Announcements
Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect for Microsoft, announced the availability of the Windows Azure platform at the annual Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, CA, November 17, 2009. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web applications on the Internet through Microsoft datacenters.
At the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference (PDC), Microsoft announced not only the release of version 4.0 of the .NET Micro Framework, but also that Microsoft is open sourcing the product and making it available under the Apache 2.0 license, which is already being used by the community within the embedded space.
Microsoft attended GOSCON, Government Open Source Conference, in the nation's capital in Washington, DC, November 5, 2009. Keynotes included Mr. David M. Wennergren, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Management and Technology/Deputy Chief Information Officer U.S. Department of Defense and Dr. David G. Boyd, Ph.D., Director, Command, Control and Interoperability Division Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Microsoft participated in the Open World Forum in Paris, October 2009. Keynote highlights included the current and future state of Free and Open Source Software and proprietary software.
Tony Hey, Corporate Vice President for External Research for Microsoft, delivered a keynote "Enabling Academic Research: Open Research Tools and Services on Microsoft Platforms" at OSCON in San Jose, CA, July 2009. Read Tony's remarks on Microsoft Press Pass: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/tonyhey/07-23OSCON.mspx
Resources for Getting Started
We have a number of resources available for people interested in open source development at Microsoft.

Developers and Maintainers
Learn, be creative, and solve problems collaboratively, using whatever approach you choose. Learn more...
Let Microsoft programs and initiatives help you start an open source project.

IT Administrators
Leverage our extensive online technical documentation and newsgroups to solve critical problems.
See all resources for IT Administrators

Government Agencies and NGOs
Learn how Microsoft helps governments and NGOs use information technology, including open source, to serve its citizens
See all resources for Government Agencies and NGOs
Projects and Partnerships
In addition to hosting open source projects on CodePlex, Microsoft partners with open source-based businesses and communities.
Sourceforge is the world's largest open source software development Web site. Learn more...
What do open source companies and their developers actually think of Microsoft and its relationship with them and their communities, and how much do they have in common? Microsoft decided to find out. See what the folks over at BitRock and MindTouch had to say.
Microsoft was a participant and sponsor of the 2008 Government Open Source Conference, where attendees explored the business case and real-world applications for open technology to deliver the next generation of government services. Learn more...
CodePlex is Microsoft's open source project hosting web site. Learn more...
MindTouch Deki Wiki is an open source Web services platform for creating mashups with a wiki interface. Learn more...