The Australian government will gain access to the source code underlying Microsoft's Windows operating system after signing an agreement with the software heavyweight.
The open-ended agreement, announced Thursday by the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, is part of Microsoft's global Government Security Program (GSP), an initiative announced earlier this year to address government concerns about the transparency and security of the operating system. Under the program, governments are given controlled access to Windows source code and other technical information in a move the vendor says is designed to allow them "to be confident in the enhanced security features of the Windows platform."
The agreement will enable Australian government officials to view the source code for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and CE; use the code to build those versions of Windows; see Microsoft security documentation the company doesn't otherwise share; and speak with Microsoft developers and perform their own tests on the code.
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