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Gates Tries to Explain .Net

AdamBa writes "Speaking to financial analysts and reporters, Bill Gates admitted that .NET hadn't caught on as quickly as he had hoped. The headline ('Gates admits .NET a "misstep"') is a bit misleading; he doesn't think all of .NET was a misstep, just the My Services part (aka Hailstorm). He also said that labelling the current generation of enterprise products as .NET might have been 'premature.' Summary: Microsoft got too excited about locking in users via Hailstorm and botched the overall .NET message." There's also a Reuters report and a NYTimes story on the same subject, which includes the interesting line: "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending." It isn't clear if Microsoft is talking about something happening beyond their control, or if they're boasting about ending it.

559 comments

  1. Gates doesn't do mistakes. by SpanishInquisition · · Score: 5, Funny

    When he does they become standards.

    --
    Je t'aime Stéphanie
  2. End of open source... by FortKnox · · Score: 2, Interesting

    He could be speaking of the end of open source in the business sense. Look at all the open source companies on the market. The market, itself, is getting hammered. Open source/linux companies are getting hit EXTRA hard (VA was hit >17% just yesterday).

    Also, .NET is a nice technology, and has wonderful features (which it should, seeing that it looked on other technologies that broke out, like Java, and improved upon it). And, they are even trying to crack open that "you can only run it on IIS", by attaching it to apache. I'm surprised, myself, how it isn't catching on quickly, but I'm sure the market is mostly to blame.

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
    1. Re:End of open source... by fluch · · Score: 1
      And, they are even trying to crack open that "you can only run it on IIS"

      It's only running on Apache for WIN...

    2. Re:End of open source... by Azghoul · · Score: 1

      I think suggesting that Open Source companies are getting hit any harder than the rest of the tech industry (take a look at the state of affairs of the Nasdaq 100, it's a joke) is plain exaggeration.

      Then again, there are not as many public OS companies. Maybe the public corporation route is NOT the way to go for a successful OS business model...

    3. Re:End of open source... by GreyPoopon · · Score: 3, Insightful
      He could be speaking of the end of open source in the business sense.

      Where in the article did it mention him indicating the end of Open Source? The warning statement was about the end of "Open Computing," and I believe he was referring to Digital Rights Management and other cryptographic technologies being built into the hardware and operating system. Personally, I find this concept MORE frightening than ending Open Source, but he's doing nothing more here than repeating what all of the big corporate conglomerates (RIAA, etc) have been trying to convince us of. Sad really. As much as I don't like Mr. Gates, I would have hoped that the geek in him wouldn't have caved so quickly.

      --

      GreyPoopon
      --
      Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?

    4. Re:End of open source... by GigsVT · · Score: 1

      Funny, RHAT is doing quite well lately. Maybe it's because RHAT isn't bleeding cash like a cow in a kosher slaughterhouse like LNUX is.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    5. Re:End of open source... by antirename · · Score: 1

      I think a lot of admins are still skeptical of MS in the server room... if they want people to use it, they have to prove that it works. At least, if they're trying to get people to switch from Unix. For die-hard *nix veterans, that's going to be a hard sell... unless the PHB is involved, of course.

    6. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whether Open Source software "ends" in the "business sense" has little to due with stock valuations (I assume that is what you meant when you said VA took a 17% hit yesterday) for many reasons. For one thing, not all companies are publicly traded.
      Besides, I think it is pretty clear that he is trying to convince people that personal computer users should no longer expect to be able to do the open exchange of data that Microsoft helped create then nearly single-handedly destroyed due to the security problems they inflicted upon us.

    7. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "As much as I don't like Mr. Gates, I would have hoped that the geek in him wouldn't have caved so quickly." Ehrr, you meen the BillG that got some of his early ideas from looking in scrapbins and has bought all the technology he has ever sold. (No, no one ever bought that silly Microsoft BOB) Bill Gates is not a geek he is a Lawyer's son and did attend law school before he dropped out of it. Hes faters firm has been there all along helping him with all negotiations and such. I do believe he would like to be a geek but he isnt more of a geek than your local garbage collector. He only thing i can imagine that he was in on was the basic interpreter he and another guy wrote for the PC. Dos that was a ripoff off cp/m was bought from seattle technologies for example.

    8. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's funny I always consider stock price going up to ge an indicator of doing well. RedHat as goine from over 8.5 in January to just under 5.5 today. That is a decrease of 35% while the Dow Jones went down only 20% in that time frame (around 10,200 to around 8,200 today).

    9. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he was talking about Palladium, not open source. Palladium is designed to control the flow of information, which is what the quote suggested.

    10. Re:End of open source... by foobar104 · · Score: 2

      Where in the article did it mention him indicating the end of Open Source? The warning statement was about the end of "Open Computing," and I believe he was referring to Digital Rights Management and other cryptographic technologies being built into the hardware and operating system.

      I think you're reading too much into a paraphrase of a quotation that was taken out of context. I think the more likely explanation is that Gates was talking about the end of the largely-free Internet. Free information sites are dropping fast because they can't stay in business. Steve Jobs said pretty much the same thing last week during his Macworld keynote. And, of course, Microsoft has been following Apple's lead for years....

    11. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dear Fortknutz (probably where MS is hoarding their 40billion)

      your whole paragraph can be paraphrased as follows:

      1. the end of open source is near...just look at VA..down 17%

      2. .net is really nice.

      YOU SOUND LIKE A FUCKING RETARD.

      want to talk about the market? how about this? MS stock will never significantly rise again.

      how's that for you?

      it's true. ms is in for a long slow steady decay.

      it's golden moment is gone.

      sure they'll be around 10 years from now....but their time has come and past.

      i don't know if linux will be the next "wave" or not...but i know for a fact that if you own ms stock...look for the next cyclical....then sell.

      and no one should invest in fortknox...especially in anything he has to say...cause it's fucking lame.

      i think microsoft sucks dick...and EVEN I could do a better job of defending it.

      BWA HAHAHAHHAH A

      "va is down"

      ".net is nice"

      shit give me a fucking break.

    12. Re:End of open source... by GigsVT · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it has dropped. RHAT was priced one time as a growth company with huge expectations, which were very unrealistic. Lately they havn't been growing their top line very quickly, but they aren't on the verge of bankruptcy or anything, like a lot of other Linux companies.

      If you'll also notice, RHAT was down to around 4 before popping to 8.5 in the period before, which signifiantly outpaced the Dow, so it all depends on the interval you pick for your chart. It's easy to pick a chart interval that makes the stock look like you want it to look.

      --
      I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    13. Re:End of open source... by thetman · · Score: 1

      Underestimate Bill at your own peril little slashdotting boys and girls......

    14. Re:End of open source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft has never insisted that ASP.NET requires IIS. Unlike ASP, ASP.NET is very nicely separated from IIS and stored directly in .NET under the System.Web.Hosting namespace of System.Web.dll. Microsoft have themselves produced an ASP.NET web server called Cassini which was released as a part of the ASP.NET WebMatrix project (free designer for ASP.NET web pages and services) as a testing entity. Ted Neward has written a document that goes over ASP.NET hosting. It should be relatively trivial to add ASP.NET to any web server.

  3. Open computing ending? by Telastyn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wouldn't that truly be one of the travisties of humanity? Ending the Information Revolution by returning to where we were before it... Let us just hope and act in such a way that this does not come to pass.

    1. Re:Open computing ending? by Noofus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The information age seems to have run amok.

