Microsoft to acquire GitHub developer platform

Following several days of rumors, Microsoft confirmed today that it plans to acquire development platform GitHub for $7.5 billion in Microsoft stock.

GitHub will retain its independent operating model, according to Microsoft, including support for languages, tools, and operating systems that developers expect.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President Nat Friedman, founder of Xamarin, will become GitHub CEO after the deal closes. GitHub's current CEO, Chris Wanstrath, will become a Microsoft technical fellow, reporting to Microsoft Cloud + AI Group Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie, to work on strategic software initiatives.

Microsoft outlined 3 priorities after the deal closes, which they expect later in calendar year 2018.

First is the promise to continue to keep the platform open and extensible for developers.

Second, Microsoft plans to "accelerate enterprise developers' use of GitHub, with our direct sales and partner channels and access to Microsoft's global cloud infrastructure and services." For a sense of what that "enterprise" perspective might look like, refer to the graphic at the top, from Microsoft's investor presentation today, which bears a striking resemblence to Microsoft's business solutions world view.

Third, the company plans to "bring Microsoft's developer tools and services to new audiences." That goal includes plans for a new "developer's marketplace", and a new integrated developer experience between GitHub and Visual Studio Code (VSCode).

With Microsoft's promise to be a good steward of GitHub, the company also ensures that the platform's future, to which the company is now tied through more than a thousand project repositories, is not compromised. As one veteran ...