News that Microsoft, the world’s largest software developer, is going to disclose some of their so-called proprietary/secret software technology to competitors is sending chills down the spine of many IT industry leaders. This comes after the company suffered a blow when Yahoo.com rejected their bid to buy a majority of shares from the internet search engine giant. Yahoo might have been in the rut for sometime, but they are still one of the most used search engines on the planet making them an ideal target for the IT giant.

The news comes as a surprise as Microsoft has always worked hard to prevent technology in terms of software design and other inter-operability technologies between their operating systems like XP and Vista, the Office Family and many other software products that have managed to keep the lead in terms of the number of installations. Being the most recognizable IT firm (and even the most hated by some), Microsoft has managed to come out of many problems such as the well criticized and publicized flop of their Vista SP1 which many saw as just another way for the firm to say they care for their customers. People who have the Service pack were not at all pleased with it saying thatit was not as they expected (maybe referring to the milestones they came over when they did the same for XP with SP1 and SP2). This leaves a sour taste in the mouths of prospective users still with XP that the upgrades and improvements will be not as significant as they had hoped for.

Microsoft has been in the spotlight before but not as a company who regularly shares details about its products. The step might be a step in the right direction or it may just prove to be a testing of the waters for the software giant. Time will tell if the information they do disclose would benefit competitors or as others have said, it might just be another try to get people hooked on their technology, taking them down as a whole (hook, line and sinker) into the world of Microsoft.