      Example:

      My parents are on vacation in france. They have web based email accounts. One of the hotels they stayed at happened to have internet access. So they sent me (and my grandparents) and email stating that they were having a good time. They did this a few times, until they went on to the next hotel that had no internet access.

      My grandmother, who just learned how to use email, has decided that something HORRIBLE has happened to them because they havent sent an email report in 3 days. She is now convinced they are dead, or something stupid.

      If I dont have my cell phone with me one day (or god forbid I TURN IT OFF when I go to a movie), I am assumed to be dead by my family because they cant contact me.

      I would seriously consider dropping my cell phone plan - except it DOES have its uses. I think it would do the world a bit of good to drop the "Information Revolution" back a few notches. Dropping all the way back to pre-information age technology wouldnt be good. But I think people are taking some of this stuff too far.

    2. Re:Open computing ending? by Azghoul · · Score: 1

      I have an inkling that he's not totally wrong. Seems to me that in the past, everyone just tossed anything they wanted online, people could share all sorts of stuff.

      Now, everyone is jumping on the security bandwagon (probably about time!). Take GIS data for instance: Every federal agency freaked out after last September expecting terrorists to come take their GIS data and map out plans of destruction... So they yanked it all offline, to the serious detriment of academic, state and local GIS efforts.

      Perspectives have changed.

      Now of course, he could be talking about locking everything down with some kind of silly DRM scheme, which we can expect will fail (no way they can get /every/ manufacturer to go along, and no way the laws pass anyway).

    3. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Your family is full of delusional weirdos.

    4. Re:Open computing ending? by Telastyn · · Score: 2

      I actually have no cell phone, and am actively opposed to having one. There's no need for everyone in the world be able to bother me whenever they want to.

      There's a difference between free sharing of information and unwanted information being shoved at you or your information that you DON'T share being taken.

    5. Re:Open computing ending? by gordie · · Score: 1

      Then so is mine! It's a generation thing. My Father's generation (he's in his 70's) is just now getting "in to" computers. I remember the day he called me at work, to tell me he figured out how to save a text file on his own. Then called back to ask how to find it again. Email and cell phones are wonders to them. When things do not work as expected, or differently then before, they begin to panic - not an un-natural reaction to (for them) the unknown.

    6. Re:Open computing ending? by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Gates indicated that the company's software Promised Land will be a new version of its Windows operating system code-named Longhorn, which is still at least two years off.

      Don't we hear this story every few years, but with a different product's name? Before that it was Windows XP, and before that it was "Chicago/Windows 4.0/Win95" and before that it was DOS 6 and before that it was ...

      According to MSFT, the 'Promised Land of Computing' has always been waiting for us in their home just over the next ridge.

    7. Re:Open computing ending? by MrFredBloggs · · Score: 1

      I have a cellphone, like most* people in Europe. If i dont want to be disturbed, guess what i do...

      *(yeah,most - more than half)

    8. Re:Open computing ending? by aonaran · · Score: 1

      I have a cell phone for work, I'm on call every other week, so I can't avoid it... but really when I'm not on call, or if I had a different job, I'd still HAVE a cell, it would just be turned off all the time. I'd only really want it so I could make a phone call whenever i wanted, certainly not so people could call me. It really bothers me when people call me on the cell. (not counting work... that bothers me but for a different reason) I try not to let my cell number circulate amongst friends and family, except a few people for emergencies... but it still gets out (and I have a different number every few months because the phones they give us at work are really crappy)

    9. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the scenario you describe, people's lack of wisdom is the problem, not the information age. One very basic principle is: "With power comes responsibility." Your family has to learn that just because they can harass far-away relatives every day, that doesn't mean they should. If they refuse to learn, then they deserve to suffer through their unjustified worries.

    10. Re:Open computing ending? by gowen · · Score: 1
      I actually have no cell phone, and am actively opposed to having one. There's no need for everyone in the world be able to bother me whenever they want to.
      Fear not, even as we speak scientists worldwide are struggling with the thorny problem of the "Mobile Phone OFF Switch". Due Q3, 2003.
      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
    11. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that line works, until your girlfriend decides that if you don't want her to be able to reach you, something suspicious must be going on.

    12. Re:Open computing ending? by Zathruss · · Score: 0

      I totally agree. One day I just had enough and my cellphone became a little pile of broken plastic and silicone on the freeway.

      Just about the most satisfying thing I've ever done.

    13. Re:Open computing ending? by Noofus · · Score: 1

      These past two weeks have proven that to me. I am ready to pull my hair out trying to reassure my grandmother that they are probably just fine.

    14. Re:Open computing ending? by rmadmin · · Score: 1

      I can understand the elder generations panicing about stuff not working, but then again, they aren't as spoiled by technology as the younger ones. The older generations can probably remember when TV worked once in a while. Us youngins are so used to cable TV and having a perfect picture all the time that we expect perfection out of every new technology that comes out.

      Of course, different people react to situations differently. When my grandpa's TV doesn't work, he usaully says something to the effect of "Oh, might as well go work on the truck, maybe the TV company will fix it by the time I'm done". Now, hand the same situation to a 15-25 year old (This is just an example), and you'll probably get something to the effect of "!?! $*!@ TV COMPANY!!! THOSE $*(@$*( CANT DO ANYTHING RIGHT!!! DIE DIE DIE, I'm going to call the TV company now and tell them to go $*@! themselves!".

      You get the picture.

    15. Re:Open computing ending? by UTPinky · · Score: 1

      I know this was already addressed a few months ago, but even today, I, being a student from the University of Texas, am greatly offended by codename for the next version of Windows... I sure do not think that those two things should bear ANY resemblance, but that's just my 2c.

      --
      I'm only paranoid because everyone is against me...
    16. Re:Open computing ending? by majestyk2000 · · Score: 1

      Sadly, my family does the same thing. Five minutes late from work? Someone will be waiting at the door for me. Go to a movie and be incommunicado for three hours? Dead in a car crash, most certainly. I'm almost gratified to know that someone else's family is like that.

    17. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet on the other hand, the younger generations completely accept that the Blue Screen of Death just "happens" sometimes and rebooting after you install software is mandatory.

      Come on. We've all been coached to accept that, unlike the other electronic hardware in our lives, software is naturally buggy.

      P.S. - I love my Cell phone. I used to think the same way... why do I need other people to always be able to bug me? But hey ! I enjoy the convenience, knowing that I can be stuck on a road somewhere, or just running late, and call in to alert my friends I'm still on my way, not to worry (or send the tow-truck).

    18. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget Cairo with the be-all and end-all object-filesystem. Be and their object filesystem is certainly all-ended, but Microsoft never came close.

    19. Re:Open computing ending? by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1
      "I know this was already addressed a few months ago, but even today, I, being a student from the University of Texas, am greatly offended by codename for the next version of Windows... I sure do not think that those two things should bear ANY resemblance, but that's just my 2c."

      I am not familiar with what you mean ... also I am not a USA citizen so that may have something to do with it. Why is 'Longhorn' insulting to the UofTexas?

    20. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Say to your sell 10 times in a row - I am a Troll. Maybe then you will stop spreading your shit.

      Maybe people accept Blue Screens because they only happen very rarely. Actually I haven't seen one in over 2 years (and no I don't have auto-restart on).

      And I can't remember the last time I had to restart after I installed something.

      When are you going to realize that when you say stuff like this people look at you like you have ten heads. People don't expect this stuff any more because it doesn't happen. If you want to convert people to Linux or any other OS you have to harp on security and the morality of Microsoft's business practices.

