Windows XP & Windows Server source code leaked online earlier this week and even though this is for an operating system almost 2 decades old this leak is significant. Firstly because some of the core XP components are still in use in Windows 7/8/10. So if a major bug is found in any of those subsystems after people analyze the code then it will have a significant impact on the modern OS’s as well from Redmond. Secondly, It will give everyone a chance to try and understand how the Windows OS works so that they can enhance tools like WINE and other similar tools to have better compatibility with Windows. The other major impact will be on systems that still use XP like ATM’s, embedded systems, point-of-sale, automated teller machines, set-top boxes etc. Those will be hard to upgrade & protect as is some cases the companies that made the device are no longer in business and in other cases the software is installed in devices that are hard to upgrade.
This is not the first time Windows source code has leaked to the internet. In early 2000 a mega torrent of all MS Operating systems going back to MS-DOS was released, it allegedly contained the source code for the following OS’s:
OS from filename Alleged source size (bytes)
——————— —————————
MS-DOS 6 10,600,000
NT 3.5 101,700,000
NT 4 106,200,000
Windows 2000 122,300,000
NT 5 2,360,000,000
Leaked Data from the latest leak
Alleged contents of the Torrent file with MS Source Code.
The leaked code is available for download at most Torrent sites, I am not going to link to it for obvious reasons. If you want to check it out you can go download it, however as always be careful of what you download off the internet as it might have viruses and/or trojans in it. This is especially true if you are downloading the torrent on a Windows machine. Several users on Twitter claim that the source code for the original Xbox is included as well, but the information is varied on this. I haven’t downloaded it myself so can’t say for sure either way.
Keep in mind that the leak was illegal and just because it has leaked doesn’t mean that you can use it to build a clone of Windows XP without written authorization from Microsoft.
Source: ZDNet: Windows XP source code leaked online, on 4chan, out of all places
– Suramya
[…] week in a major leak the source code for Windows XP & Windows Server 2003 was leaked on the Internet via the 4chan website. Post which it propagated like wildfire across the internet […]
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