During the initial Kinect release, there was no PC version, but that didn't stop many enthusiasts from tinkering with it and connecting it to PC. Later Microsoft has released an official Kinect for Windows SDK for non-commercial use. Now they have released some of Kinect code samples as open-source, inviting developers to use them and add their own improvements. While that might seem unexpected for gamers, Microsoft always had some open-source projects.

There are 22 code samples in several languages supported by Visual Studio .NET and they include sound work, face and body recognition and some other features. While it is obvious that MS prefers that the improvement work would help Windows, the open code will also help Kinect developers on Linux as well. While Kinect may still seem just a gimmick for games, the potential of the device is still very high and can lead to a lot of interesting uses.