      Repeat after me - Blue Screens don't happen anymore and I don't need to restart.

      Again. Now 10 more times. Get it into your thick ignorant head.

    21. Re:Open computing ending? by UTPinky · · Score: 1

      Longhorn is not alone insulting. UT's mascot is the Longhorn, so its insulting for m$ to be codenaming one of their OS's the same thing. Granted, I'm sure that they are not naming it after our mascot, but nevertheless just the idea of being "associated" with it sucks.

      --
      I'm only paranoid because everyone is against me...
    22. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in the last three weeks i have had to restart 8 times to install software.

    23. Re:Open computing ending? by Milican · · Score: 2

      Now say to yourself... "Because it doesn't happen to me doesn't mean it doesn't happen". I still get blue screens every once in a while, I still have to reboot when I install some software, etc... and yes I'm running Win2k. No my computer is not a piece of crap, all the hardware is fine, and its not overclocked.

      Oh yeah, on security I remeber when I started the web server on my Win2k box and it got infected within 8-hours.. yep! 8-hours! And I had applied all the patches. What happened is when I installed the web server over the security rollup package some DLLs were replaced wih old ones. Only Windows didn't know this, so I didn't know this at the time. As further evidence, I could go to Windows Update and everything was a-ok according to MS. But once I got the virus I realized it wasn't. SO I figured out the problem and re-applied the security roll up package and everything was cool.

      JOhn

    24. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the heck did you smoke?

      I do not want to touch that stuff.

    25. Re:Open computing ending? by ReidMaynard · · Score: 1

      I remember thinking (when I started contract programming 15 years ago) when I got a magnetic badge and a pager...ooo, I'm just like the Bears on National Geographic !! I have an eartag and a homing collar !!

      I discarded the cellphone for good in 1998 and have never been happier.

      Next I look for a job at a small company which doesn't need eartags.

      --
      -- www.globaltics.net

      Political discussion for a new world

    26. Re:Open computing ending? by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      That's market-speak. Pie-in-a-sky is always the way that flavor of suit speaks.

      I would say, however, that much of what was really promised by Microsoft ten years ago has been delivered (in W2K.) Then they plowed further ahead and wrecked it, with XP, of course.

    27. Re:Open computing ending? by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1
      "I would say, however, that much of what was really promised by Microsoft ten years ago has been delivered (in W2K.) Then they plowed further ahead and wrecked it, with XP, of course."

      It depends on your point of view. I personally run Win2k with Linux (dual boot) and I am trying to switch all my operations to linux. I would never upgrade to XP because of all the crap in it - compared to XP, Win2k is not really bloatware.

      But I have friends who refuse to upgrade from Win98se until they get the chance/money to grab a copy of XP. I have told them about the merits of Win2k but it seems that the 'friendlier' home user targetted user interface plus better games compatibility makes XP better for them.

      Did MSFT 'ruin' Win2k by turning it into XP? For us, they ruined it. For everyone else, MSFT put the finishing touches on a tasty cake.

    28. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's called marketing

    29. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How self centered and childish you are. Get over it.

    30. Re:Open computing ending? by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 2

      The "Longhorn" is a pub at the base of the "Whistler", a ski resort in Washington.

      (Whistler was the codename for Windows XP)

    31. Re:Open computing ending? by Zordak · · Score: 2

      Don't worry too much. I hear that the next version (the DRM one that REALLY sucks) is going to be called "Aggie."

      --

      Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
    32. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about just getting their medication upped a bit. :)

    33. Re:Open computing ending? by Helen+O'Boyle · · Score: 1
      RzUpAnmsCwrds writes:
      The "Longhorn" is a pub at the base of the "Whistler", a ski resort in Washington.
      Close, but not quite. Whistler's in BC (Canada).
    34. Re:Open computing ending? by thetman · · Score: 1

      I never get blue screens either. But I still have to reboot after installing the most insignifigant software.

    35. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry--the promised land is there. Gates just wants to spend 40 years wandering through the wasteland before invading it...

    36. Re:Open computing ending? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've found on my 2k box that most installs that tell you need to reboot can be ignored. 95% of the time they work fine. It just seems to be a hangover from the win9x days.

    37. Re:Open computing ending? by Sanat · · Score: 1

      Same with me. No pager, no cell phone, no television, no newspapers. Just me and my lady living in a cabin in the forest.

      The dialup line is a hassle though since the trees are too tall for a satellite connection and Sprint will not have DSL in my lifetime in this area of the Appalachians.

      I would not trade working from home. I almost never go out unless it is for fun, movie, to eat or to party.

      --
      And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make
  4. Gates give company a "C" by pgpckt · · Score: 4, Interesting


    According to the CNN article, Gates has gone with a report card scheme to give his company a "C" rating (for non-americans, grades can be A,B,C,D, or F (no E), and C is "average").

    I guess it is nice to see a top Microsoft exec give a realistic review of the company. I wonder if the corperate scandles of late have anything to do with this unusual honesty? Perhaps Gates feared if he gave too rosey a picture, stock holders would be skeptical.

    I think if we were really honest with ourselves, we would rate Linux at around the same score (perhaps C+). It is good to see our main competitor admit that we are on a level playing field :)

    --
    Lawrence Lessig is my personal hero.
    1. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Azghoul · · Score: 1

      It is kind of surprising that we haven't heard about any new SEC investigations into MS's accounting practices. The only thing I can think of is that the SEC just called over to Justice and got all the details...

      And I'd give Linux an A. I'd give all the applications and surrounding stuff a B-, but the kernel is good stuff.

    2. Re:Gates give company a "C" by pgpckt · · Score: 2


      I wasn't thinking about the quality of linux per se, but rather how we are doing in market penetration. We are growing, but we have a long way to go.

      --
      Lawrence Lessig is my personal hero.
    3. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Sludge · · Score: 2

      Giving the company an 'A' would give a distinct impression of no room for improvement. The honesty of not giving 100% also helps with the credibility of the proceeding sentences.

    4. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Peyna · · Score: 2

      C is supposed to be average, but if you look at most schools in the US you will see that the average grade tends to be a bit higher. If you look at a 4 point scale, a C is a 2.0, and I'm pretty sure there are more people above a 2.0 than below it. A steady 2.0 is barely enough to keep you in most universities!

      --
      What?
    5. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Zeinfeld · · Score: 2
      It is kind of surprising that we haven't heard about any new SEC investigations into MS's accounting practices. The only thing I can think of is that the SEC just called over to Justice and got all the details...

      OK Einstein, perhaps you can explain how the SEC is going to improve consumer confidence in the stock market by taking a company to task for under-reporting its profits in this climate?

      With the President and Vice President facing enquiries into corrupt accounting schemes that made them rich the last thing they are about to do is to make an enemy of a guy who controls a news station (MSNBC) and who can buy a network out of petty cash if it chooses (NBC is hardly a core asset in NBC's current strategy).

      The 'vast right wing conspiracy' that Hilary talked about was in reality a handfull of right wing loons bankrolled by a single far right tycoon. Gates has the money and the connections to ensure that all we hear from morning to night in the mainstream media is Harken, the Rangers stadium deal and the accounting at Haliburton.

      In other words the SEC is no more likely to investigate Microsoft than it is likely to re-open the enquiry into Bush's insider trading and corrupt accounting at Harken.

      Another reason is that the player with the most credibility in this market at the moment is Warren Buffet who is a very good friend of Gates. If Buffet passes Microsofts accounts nobody else is going to gainsay him.

