If Windows users have asked for something many times, it is that Microsoft release the source code for their operating system. However, for obvious reasons, this has never happened, and officially never will. Windows is one of Microsoft’s strongest products, and although the company is increasingly committed to OpenSource, its system is, and will be, proprietary. However, Microsoft has just been the victim of what is probably one of the biggest leaks in its history, and that is that, for a few minutes, the source code of Windows XP , and other versions of Windows, has been circulating on the net.
For a few months now, a user has been collecting all kinds of leaks from Windows code . It is not the first time that the company has been affected by something like this, although they have always been relatively small and not very important fragments. However, in a matter of a couple of hours, a 43 GB torrent has started circulating on the network.
Within this torrent we can find the source codes for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 , and other older versions of the operating system, among which are:
- MS DOS 3.30
- MS DOS 6.0
- Windows 2000
- Windows CE 3
- Windows CE 4
- Windows CE 5
- Windows Embedded 7
- Windows Embedded CE
- Windows NT 3.5
- Windows NT 4
In addition, we can also find a folder called “XBOX”, 5 GB , which probably includes some fragment of the source code of the firmware of the original console or of the 360. Of course, a collection of videos has also been included within the torrent with conspiracy theories about Bill Gates.
The source code of XP, and other versions, has been in the hands of hackers for years
Although we can still download Windows XP and install it on any PC, this system has been without security support since 2014. This, in itself, is a problem for user safety. However, the seriousness of the matter intensifies when we see that the source code of this operating system has been in the hands of hackers for many years. They know all the secrets of the operating system, and you know where to attack those who still use it.
However, although this source code has been circulating privately for years, it is the first time it has been made public . Any user, curious, researcher, or hacker, can now easily get hold of it. And this can be good, or it can be bad.
If you want to download the torrent yourself, you must look for it in a tracker, or in 4chan, the portal from which it has begun to be distributed. But we must point out that Microsoft is not going to take it well at all, and is going to persecute all those who do. Do it at your own risk (and always with additional protection).
What is involved in leaking Windows XP source code
Although XP is an operating system that is almost 20 years old, it is the foundation of modern operating systems. Even Windows 10 has certain similarities with this OS. Therefore, leaking this source code can allow anyone to better understand how Windows works without resorting to reverse engineering. And that can translate into new security concerns. And not only that, now we can really know if XP hides back doors, like the famous NSA backdoor with which, supposedly, they have been spying on us for decades.
But not all are security concerns. That the code of this system may be in the hands of researchers, or white hat hackers, is good news. They will also be able to better understand how the operating system works and help Microsoft, or other companies, strengthen its security. We may even see a universal patch at a time that allows us to cover many of the security holes in Windows XP, a patch that will have been created by the community after Microsoft decided to turn its back on this OS. Furthermore, even Linux may now adopt some of the features of this operating system.
Be that as it may, now we can say that Windows XP is now OpenSource . Linux trembles with what it can get out of there. Can you imagine an XP-based Windows distribution? Everything is possible.
