The .NET Micro Framework has been moved to the Developer Division of Microsoft. I regret that some good people will lose their jobs in the transition, but I think that the reorganization will ultimately be good for the platform.

It makes sense for team that develops .NET to oversee a derivative of the platform. Microsoft is establishing a community effort for the development of the product by allowing access to its runtime source code, drivers, and object model.

Microsoft will keep the final say on the management of its source code, but it will provide developers with tools and guidance to contribute to the project.

Deranged anti-Microsoft partisans are posting negative comments about the reorganization on the Web, proclaiming that the move is evidence that Windows is not modular enough to compete with Linux. However, the Micro Framework is NOT about Windows.

Developers use Visual Studio and .NET languages to create embedded applications with the .NET framework, and they can even incorporate non-managed native code into their applications. It also supports a variety of third-party tool chains. 

The team was already making .NET Microsoft Framework Porting Kit more accessable to developers by offering less-expensive tools, improved documentation, sample drivers, and simplified configuration and component management.

With open-source licensing, that cost has been whittled down even further. It would be good to the see kit ported to other IDEs including Eclipse as a next step.

Let the embedded market decide its fate versus Linux. I just hope that Microsoft nurtures the community effort instead of letting the Micro Framework wither on the vine.