      --
      Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
      Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
    6. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Zayin · · Score: 1

      I think if we were really honest with ourselves, we would rate Linux at around the same score (perhaps C+). It is good to see our main competitor admit that we are on a level playing field :)

      No, I would give Linux the worst grade imaginable: An A... minus.... minus!

      --
      "I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy"
    7. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Snodgrass · · Score: 1

      I guess it is nice to see a top Microsoft exec give a realistic review of the company. I wonder if the corperate scandles of late have anything to do with this unusual honesty? Perhaps Gates feared if he gave too rosey a picture, stock holders would be skeptical.

      Well, regardless of what people think of Bill Gates, he's definately a shrewd business man. This could very well be a way of helping his customers and stockholders "feel good". Yes, the .NET thing has been a big confusion, but by admitting it this way he makes Microsoft seem like the your friendly neighborhood mega-corporation. "We make mistakes, too." I think it's made easier by the fact that there were no direct victims of the mistake. It was really just a lot of hype gone bad, so all he has to say is "oops, well that didn't go well did it? *chuckle chuckle* *wink* *wink*"

      I'm not saying whether this is good or bad and I'm not trying to make a statement about .NET, I'm just saying that he's a shrewd dude and this is actually probably an effective way to diffuse the confusion issue. People feel like they're getting screwed by big corporations anyway, and with the recent scandals it's more true than ever. But this way Microsoft comes out looking like they're getting screwed along with the rest of us. "We're all victims here."

    8. Re:Gates give company a "C" by pauls2272 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmm, I thought he gave them a C#...

    9. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Linux increasingly seems to be about alternatives to X, not about X itself. As a result, it is perennially locked into pumping out derivative products.

      This is a shame, but if this is the best open source can do, it deserves to fail.

    10. Re:Gates give company a "C" by (startx) · · Score: 1

      but I don't think it's because kids are getting smarter... it's because they're making the classes easier. My little brother (who is only 6 years younger than I) is starting high school this year. His classes now are such a joke compared to what they taught us just a few years ago. I feel sorry for him, because with the education he's recieve, college is going to wear him down completely. Ah, the great dumbing down of america's elementary educational system.

    11. Re:Gates give company a "C" by iamwhatiseem · · Score: 1

      Are you serious?? Honesty? Giving .Net a "C" is honest? To anyother company in the world, this would be a D- at least. For most an "F", since such a failure would bankrupt them.

    12. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gates went to Harvard. No one at Harvard gets C's.

    13. Re:Gates give company a "C" by Azghoul · · Score: 1

      I wonder what it must be like to see life through such cynical glasses. Must be all dull greys, and probably smells like shit too.

      You might have had a reasonable argument, except that you try to defend your own conspiracy theory with another.

      As for Warren Buffet, he'd prefer the market to stay low (and I happen to agree with that for the most part). And if Gates is his "very good friend", one can hardly expect objective reasoning.

      And last I checked, when Buffet and friends dumped a few hundred million into that telecom recently (Sorry, I've forgotten the name), I seem to recall quite a few financial pundits "gainsaying" him.

  5. Cheap office labor! by teamhasnoi · · Score: 3, Funny
    when you said, 'These two systems have to connect. Bring in 200 consultants at $200 an hour,' are over."

    One dollar an hour per consultant? I guess I know how much a MCSE certificate is worth nowadays. Hell, cheaper than temps, though.

    1. Re:Cheap office labor! by curtisk · · Score: 1

      Incorrect! That would be for a MS Certified Solution Provider @ $1 per / hour, plain ol' MCSE's are $0.60 per /hour.

      --

      Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

    2. Re:Cheap office labor! by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      I think there's an implicit "each" in there :-p

    3. Re:Cheap office labor! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      when you're using all your bandwidth to download that days new Linux .ISO image it's easy to miss details.

    4. Re:Cheap office labor! by aonaran · · Score: 1

      Why can't I get an MCSE for $0.60 per hour? I need a trained monkey to lable CDs, get coffee, change lusers passwords for them...

    5. Re:Cheap office labor! by aonaran · · Score: 1

      I guess I should be fair, the MCSE was the best $600 I spent when I was job hunting between University and my first real job. I had a degree in History with a minor in Comp.Sci. ...hard to get an interview with those credentials, MCSE got me in the door, being a geek got me the job.

    6. Re:Cheap office labor! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i dunno being a geek got me in the door
      Msce?ccna? right now they feel like the biggest waste of time money ive ever done seems like it
      would of been better just going to the community college and getting a couple more math classes outta the way.

      ps my payscale is $0.61 i think im the highest paid msce:)

  6. heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    uh-huh

    I'm warezing .NET right now.

    M$=0wn3r1z3d

    1. Re:heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're warezing something MS provide as a free download.

      d00d! u r s0 1337!

    2. Re:heh by Sibelius · · Score: 1

      Actually, you're digging your own grave. It's been fairly well accepted for a long time that Microsoft has allowed its software to be pirated more or less without restrictions because this will get it into every home and onto every single computer that young teenagers have access to.

      Oh, yes, yes, they're losing humongous amounts of money allowing this to happen..., yes, that's very clear from the size of Gates' house or their empire.

      You know how it is with crack, right? The first one's always free.

    3. Re:heh by Steve+G+Swine · · Score: 3

      Yeah, I'm warezing .NET too.

      Grab it, d000dz!

      Yeesh.

      --
      "Consider yourself a member of a virtual corporation with Mr. Torvalds as your Chief Executive Officer." - Linux Advocac
    4. Re:heh by SensitiveMale · · Score: 1
      And 2 hours later after installing .Net...

      MS will 0wn joo!

    5. Re:heh by dattaway · · Score: 2

      I have seen a pattern for the last 15 years.

      I wouldn't call it losing money. Its a virtual investment for them. They released the seeds of a product and hope to plant it. Microsoft hopes for maximum distribution across ALL firtile fields. When it takes root and blossoms, THEN they milk it. When its use reaches saturation, they milk it for all its worth while they release a new product.

      They repeat this cycle, changing its previous already basterdized standards, only to market something more innovative(tm).

    6. Re:heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Warezing .NET? Oh, should I put on my black hat when I go to Microsoft's website and download it for free? I didn't know.

  7. sorry Bill... by red_five_standing_by · · Score: 0

    You can't buy Linux.

  8. Hailstorm Not Ditched After All by jgeelan · · Score: 1

    Look at what's said about Hailstorm here: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/07/22/ 020722hnhailms.xml Microsoft embeds HailStorm into .Net

  9. Marketing to blame by glh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the main problem with .NET is the marketing. .NET means somethind different to just about everyone.. To me as a developer it means the new development tools (ASP.NET, VB.NET, C#, Web Services). I definitely don't think that was a misstep- it is 100x better than its predecessor (COM). However, I think branding hailstorm and all the new version of the enterprise servers as .NET was a mistake. MS was trying to put everything under the .NET umbrella, but since some of those products/concepts have failed (ie hailstorm) it is now going to paint all things .NET in a negative light especially to people who aren't totally familiar with it. I hope they learn the lesson. I can remember visiting the web site several times that talks about what .NET is, and seeing it change about every month :)

    1. Re:Marketing to blame by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2, Troll

      I was gonna say the exact same thing ... I don't give a crap about new servers, passport, hailstorm, some crap about web services (I mean INTERNET web services, business to consumer. I think that is hype, hype, hype... all the USEFUL web service stuff I've seen is between different units of the same business in different locations).

