The Git revision control system has expanded its scope and will now be available as GitHub for Windows at http://windows.github.com/ for developers looking to use this free web-based hosting service as a code control and management mechanism.

Open source with optionally "charged-for" commercial alternatives, GitHub for Windows is essentially a "desktop app that works with GitHub" to provide Windows developers with the full gamut of Git functionality. Given the undeniably large developer base of programmers focused on the Microsoft platform, one might argue that this move could and should increase the number of GitHub deployments at the enterprise-level.

GitHub for Windows is a 100% native application. According to the Git development team it will run on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and (even the pre-release) Windows 8. Included in the application is a complete installation of the msysGit repository.

GitHub developer Tim Clem has urged Windows developers to look at this new option, even if they had been previously turned off from GitHub by command-line utilities and the need to set up secure shell SSH keys.

"GitHub for Windows is the easiest way to manage your repositories on GitHub.com. Clone your repositories right from the app or clone directly from GitHub.com with the new Clone in Windows button," writes Clem, on the GitHub developer blog.

GitHub for Windows is supported for all GitHub Enterprise installations running release 11.10.260 or higher. Users simply drag in an existing local enterprise repository or use the Clone in Windows button functionality.

Founded four years ago by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, and PJ Hyett, GitHub has grown into one of the largest code hosts of its kind and now has over 70 employees. The company has received no public funding and currently boasts 1.5 million+ users hosting 2.5 million+ repositories.