Microsoft Built Its Own Linux Because Everyone Else Did

Microsoft is now running its online empire with help from its own version of Linux. Like Google and Facebook The computer servers that underpin most of Microsoft's online services continue to run Windows. In fact, Microsoft has modified its flagship operating system in recent years so that it's better suited to running software across dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of machines---so that it's more, well, Linux-like. In recent years, as they've expanded their online services to unprecedented size, companies like Google and Facebook have realized that traditional networking hardware doesn't cut it. But that would've been enormously more difficult, says Rivers, of Cumulus Networks, which helps companies build networking gear more like the stuff that Google and Facebook use.