      That said .NET/ASP+ rocks... I just wish we could stop buying into the Oracle hype/money machine where I work and actually use it. This is completely offtopic, but would someone tell me what, exactly is the point of going with a completely propietary Java/JSP solution by tying yourselves to Oracles tools so completely? Why not use JBOSS/Linux or even JBOSS on the Sun machines they already have? Your taxpayer dollars are paying good money to port from one completely propietary platform (2k/ASP) to another (ORACLE/SUN). The only difference? The latter costs more.

    2. Re:Marketing to blame by pauljlucas · · Score: 1
      I think the main problem with .NET is the marketing. .NET means somethind different to just about everyone.
      In the MacWorld keynote speech, Steve Jobs said in reference to Apple's revamped iTools service called .mac, "We know what it means."
      --
      If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
    3. Re:Marketing to blame by javilon · · Score: 2

      " Your taxpayer dollars are paying good money to port from one completely propietary platform (2k/ASP) to another (ORACLE/SUN). The only difference? The latter costs more."

      In my experience, the answer to this is _performance_ and _reliability_ wich you don't get winth 2k/asp.

      --


      When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
    4. Re:Marketing to blame by zero_offset · · Score: 5, Interesting
      I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see other people have figured this out. Microsoft marketing might be good at pushing individual products or tightly-coupled suites like Office, but when it comes to selling technologies, they suck badly. When I was beta testing and saw the "services" hype machine gearing up, I wanted to pull my hair out. It's as if a Ferrari salesman chooses to focus on the stereo exclusively. Yes, it's present and useful and some people will be very excited about it, but it ignores a vast array of other more important things, more compelling reasons to invest some effort into this.

      During the beta I thought this might be just a smoke screen to keep the DOJ from looking at it too closely. After all, proper exploitation of the CLR should allow them to eventually run Windows on other hardware, or maybe even as a full replacement GUI/pseudo-OS layer on other OSes. However, this stupid murky message has persisted, so now I think it's just marketing incompetence.

      Recall that MS marketing almost tanked the previous generation of MS technology with that stupid DNA bullshit. I remember YEARS went by before even many developers understood what DNA actually was -- a set of useful discrete but interoperable products which were related but were not "one big thing".

      .NET itself is an excellent move for Microsoft, and since virtually everybody uses Microsoft products, it could eventually be a great thing for Windows users too (although if properly used/implemented, they probably won't know it's being used, which is fine).

      I just hope BillG gets his heads out of the clouds long enough to pinpoint the problem, execute the market droids responsible for the mess, and make a cleaner, more digestible push to the people who really need to understand it -- the development community.

      Oh yes, and one other point -- the size of the framework may prove to be a sticking point. It's pretty big, so unless you're selling CD-based traditional software, it'll be a hard sell for quite some time. But even the typical /. anti-MS flame-belching troll should at least recognize that MS is smart enough to have accomodated that in their planning.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    5. Re:Marketing to blame by FatRatBastard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unfortunatly, this is how the IT industry works (or has worked). I guess all marketing departments do this to an extent, but IT is really the worst.

      A. Promise the moon, to be delivered within two years
      B. Spend 6 months talking about the Moon, but never really getting into details beyond buzzwords.
      B2. If new and interesting technology comes along within those 6 months claim the Moon will contain it as well
      C. Come out with alpha software (Moon v.1 Preview) that has little functionality built in but looks nice
      D. Slip schedule ('We're adding new and exciting features')
      E..Y Wait
      Z. Deliver something that could quite possibly be useful and innovative, but deliveres about 1/10th of the orig. promise.

    6. Re:Marketing to blame by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      Sorry, I don't think your scenario applies here, although it certainly describes a very common problem. This isn't about delivering something late, or failing to deliver on a promise, it's about a hugely incompetent attempt to describe what IS being delivered.

      With the exception of the .NET server platforms (which underwent major overhauls not really related to .NET itself), .NET itself was delivered more or less on time, and to people who knew what it was (e.g. we could ignore the marketing) it actually delivered far more than any of us expected.

      There is so much to .NET it's difficult for an experienced developer to fully grasp without a long period of study. So it isn't surprising that marketing couldn't boil it down to a nice bite-sized chunklet wrapped in a juicy slogan. (Not that they should try, but sadly that's what seems to sell.)

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    7. Re:Marketing to blame by Jord · · Score: 1
      Hmmm Oracle/Sun being more stable would be the first thought off the top of my head. More secure as well.

      As for being locked into a proprietary solution going with J2EE I guess I am confused on that one. How can developing J2EE applications lock you in? Don't like the server? Jump ship go to something else. Change the config files and you are good to go. Don't like the database? Welcome to JDBC, slap in a different driver, point it a different direction and your good to go?

      Maybe my definition of proprietary is different...

    8. Re:Marketing to blame by mcwop · · Score: 2
      Here is some actual marketing language from a software company (not Microsoft but it is typical):

      ABC Software is the leading global provider of business integration solutions. The world's leading companies rely on ABC to transform their businesses through integration. Our solutions bring together incompatible applications and systems to enable real-time processes, improved performance, and enhanced business visibility.

      This is useless. And unfortunately most of the specific product solutions rely on the same crap. I want to know specifically how the product works. For example, "Our software connects directly to your database records, converts the elements to xml spec of your choosing, encrypts the data so your developers can build to it or it may be transmitted over the Internet". I hope you see where I am going. Software companies simply have no idea how to communicate what their software does. Many developers can't communicate in understandable terms, and marketers don't know the technology.

      --

      "I don't think it's selfish, to eat defenseless shellfish." -NOFX

    9. Re:Marketing to blame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm... first COM, then .NET, what next? MS GOV? MS MIL?! Scary thoughts.

    10. Re:Marketing to blame by FatherOfONe · · Score: 1

      I will try to answer you question. I use Oracle 9i DB and their developer suite. However we use Resin and Apache as our web server and application server.

      Oracle provides some cool tools for their developers that allow you to create some cool JSP's without knowing much Java coding. They follow some good design patterns and their code CAN be ported to just about any Java Application server. I have done this to Resin and it works great. Having said that I don't EVER use their wizards, and beans. I do everything by hand. It definately takes me longer but I know what the heck is going on with my apps. However, for a ton of people the wizards and tools are great. I know of a bunch of lower level developers that can do some amazing work in a short amount of time.

      For your statement about costing more. I don't agree with that. Once you port from Microsoft to Java, you don't care what platform it runs on any more. Your employer has the ability to very easily migrate to ANY platform later, it appears that they have just picked Sun and Oracle to start with. To be honest they could have picked a lot worse. I am a fan of JBOSS and hope that it gets better, but for a ton of customers it is not the best choice. Same goes for Linux. Just be thankfull that you WILL have a choice in the future without having to touch your code! If you design it correct, then you could even swap out Oracle easily.

      --
      The more I learn about science, the more my faith in God increases.
    11. Re:Marketing to blame by pmz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your taxpayer dollars are paying good money to port from one completely propietary platform (2k/ASP) to another (ORACLE/SUN). The only difference? The latter costs more.

      This is a bit trollish. Oracle on Sun offers tremendous flexibility, it can be extemely reliable, and it is much simpler to administer well. Conversely, I've seen Oracle on Windows NT, and it was an embarassing travesty.

      I really wish people who see only up-front costs would take off their blinders and have just a little insight into the future. UNIX, believe it or not, is still cheaper in the long-term than Windows, and going with non-Microsoft applications may actually reduce risk. Perhaps this is a good thing for the taxpayers?

