Rust/WinRT Public Preview
You have to hand it to Microsoft: It may be the only large software company that doesn't seem susceptible to not-invented-here syndrome.<p>It's true that Microsoft historically has been an intensely competitive company, often trying to undermine competing technologies, e.g., with "embrace and extend" strategies.<p>But whenever a competing technology -- whether a language, or a framework, or an application -- <i>gains adoption</i> with developers or users, Microsoft to its credit will follow along, sooner or later, and do the work necessary for making it a first-class citizen on Windows.<p>(For those who don't know, Rust is originally a Mozilla project.)