Summary: Xamarin, the company which interjects Microsoft into Linux/Android, may soon be acquired by Microsoft, suggest unnamed sources which spoke to CRN

ACCORDING TO some scoops and Microsoft PR at ZDNet or other Microsoft boosters, Miguel de Icaza's life-long dream of working for Microsoft -- not just indirectly but also directly -- is about to come true if rumours are true and the negotiations bear fruit. This is an opportunity for Microsoft to dump another load of cash on Mr. de Icaza, who has served Microsoft for many years, even by disrupting the FOSS community in all kinds of ways. Readers tell us that Mr. de Icaza gloated about becoming rich in this way.

According to the news/rumours, Xamarin, which is pushing .NET into Android and Linux (we covered this dozens of times before), found interest from Microsoft, which is of course busy right now trying to bastardise Android (not just through Nokia) [1-3] or 'pull an OS/2 on it' [4-8]. "Microsoft could be planning to acquire or put some money in a company that makes tools for creating mobile apps in C#," said one site. It's citing CRN, which cites "unnamed sources". As we explained before, there is already plenty of Microsoft 'DNA' inside Xamarin and venture capitalists behind Xamarin are closely connected to Microsoft (many are former Microsoft managers). Mono already has some Microsoft code in it, as well as Microsoft licences. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Is Android the future of Microsoft?

2. Five reasons Microsoft could become a top Android smartphone company





3. MS challenges Google’s Android with ‘free’ Windows Phone OS





4. Would you buy a phone that dual-boots Android and Windows?

5. Huawei: We'll sell a dual-boot Android, Windows 8 smartphone because, well, isn't it obvious?





6. Microsoft and Google ruin Intel's plan for dual-OS tablets

   Asus' dual-boot Transformer Book Duet reportedly canceled

7. Google and Microsoft are out to stop dual-boot Windows/Android devices

   We've seen numerous companies announce devices that boot Android and some flavor of Windows, but very few of them ever hit the market. Just yesterday, Huawei announced that it was switching its Windows Phones to dual-OS Windows Phone/Android devices, which would launch in the second quarter of this year. Samsung announced the Ativ Q dual-boot convertible nine months ago, and we never heard about it again. One of the few companies actually shipping dual-boot hardware is Asus, which offers a convertible tablet/laptop and a few all-in-one PCs.





8. Mutant dual-boot Android and Windows Phone coming to US this spring