      Microsoft has been very successful at making people put all their eggs in one basket and at providing an operating system that requires what seems to be a one-to-one ratio between administrators and computers. Is this really what you want?

    12. Re:Marketing to blame by tshak · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm in the same boat as you. .NET is stupid. Hailstorm that is. Windows .NET server makes a little bit of sense, but the concept of naming it .NET is kind of stupid as well. .NET as a technology is great. It's not perfect, but for a 1.0 (and an MS 1.0 at that!) it's incredible.

      What's interesting is that it's not just PHB's that don't understand this issue, many developers don't either - especially those in the Java camp. They see headlines like this and say, "MS's java copy failed LOL!".

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    13. Re:Marketing to blame by cow+ninja · · Score: 1

      Your taxpayer dollars are paying good money to port from one completely propietary platform (2k/ASP) to another (ORACLE/SUN).

      You wouldn't be working on a DOD project would you? If not I assure you that a lot of the US governement is moving to Oracle 9i.

    14. Re:Marketing to blame by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

      I feel the need to reply to some of the replies.

      first off, I have no argument with Oracle on sun as a backend. Hey, it's tough to argue with the stability/scalability. Our Sun cluster is nice. We need speed, they just add processors.

      However, I don't like it on the front end (at least the way we are using it). We are using all the oracle propietary tools (jdeveloper and it's extensions, for instance). Why not just use "generic JSP" and java containers. Why not use CVS instead of oracle's source management? Instead of Oracle Portal, why not another (perhaps open-source) portal package? Why not Jboss?

      In our organization, there are 3 admins for countless NT servers and 2 support folks. Meanwhile, there are four unix guys for two Sun clusters. I guarantee you, they make more as well, so your argument about administration doesn't fly.

      The fact of the matter is, we just spec'ed out the port to Java/JSP/Oracle Portal and it is well into six figures for ZERO functionality. Will it be faster/more scalable? Sure, but there is no problem in those areas now. And that cost does not factor in the Oracle licensing, which is considerable.

    15. Re:Marketing to blame by (void*) · · Score: 2

      That sounds exactly like what a horny teenage guy would say to a girl to get laid. Promise the moon, promise to rock her world, but in reality, all he wanted was just a screw.

    16. Re:Marketing to blame by pmz · · Score: 2

      first off, I have no argument with Oracle on sun as a backend. ...

      However, I don't like it on the front end...


      I was really talking just about the back end, since I have no experience with all the new whiz-bang tools they put into recent releases.

      Oracle really doesn't force the choice of anything other than the DBMS in their software. It is very common to use separate J2EE software, such as that from BEA, Macromedia, iPlanet, or even JBoss, to connect to Oracle for data only.

      I've used Oracle DBMS with 3rd party J2EE on a couple projects, and my development environment is basic stuff: vi for editing, make for building, and sccs for version control. This arrangment works quite well.

      In our organization, there are 3 admins for countless NT servers and 2 support folks. Meanwhile, there are four unix guys for two Sun clusters. I guarantee you, they make more as well, so your argument about administration doesn't fly.

      My argument is still okay. If you have four people managing two Sun clusters, then (1) they really are just a bureaucracy and not very good, (2) they really are competent and do more than just mangage the two clusters (networking, etc.), or (3) they rotate schedules so they offer 24x7 on-site support.

      If it's (1), then they know they have a good thing going, don't care, and are living a lie at your company's expense. For just a cluster, there really needs to be only two people, just so you're covered if one person dies.

      The fact of the matter is, we just spec'ed out the port to Java/JSP/Oracle Portal and it is well into six figures for ZERO functionality.

      You probably will pay six figures for Oracle DBMS on two clusters, anyway, but the J2EE stuff really does not need to be that expensive. Literally, even commercial J2EE software can range from just a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars for roughly comparable features with different brand-names attached. It just takes quite a bit of time to shop around, since there really are many options. Anyway, "ZERO functionality" is an understatement for any software.

    17. Re:Marketing to blame by Hiro+Antagonist · · Score: 2

      Ah, the "Promise them the moon, then give them Io." trick.

      --

      --
      I Hit the Karma Cap, and All I Got Was This Lousy .sig.
    18. Re:Marketing to blame by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2

      Z1. Profit!!!

    19. Re:Marketing to blame by Jason+Earl · · Score: 2

      You are certainly correct about Microsoft delivering on time and with more than most folks bargained for. .NET was more or less precisely what Microsoft promised, and it was delivered in a very timely manner. However, the reason that it isn't selling doesn't have anything to do with the fact that it has a poor slogan. The reason that .NET hasn't gained much traction is that it A) requires Microsoft's largest developer community (VB programmers) to completely rethink and rewrite their code, probably in another language and B) they marketed .NET in such a way that the cool bits were marketed alongside several bits that were not cool and that no one was interested in (Hailstorm).

      Yes, I know that it is possible to connect to legacy code via COM, and I realize that you can create web services without Hailstorm or Passport, but that certainly isn't the message that Microsoft has been preaching. Whenever folks complained about all the changes to VB all Microsoft could do was point out how cool C# was. Whenever Microsoft talked about web services they tripped all over themselves explaining how for thousands of dollars a year websites could access the information that Microsoft was gathering on their Passport users.

      Needless to say neither of these messages were what consumers and developers wanted to hear.

      So don't blame .NET's lackluster sales on complexity, but instead put the blame where it belongs. Microsoft has been painting a picture that makes them happy instead of one that makes their customers happy.

    20. Re:Marketing to blame by Pfhreakaz0id · · Score: 2

      You're missing my point. Or actually agreeing with it. "Oracle really doesn't force the choice of anything other than the DBMS in their software. " exactly. But the management DOES. It's all Oracle, all the time, 24x7. I know you don't have to. but I'm a lone voice here.

      Your point "living a lie at your companies expense" is incorrect. They are gov't employees, so they are living a lie at you and I's expense (assuming you are U.S.)

      Also, the zero functionality statement is in this context: WE are going to port the existing app, feature for feature, for a LARGE cost. No new features/functionality at all. We will do some enhancments at the same time frame, but they will be paid for separately (and could be done separately without any extra work).

      Like I said, you're just agreeing with my point. The advantage (it seems to me) in going to Java/JSP/J2EE platform is interoperability, etc., but instead, we're just locking ourselves into Oracle, Oracle, Oracle/Sun which I don't see any advantage of (NT/ASP frontend to Oracle backend). I'm sorry, I just don't. We don't have (nor will we ever have, on these apps/userbase) the numbers to justify some massively scalable web application. We'll just pay a whole LOT more for the software/hardware. Actually, everyone will, so we can be buzzword compliant.

      anyway, enough of my rant. Thanks for the tips, you are just confirming my research (in an area I am not an expert in). Unfortunately, I'm just seen as the "microsoft lackie" by the Oracle guys here, so I'm utterly, utterly powerless.

    21. Re:Marketing to blame by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      I think somewhere in there you missed my point. I don't think all the slogans in the world could sell something like .NET because it's simply too large and complex to lend itself well to a simple but accurate description. Additionally I disagree that cool bits were marked alongside uncool bits -- I believe the uncool bits were the ONLY part that received marketing attention, and that is the main reason for the failure.

      While I agree the VB compatability question does play a role, I don't think it's as important as you suggest. With each rev of VB, the previous version (sometimes the previous two versions) remained in widespread use for quite a long time. This has become normal in the VB community.

