s no telling why Shapiro left Microsoft, at this point in time, or whether it had anything to do with the Midori incubation project. In addition to Windows, the software giant is investing in a microkernel-based platform based on the Singularity OS project, labeled Midori. However, while Singularity is already available for download, Midori is kept away from the prying eyes of the world. In this regard, there’s no telling how Midori evolved over the past two years of incubation, or whether an actual product based on the work done so far will ever be released.