After years of discord with the Linux community, due to intellectual property issues, Microsoft has finally taken a step in the direction of enhancing the performance of running virtualized Linux operating system on its Windows servers - the software maker has contributed Hyper-V drivers to the Linux kernel, and opened them under the GPL.

Microsoft latest move, which seemingly is part of its extensive inclination towards collaboration with the open source software community, includes the release of as many as 20,000 lines of source code to the Linux kernel community.

The code, available for inclusion in Linux, comprises three Linux device drivers, and can be freely used and redistributed by the Linux community as well as users. According to Microsoft, the code - offered under the GNU General Public License 2 - would improve the performance of the Linux OS when virtualized on Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 virtualization software.

Announcing the code submission, well-known Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman said: "I'm happy to announce, that after many months of discussions, Microsoft has released their Hyper-V Linux drivers under the GPLv2. These drivers are to enable Linux to work better when running as a guest on top of the Hyper-V system."

Meanwhile, talking about Microsoft's most recent release, Senior Director of Platform Strategy, Sam Ramji, said it indicates that "customer demand is a powerful catalyst for change."