IMO it's still exciting. Sure, you cannot use it directly for commercial purposes, but having the source for something like this is great to learn from.
And it means that it can be ported to platforms it's currently not available for.
> Sure, you cannot use it directly for commercial purposes, but having the source for something like this is great to learn from.
As long as nobody sees you, otherwise you are vulnerable to a lawsuit. If I had serious plans to make my own implementation I would purposefully avoid even running this program.
Right, if you intend to make your own implementation and profit from it, it's wise to avoid it. But for the rest of us it isn't that black and white...
Do you think Microsoft will be around in 10-20 years? Do you have a good idea of what you'll be working on (or interested in) in 10-20 years? Do you think laws regarding the forms of IP will be much better in 10-20 years? Do you think you'd get caught now or in the next 10-20 years if you do use this as research (or even rip code directly from it) and get sued for making money off it? Plug in your guestimations and make a decision. I looked at it, myself.
And it means that it can be ported to platforms it's currently not available for.