Microsoft announced that it would acquire Xamarin, a company that makes tools that help coders build applications that can run on multiple systems, including those made by Microsoft’s rivals, namely Android and iOS. But developers got a dose of good news today at the company’s Build conference: Microsoft isn’t raising prices. In fact, just the opposite: It’s making Xamarin’s platform free for all users of Microsoft’s popular Visual Studio coding tool, including those who use the free “community” edition of the product. The Mac version of Xamarin will be free as well, all of which is a far cry from the $999 Xamarin previously charged for its business edition.

http://www.wired.com/2016/03/microsoft-delights-devs-freeing-xamarin-coding-tools/