Even people change, why do you find weird that companies change? >Because in spite of having made a turn towards open source, Microsoft once treated it like a mortal enemy, akin to cancer?

MS was in the business of selling operating systems and desktop software. Not only they realized that open source doesn't threaten that territory (remember year of the Linux desktop?), but they've changed the revenue model and are making much more money now from selling services than by selling software.

>Because of how other large companies like Google have smothered open source projects?

Why should we judge what one company does based on what other company does?

I am sure no company does something for "good of humanity" but to earn money. What matters is if in the process of making money, they also do good things or bad things.

Microsoft has stopped doing bad things and started doing good things. I only hope more companies will follow.