I think you're confusing Microsoft Research with Microsoft more broadly. A language research division (MSR does more than this, but they do this) is going to produce languages, that's their job. They often aren't trying to make a language that folks will use, but are instead exploring possibilities that end up improving other languages. Verona (and it is far too early to tell, IMHO) may end up in fact improving Rust. At the same time, Microsoft can and does support Rust, both as an organization on their own and indirectly via GitHub. These two things aren't in conflict, especially when you're talking about an organization as big as Microsoft is.