Microsoft surprises with its first server Linux distribution: Azure Linux 4.0

Post by doubled112 » Tue, May 19, 2026, 12:10 PM UTC

futune wrote: post #26

vivzkestrel wrote: post #11

https://gamesbymason.com/blog/2026/microsoft/ Prediction: Microsoft Is Going To Do The Funniest Thing Imaginable this guy called it loooong back

I remember a reading a similar prediction from several years ago, too, with more or less the same reasons. If I'm able to dig it up, I'll post a link. It does make complete sense, doesn't it?...

Post by lproven » Tue, May 19, 2026, 3:08 PM UTC

whobre wrote: post #29

somat wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xenix was Microsoft's first operating system, it predates DOS. Admittedly, Microsoft did not actually write Xenix. They bought a System3 source license from AT&T and used that as a base, Their main service model was to port it to various systems. Fun Fact: Xenix was the main reason a partition table was included when the PC first got hard disk support.

They developed something called M-DOS or MIDAS in 1979, but by that time CP/M was already established, so they decided against releasing it.

    During 1977 and 1978, Microsoft adapted both BASIC and Microsoft
    FORTRAN for an increasingly popular 8-bit operating system called
    CP/M. At the end of 1978, Gates and Allen moved Microsoft from
    Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington. The company continued to
    concentrate on programming languages, producing versions of BASIC for
    the 6502 and the TI9900.

    During this same period, Marc McDonald also worked on developing an 8-
    bit operating system called M-DOS (usually pronounced "Midas" or "My
    DOS"). Although it never became a real part of the Microsoft product
    line, M-DOS was a true multitasking operating system modeled after the
    DEC TOPS-10 operating system. M-DOS provided good performance and,
    with a more flexible FAT than that built into BASIC, had a better
    file-handling structure than the up-and-coming CP/M operating system.
    At about 30 KB, however, M-DOS was unfortunately too big for an 8-bit
    environment and so ended up being relegated to the back room. As Allen
    describes it, "Trying to do a large, full-blown operating system on
    the 8080 was a lot of work, and it took a lot of memory. The 8080
    addresses only 64 K, so with the success of CP/M, we finally concluded
    that it was best not to press on with that."

Post by lproven » Tue, May 19, 2026, 3:18 PM UTC

smackeyacky wrote: post #27

WSL was the first public sign Microsoft had given up on windows.

Post by seanmck » Tue, May 19, 2026, 3:54 PM UTC

technion wrote: post #23

Note that despite being named here as "Azure Linux" and being described as a "General purpose Linux OS for Azure", once you go to the product documentation it's referred to as "Microsoft Azure Linux Container Host for AKS", and the Quickstart guide is about how to deploy a Kubernetes cluster. It doesn't seem very capable of general use.

Post by somat » Tue, May 19, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

whobre wrote: post #29

somat wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xenix was Microsoft's first operating system, it predates DOS. Admittedly, Microsoft did not actually write Xenix. They bought a System3 source license from AT&T and used that as a base, Their main service model was to port it to various systems. Fun Fact: Xenix was the main reason a partition table was included when the PC first got hard disk support.

They developed something called M-DOS or MIDAS in 1979, but by that time CP/M was already established, so they decided against releasing it.