Kudos to MS, srsly. lol the amount of positive press that MS has been garnering recently on HN is impressive.
Don't think it is purely happenstance. There is absolutely and unequivocally either brigading Microsoft fans, or paid shills, hitting HN hard. There was a garbage post on the front page yesterday and I left a completely benign post that didn't go with the pro-Microsoft/anti-Google narrative -- saw -11 within less than 60 seconds.
I agree that it's not purely happenstance -- I think Microsoft the company is making a genuine bid to be relevant again.
It's a desperate bid, and I don't think it's in their DNA to succeed, but it'd be great if it happens. Personally I avoid using MS whenever possible; I still have to use Word and Excel to communicate with others, and some conferences still require a PPT file.
Even back when Microsoft was a big player I never found the Windows programming model technically appealing, but even if I had I would have stayed away because their anticompetitive approach was too risky and hostile for me to be willing to depend on. They became addicted to that instead of technical excellence, which is why I think this effort will fail, no matter how sincere the commitment is at the top.
But they do employ many smart people and surely it is good if we have more sources of good technology (where good is a combination of technical excellence & good policy). So why not encourage them in the hope they get their shit together?