Microsoft finally open sources Windows 7 USB tool

After removing its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT) from the Microsoft Store after a blogger, Rafael Rivera, reported that the tool appeared to contain code that was remarkably like code in the Codeplex hosted, and GPL2 licensed, ImageMaster project, Microsoft has finally released the tool under version 2 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv2). WUDT allows users to transfer downloaded Windows 7 images to a USB drive or burn them to DVD media.

In a post on the company's Port 25 blog, Peter Galli, Microsoft's Open Source Community Manager, said that the company failed to release the tool sooner as "the testing and localisation took longer than we expected". Galli notes that, while the user experience will be the same as before, installation now requires additional steps, including installing Microsoft's .NET Framework and IMAPI to burn DVDs. Previously the files were launched via a command line, but were separated "for clarity as they are separate programs under different licensing terms".

Rivera says that he has "personally built the downloadable binary from the source" and he knows that it "works as advertised". Rivera says that he will be submitting a patch to support imgburn-created ISOs, "eliminating the need for need for his separate tool.

The tool is now available on Microsoft's CodePlex open source software project hosting repository at wudt.codeplex.com and can once again be downloaded (direct download) from the Microsoft store. Installation instructions are provided.

See also:

• Microsoft fails to open source Windows 7 USB tool, a report from The H.
• Microsoft confirm GPL violation in Windows 7 tool, a report from The H.

(crve)