This change has actually been brewing for a long time. I was at a summit they held for Open Source project leaders back in 2008, and we got to sit down with the dev teams for IIS, SQL Server, and some of their web dev tools. They were extremely open, helpful, and just wanted to collaborate on cool stuff.

There were only a few pockets of "New Microsoft" back then, but they were there if you looked, and they were working their asses off to change the culture. Clearly their work has paid off.

Not really. Microsoft has always had two sides, two forces constantly warring with each other internally. Microsoft is and always has been chock full of serious, 100% authentic "hackers". And those have driven the company as much as high level business decisions over the years. Microsoft has long been a proponent for things like open platforms (such as the original PC design) and has long tried to be a good citizen within the computing industry. There was a period of time when those voices were muted compared to the voices of hard-nosed business types but you can see those forces re-asserting themselves in the current iteration of microsoft.

I am amazed by this observations well. I can't help but wonder if the change was already on the way when Nadella took over as CEO. The change as being pushed from the inside outwards, probably mostly by the MS tech folks. Because it is mostly the tech folks that care about type of transparency.

I'd say moving the masses might be easier to move than the upper management

The higher-ups have more to lose (in terms of encroached positions) and don't usually eat their own dog food.