The rumor of Microsoft working on its own Linux distribution has been going around for a while. Now it’s confirmed by Microsoft themselves:
The Azure Cloud Switch (ACS) is our foray into building our own software for running network devices like switches. It is a cross-platform modular operating system for data center networking built on Linux. ACS allows us to debug, fix, and test software bugs much faster. It also allows us the flexibility to scale down the software and develop features that are required for our datacenter and our networking needs.
The distribution is not for sale or download, but purely for use in their Azure cloud infrastructure. The Register looks at this in detail.
I guess, Mahatma Gandhi was right:
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.