Visual Studio Online vs Gitpod

Visual Studio Online (VSO) and Gitpod are both cloud-based developer environments with some key differences. VSO is based on Microsoft's Visual Studio Code while Gitpod uses Eclipse Theia, an open-source platform governed by the Eclipse Foundation. Both support VS Code extensions and have similar user interfaces. However, Gitpod offers continuous dev environments that are easy to create from any Git branch, whereas VSO requires users to go through a dashboard and form-based configuration dialog. Additionally, Gitpod can be installed on any Kubernetes cluster for self-hosting, while VSO only supports pointing it to hardware running elsewhere. Microsoft's growing control over the developer world raises concerns about competition and innovation in the industry.