      I believe the actual problem is that Microsoft and particularly Microsoft marketing has done a really poor job of explaining to developers what .NET really is and what it has to offer. Most developers simply don't know what .NET really is all about. I've been to MANY .NET-related shows, seminars, conferences, and other things over the past couple of years and even near the end of the show, people are wandering around confused -- often because what they're hearing has NOTHING (or very little) to do with what the marketing droids have told them to think about.

      The complexity is really a side-effect problem. If I thought .NET was only web-services-related, which would be an easy conclusion to draw based on the marketing, and I was then faced with the thousands of classes which comprise .NET, I'd start to get cold feet over adoption, too. But luckily I came to it through the beta program, so I knew up front this was really NGWS (Next Generation Windows Services), which was vastly more comprehensive than just web services, so I expected a complex and broad class library.

      I think you and I agree on the large-scale points though, you just somehow got the impression I was laying the blame on complexity. It's all the fault of really poor marketing, first and foremost. If your developers don't know what it's about, they aren't going to (can't) make very good decisions about if, where, and when to use it.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    22. Re:Marketing to blame by AlgUSF · · Score: 1

      But never MS .ORG, since org's are (supposed to be) non-profit.

      --


      I want my rights back. I was actually using them when our government stole them after 9/11.
    23. Re:Marketing to blame by pmz · · Score: 2

      They are gov't employees...

      Ahh, it all makes sense, now, and I did misunderstand you somewhat. This is a classic problem where the ends do not justify the tools, but the tools were dictated by people who want to spend lots of money and want things to sound really big. These same people tend to be insecure and incompetent, and they frequently got their jobs due to tenure when someone else retired. There is no logic to it--it's all politics and prestige. I've seen it several times, and it is very frustrating.

    24. Re:Marketing to blame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you see ?
      you are the development community.
      You have no choice.
      Develop or die

      PS: No it's not a haiku

    25. Re:Marketing to blame by twaltari · · Score: 1

      Visual Basic compatibility is a real important issue, since the developers most likely to adopt .Net are current VB programmers. Microsoft has quit supporting Visual Basic in any way. That product is simply a dead end. The problem is, all these VB programmers have to learn object oriented programming.

      Also, I think .Net is most suitable for writing web applications running on top of IIS (ASP; mostly VB and VBScript at the moment) and simple, dialog based Windows desktop applications (currently developed using VB, Delphi, C++). Java isn't too suitable for writing desktop apps due to poor support for the native UI widgets, lack of current JRE on most Windows PCs, poor COM interoperability etc.

    26. Re:Marketing to blame by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      First of all, Microsoft hasn't stopped supporting VB. VB5 support will continue through 2004. VB6 support will continue through 2008. And of course, VB7 is VB.NET, which was just released in February. Although the number of VC++ programmers surpassed the number of VB programmers a little over a year ago, VB is still a huge product for Microsoft. To suggest that they would stop supporting it is ludicrous.

      Besides, I didn't say VB support wasn't important, I said it wasn't the definitive litmus test everybody says it is for early adoption of .NET. Remember, the main topic is why .NET is being adopted more slowly than MS expected. If all the VBers in the world made the switch overnight, the sheer size of the Framework (over 100MB) would prevent them from forcing a rapid wide-scale deployment. Many VBers have difficulty making the case for the much, much smaller runtimes in previous versions (what's VB6? something like 6MB now?).

      .NET has been marketed as being best suited for writing web-based applications, but the point of this thread is that any such statement is misleading. Web-based apps are simply one relatively small facet of what .NET is capable of doing, and if you'll take a moment to look through the Framework SDK documentation, you'll find the vast majority of it is centered on writing regular stand-alone Windows programs, building controls, database I/O, component-oriented services, and other things which aren't even remotely web-centric.

      .NET can do web-based apps well, but it's instantly obvious to anybody familiar with the Framework that not only are web-centric apps not the central focus of .NET, but that they're really just a bullet-point in the list of its capabilities.

      Heck, the machine I'm using now has a whole slew of .NET-based services (in the NT Service sense of the word) running, I've already written two fairly significant .NET applications which aren't web based at all, and I'm in the middle of a third which has the ability to communicate via TCP/IP but definitely isn't web-centric.

      Sorry man, but I think you really missed the boat on that one.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

  10. The seed of the .NET idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Wouldn't it be great if there were something exactly like the Internet, except that we owned it?"

    -- Paraphrased from Clay Shirkey

  11. CNN has a story by Wind_Walker · · Score: 4, Funny
    CNN also has a story about Gates' .NET evaulation, and it says he gives is a 'C'.

    I wonder how he grades the Xbox, with its horrific launch in Japan (still haven't sold through their initial 250,000 shipment), terrible software sales rate (less than 2 per console sold), and overall terrible showing at E3. He'd probably give it a 'C+', or maybe a 'C#'.

    1. Re:CNN has a story by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      Did anyone ever expect it to do well right off the bat in Japan? I certainly didn't. With the PS2, it has incredibly strong & deep-rooted competition there, it'll take a long time to catch on.

      MS has said from the beginning that their plan for the X-box is very long-term... I doubt they were expecting initial results other than what they have now.

    2. Re:CNN has a story by javilon · · Score: 3, Informative

      I guess he would give it an 'A' after the Xbox breaks US sales records.

      They are very persistent and have lots of money. Do not understimate them.

      --


      When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
    3. Re:CNN has a story by The_Shadows · · Score: 1

      "He'd probably give it a 'C+', or maybe a 'C#'."

      Nah. He'd give it a Cg.

    4. Re:CNN has a story by theRiallatar · · Score: 1

      If by long term they mean waiting over a year to seriously begin bringing game genres other than sports, fighting, and racing to the Xbox, then okay. Their selection is seriously lacking right now, and until it picks up in the styles it's lacking, I think it will continue to do poorly.

    5. Re:CNN has a story by gimpboy · · Score: 2

      i think it's important to note that the xbox sales increase came after the $100 price cut:

      Microsoft's blockbusting US launch line-up for Xbox has paid dividends across the pond, with the NPD Group reporting that Xbox has posted a sales increase of 131% in the US in the two months following its $100 price cut.


      sure they can tell their investors that they increased their sails by 131%, and they would be telling the truth-or at least part of it. if they told their investors that they were loosing an extra $100 per sale on an item that was already being sold at a loss, then they would be telling the whole truth. this isnt really that big of a deal if they sell each person 4 games or so. if they manage to get linux installed and running on an unchipped box, i think ms will become very concerned though.

      i do agree that we should not underestimate them.

      --
      -- john
    6. Re:CNN has a story by Space+cowboy · · Score: 2

      I don't know about you, but the instant someone gives me a percentage increase figure, I'm instantly curious why they don't give me an absolute figure...

      People's understanding of percentages is really poor:

      A 131% increase in sales results in 231% of the previous amount
      A 31% increase in sales results in 131% of the previous amount
      Sales of 131% of the previous amount is a 31% increase.

      This seems to confuse just about everyone. Not to mention the magic (greater than 100%) figure, and the fact that 131% of 10 is ~13 (so 10 => 23), while 1% of 10,000 is 100 (so 10,000 => 10,100). Would you rather have the 1% figure or the 131% figure ?

      Cynicism *is* in my nature (hey, I'm British :-) but I *really* prefer to see numbers than percentages.

      Simon.

