<A target="_blank" href="http://www.osnews.com/story/21882/Microsoft_s_Linux_Kernel_Code_Drop_Result_of_GPL_Violation">While Microsoft said otherwise</A>, it seems their sudden release of code to Linux is a way out of a law suit. The suit resulted because a network driver in Microsoft's Hyper-V uses open source components, licensed under the GPL, were linked to closed-source binaries.