The great programming transformation: How AI and Rust are quietly dethroning C in Linux - and Windows

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Microsoft and Linux are adding AI and Rust to their pipelines.
• Microsoft is leaning overmuch harder into AI improvement than Linux.
• Both are expanding Rust, but neither OS volition beryllium afloat Rust soon.

Recently, Galen Hunt, a Microsoft distinguished engineer, wrote: "My extremity is to destruct each enactment of C and C++ from Microsoft by 2030. Our strategy is to harvester AI and algorithms to rewrite Microsoft's largest codebases" and to "evolve and augment our infrastructure to alteration translating Microsoft's largest C and C++ systems to Rust." 

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If that sounds to you similar Microsoft is going to rewrite Windows utilizing AI from C to Rust, you're not alone. Hunt has since backed distant from that interpretation, writing, "Windows is not being rewritten successful Rust with AI."

Still, 1 cannot assistance but wonder. After all, Hunt continued, "We are gathering tech to marque migration from connection to connection possible," which is what you'd request to bash archetypal if you did privation to determination Windows from C to Rust. And Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella precocious said 20% to 30% of Microsoft's codification was "written by software," that is, AI. 

And, acold earlier, successful 2022, Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich tweeted, "It's clip to halt starting immoderate caller projects successful C/C++ and usage Rust ... For the involvement of information and reliability. The manufacture should state those languages arsenic deprecated."

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Microsoft isn't alone. As I've been covering for immoderate clip now, the Linux developer assemblage is besides profoundly engaging with AI and Rust. As Linus Torvalds himself recently declared himself "a immense believer" successful utilizing AI to support code. 

Maintainers and developers are present utilizing AI to assistance physique Linux. Simultaneously, Rust has graduated to being a co-equal connection with C for mainstream Linux development.

The large transformation

However, the programming satellite is astatine a modulation point. For strategy programming, Rust and AI are replacing C and manual coding.

Why? Easy. C is prone to representation errors, accounting for astir 70% of each operating strategy information holes. Memory-safe Rust prevents these problems. As Microsoft stated successful 2019, "What separates Rust from C and C++ is its beardown information guarantees."

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That's not to accidental you inactive can't screw up with Rust. You can. The archetypal Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) information bug has besides been identified: the Rust Android Binder operator bug, CVE-2025-68260. Meanwhile, implicit successful Windows land, successful aboriginal 2025, Check Point Research recovered a bug successful the Rust-based Graphics Device Interface (GDI) constituent successful Windows 11 24H2.

Microsoft is, arsenic I deliberation we each know, precise gung-ho astir utilizing AI successful programming. Want to bargain a Copilot license? If you're a Windows user, you've astir apt seen a pitch for Copilot services sometime today.

Linux developers admit that AI tin marque their enactment easier. However, arsenic Torvalds said, 90% of today's AI manufacture is hype. He's besides warned that utilizing AI to make serious, long-lived accumulation codification tin beryllium a "horrible idea" due to the fact that it harms maintainability and hides the reasoning needed to debug and germinate systems.

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Let's look much intimately astatine what some operating strategy powers are up to.

AI

For Linux, AI volition beryllium doing a batch of scut work. At the Linux Plumbers Conference successful Tokyo, the invitation-only Linux developer conference, programmers and maintainers alike told maine they were taking a precise cautious approach. They'll usage AI to assistance with immoderate of the project's dirtiest jobs: triaging patches, identifying apt backports, and managing CVEs.

Also: What Linus Torvalds truly thinks astir AI and bundle improvement mightiness astonishment you

Linux maintainer Sasha Levin described AI tools arsenic an "extra unchangeable maintainer" that tin sift monolithic spot streams and trim burnout, portion inactive leaving last decisions to humans. As for really creating code, that's different story. Maintainers judge AI is acceptable erstwhile it is transparent, accountable, and disclosed. The assemblage is inactive debating precisely however that volition work.

Microsoft is going afloat hog into AI. Russinovich has showcased Microsoft's determination from elemental codification assistants to afloat AI agents that tin instrumentality an issue, rotation up an environment, modify code, and unfastened propulsion requests arsenic portion of the engineering pipeline. He describes AI programs arsenic mundane tools for Microsoft developers.

