MS offers (or offered back in the day of Win2000 and XP) access to source code for governments, system integrators and academic institutions as part of its Shared Source Initiative:
And it is pretty clear that’s where most or all of these leaks actually came from, not from within Microsoft. e.g. the NT4 and 2000 leaks apparently came from Mainsoft
I don’t know the current status of those source code access programs but I believe at least some of them are still in effect. IIRC, to stop the Chinese government from dumping Windows, they had to give them source code access, but I believe they are planning to dump it anyway, they see relying on US proprietary software for their government operations as too big a risk
I don’t know the current status of those source code access programs but I believe at least some of them are still in effect. IIRC, to stop the Chinese government from dumping Windows, they had to give them source code access, but I believe they are planning to dump it anyway, they see relying on US proprietary software for their government operations as too big a risk