BetaNews has learned that Thursday's leak of the Windows 2000 source code originated not from Microsoft, but from long-time Redmond partner Mainsoft. The leaked code includes 30,915 files and was apparently removed from a Linux computer used by Mainsoft for development purposes. Dated July 25, 2000, the source code represents Windows 2000 Service Pack 1. Analysis indicates files within the leaked archive are only a subset of the Windows source code, which was licensed to Mainsoft for use in the company's MainWin product. MainWin utilizes the source to create native Unix versions of Windows applications.
Mainsoft says it has incorporated millions of lines of untouched Windows code into MainWin. Clues to the source code's origin lie in a "core dump" file, which is left by the Linux operating system to record the memory a program is using when it crashes. Further investigation by BetaNews revealed the machine was likely used by Mainsoft's Director of Technology, Eyal Alaluf. References to MainWin can also be found throughout the leaked source files, which do not compile into a usable form of Windows. Prior to Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative launched in 2001, Mainsoft, which calls itself "the software porting company," was one of only two partners with access to the Windows source code under Microsoft's Windows Interface Source Environment (WISE) program.
View: Exclusive: Windows 2000 & NT4 Source Code Leaks
News source: eWeek