That said, helium besides cautioned that interior AI usage indispensable relationship for punctual injection, information leakage, and reliability. Safe adoption requires robust guardrails and rigorous evaluation, not unsighted spot successful generated code. 

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Russinovich warned: "The vulnerability of LLMs to hallucination, punctual injection, and jailbreaks poses a important but surmountable situation to their wide adoption and liable use."

Thus, portion Microsoft uses AI, the institution recognizes it's nary panacea and indispensable beryllium utilized cautiously.

Rust

For years, Microsoft has been expanding its usage of Rust crossed Windows, Azure, and instrumentality firmware. It whitethorn not beryllium penning Windows successful Rust anytime soon, and neither is Linux. Instead, some are pursuing an assertive but gradual strategy: Rust for caller security-critical components and a semipermanent propulsion to spot memory-safe Rust wherever it's appropriate. 

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Of the two, Microsoft is acold much assertive astir Rust adoption than Linux.

To beryllium exact, Microsoft has already shipped Rust successful cardinal parts of Windows and its ecosystem. For example, Windows 11 present includes kernel components and strategy functions written successful Rust, peculiarly successful newer builds specified arsenic 24H2, arsenic portion of a gradual hardening of the OS against representation bugs.

Microsoft besides precocious adopted a Rust Windows Application Programming Interface (API) and a Rust model for Windows drivers. This enables developers to physique Windows applications and kernel/user-mode drivers successful Rust portion calling existing WDK and Win32 APIs.

The Microsoft Surface and Windows operator teams are already adopting Rust to vessel "safer drivers, stronger devices," utilizing the language's information guarantees to trim crashes and exploitable flaws successful instrumentality firmware and drivers.

Also: AI is already portion of Linux's plumbing - whether developers similar it oregon not

Looking ahead, Windows whitethorn not beryllium rewritten successful Rust by 2030, but I wouldn't beryllium amazed if astir of its codification were written successful Rust by 2035

As for Linux, Rust is creeping successful beauteous overmuch everywhere. As Rust-for-Linux pb Miguel Ojeda said astatine Plumbers, Rust is "here to stay." Rust is officially the kernel's 2nd halfway connection alongside C. Who would person thought it adjacent 2 years ago?

In particular, portion Rust has mostly been confined to drivers and peripherals, it's making its mode into halfway Linux programs. For instance, Debian Linux precocious announced that, going forward, its captious apt bundle manager will beryllium written exclusively successful Rust. That means Mint and Ubuntu, too, volition soon person Rust successful their heart.

Linux maintainer Dave Airlie has said the captious graphics programme Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) project, by this clip adjacent year, volition necessitate Rust for caller drivers. At the Maintainers Summit, Airlie said the DRM task is "about a twelvemonth away" from disallowing caller C drivers and requiring Rust for caller drivers. The program is to "require Rust and prohibit the usage of C for caller controllers" successful the graphics stack.

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Work is besides continuing connected the rust_codegen_gcc and GCC-based gccrs projects, which are making bully progress. These halfway compilers volition yet alteration developers to compile Rust successful Linux utilizing the aforesaid programming tools present utilized for C.

Meanwhile, with Google's support, the mobile Linux we each cognize has respective Rust programs moving down the scenes successful Android 16.

All AI? All Rust? Not yet

Just similar Windows, you won't beryllium seeing an "all Rust Linux" anytime soon. You whitethorn never. Rust whitethorn beryllium safer, but for axenic speed, you inactive can't bushed C. That said, I would ne'er accidental never. Check successful again successful 2035.

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By then, AI volition beryllium afloat incorporated into the improvement of both. Sure, immoderate of america volition inactive beryllium coding successful Visual Studio Code, vim, and EMACS. But, conscionable similar today, erstwhile astir of america programme successful integrated improvement environments (IDEs), by 2025, AI volition beryllium truthful tightly integrated with IDEs that developers won't beryllium capable to abstracted them.