Serendipity. For the past 3 years, movement has been coming to a couple recent waves of watershed moments. It has taken a long time for insiders - many related to Scott Gu's organization, but also included numerous (maybe even legions) other proponents of openness and "happy dev story" folks who all wanted to go in this direction.<p>There has been leadership from within the ranks for a while.<p>It's to the point where the overall story is objectively compelling and move shave been made to adjust the footing and direction which enable now to be.<p>There couldn't be now without everything that's been baked into the web landscape (great strides in shortening cadence and solid foundations to support that quicker responsiveness), cloud tooling and infrastructure (Azure), Win+8/Xbox One/RT/WinPhone8+ etc which refactored the OSs to support and drive the momentum, etc.<p>People could complain along the way about each piece, but, organizationally, under Ballmer's reign transformation was taking place.<p>Sinofsky is a great example. He did drive Windows (and indirectly Office) changes with which people weren't necessarily happy. But, the foundations were solid and the talent undeniable. From there, we get here.<p>The blossoms are coming out now, and the benefits are widely being appreciated. But plowing, sowing of seeds, and feeding the plants and sprouts is all coming together.<p>It's a good time for everyone. A strong, more open Microsoft is good for driving Apple, Google, Amazon, etc. to continue their drive. Competition is good for us all, even if we don't all get sold on any one team's garden.