      --
      Physicists get Hadrons!
    7. Re:CNN has a story by EvilBudMan · · Score: 1

      The rest of the article says this:

      --"This makes Xbox the first videogame system ever to have three million-unit-selling launch titles after just eight months on the market."--

      Something to think about. It's the games that matter and like it or not, they are off to a fast start. That hard drive thing costing more may hurt them but I doubt it.

    8. Re:CNN has a story by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      IIRC most consoles have a pretty slow start gameswise, X-box isn't anything unusual. Amazon.com shows 176 games for the X-box available now.

      Anyways, IMO all you need is Halo anyways :-p

    9. Re:CNN has a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reason why they had 3 million selling launch titles was that ALL pre-order systems and most launch systems could not be bought for any amount of money without 3 games coming with it.
      It's like a Phillip Morris bragging about how many foil wrappers they sell, because every pack of cigs come with a foil wrapper.

    10. Re:CNN has a story by tshak · · Score: 2

      terrible showing at E3??? The games were awesome, and made many riding on the fence go out and buy an XBox once they saw the E3 lineup. Sure, the speakers lacked good speaking skills, but that's not how I'd rate a gaming system!

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    11. Re:CNN has a story by bryanbrunton · · Score: 3, Informative

      The real story for the XBox will be can it be the only console in gaming history to be sucessful and survive as a respected gaming platform in only 1 of the major 3 gaming markets.

      -- US --

      XBox has managed to take to number 2 slot in this market, although closely followed by the GameCube.

      -- Europe --

      Recent figures show XBox has only managed to sell 500,000 units throughout the entire EU.

      GameCube has managed 800,000 in a much shorter time period.

      -- Japan --

      In the most recent weekly sales period, XBox sold 2,400 units, PS2 90,000, GC 27,000.

      With the Japanese developers quickly jumping ship on the XBox, its future is bleak at best.

    12. Re:CNN has a story by IsThisNickTaken · · Score: 1

      I agree. This is especially true for health related studies that claim "Studies show that eating ABC will increase your risk of XYZ by 50%". If the chances of getting XYZ was 1 in 10,000 and it changes to 1.5 in 10,000, I don't care. If the chance was 50% and increases to 75%, then I will be more interested.

    13. Re:CNN has a story by bryanbrunton · · Score: 2


      Actually in the EU they had to resort to giving away (bundling) games with each purchase of an xbox.

      They also gave away games to anyone who had purchased an xbox prior to their price drop.

    14. Re:CNN has a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The XBOX rules. I can't wait to see what new games come out in the next few months. Shut up you stupid Slashdot nerds. Most of the stuff Microsoft makes is top notch compared to your GNU/Linux crap.

    15. Re:CNN has a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article stated that there was an increase in sales of 131%, not sales of 131% of their previous value. Which means if they were selling 100 units a day(just an example) prior to the price cut, they are now selling 231 units a day.

    16. Re:CNN has a story by Yankovic · · Score: 2

      While cynicism is fine, MS doesn't release sales figures on xbox as far as absolute numbers or run rate, which is what the data that you describe would amount to.

      The top thread is wrong as well, they have ~4 games per box attach rate, which is highest in the industry.

    17. Re:CNN has a story by karb · · Score: 1
      Did anyone ever expect it to do well right off the bat in Japan? I certainly didn't.

      Nobody did, but we may be referring to the fact that microsoft had trouble meeting its own (modest) projected sales numbers. They projected 250k (?) , which isn't many, especially compared to 8.8 million PS2's. 250k to 8.8 million isn't even dreamcast numbers ... that's like atari jaguar. :)

      --

      Jack Valenti and the MPAA are to technology as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone

    18. Re:CNN has a story by denshi · · Score: 2
      Actually, I think MS expected it to do well off the bat in Japan -- the .jp launch was huge, more expensive than the PS2 launch if I remember correctly, and for the first few weeks they posted excellent sales numbers. A big part of their failure was them acting like typical MS. A few weeks after launch, it became apparent that the Xboxes produced for the japanese market were defective: they actually destroyed the game DVDs during play. MS went through its normal flailing about for someone else to blame, including denying the problem existed and blaming users for 'incorrectly using their Xbox', amongst others. This was reported nationally, and sales immediately hit a brick wall. They haven't recovered since.

      Other fine choices were made, such as assuming that 'all you need is Halo' and associated myopia, but really it's their habit of treating the customer as the enemy that did them in. It turns out that the PS2's "home court advantage" was the smallest factor in the Xbox's failure.

    19. Re:CNN has a story by toopc · · Score: 1

      XBox has managed to take to number 2 slot in this market, although closely followed by the GameCube.

      Nintendo hasn't even been all that close the last two months according to the sales figures from C.S. First Boston.

      Xbox Sales
      May - 229,000
      Jun - 265,000

      GameCube Sales
      May - 111,000
      Jun - 213,000

    20. Re:CNN has a story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I almost feel sorry for M$ in Japan. Its like trying to sell an American car... its too big for the roads, and scratches your CDs?!

      I swear that was a plot by Sony. They probably just told a few thousand of their employees to buy one and complain. The xbox never recovered from the horrible press and they're still spending a ton of money on TV ads running every day.

      My favorite was this Nikkei Shinbun(?) article showing how it scratched the disk... with this picture of a mangled disk they had deliberatly jammed in the drive.

  12. Mono progress continues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Mono embedded in Gnumeric, running a web server and then an ASP.NET web page that allows people to modify
    gnumeric values from ASP.

    O'Reilly Mono Presentation

    1. Re:Mono progress continues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moron moderator - get a clue. This is 100% on topic - it shows what .Net compatable runtime, Mono, is capable of.

      Mono embedded in Gnumeric, running a web server and then an ASP.NET web page that allows people to modify gnumeric values from ASP.

      O'Reilly Mono Presentation

  13. Of course it's ending... by Stoutlimb · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And Bill Gates knows it! He probably just had a business meeting with his emplo^H^H^H^H^Hcongressmen, and gave them a big fat bonus and new marching orders. When people this important make statements like this, either they're completely deluded about what's really going on in the world, or they're the ones who are trying very hard to bring such predictions about.

  14. Not a MS bash (really) by FatRatBastard · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ... because this quote is dopey no matter who said it:
    Jim Allchin, one of the company's top vice presidents, acknowledged the shift in focus in the industry from personal computers to plumbing, and bemoaned the difficulty of getting Microsoft's traditional consumers to care about its new vision.
    Well gee, Jim, you have it a bit backwards don't you. Shouldn't the company care about its customers' vision? I mean, if Porsche designed a kick ass lawmower -- I mean a innovative leap in lawnmower technology -- would you expect Porsche's traditional to care about Porsche's new vision?
    1. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by DenOfEarth · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing that if Porsche decided to develop the next great thing in lawnmowers, all the porsche owners who take their cars to porsche festivals, and parade them around would probably buy the lawnmower too. :)

      That being said, I agree that this is a skewed way of viewing the markets...it's as though the customer no longer decides what's is necessary, the producer does...I hope supply and demand cathes up with them cuz of it.

    2. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by zangdesign · · Score: 2

      The point of being in business (for a lot of companies) is to sell things. If you can't convince the consumer that your product is the end-all-be-all product to end their computer woes and clear up psoriasis, then you are doomed to fail.

      Modern business doesn't wait for the customer to come to them - it goes to the customer and pushes it's products. This action is the product of competition. You absolutely have to outdo your competition in order to survive and grow.

      Modern business can't play nice because nice guys finish second, if not last.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    3. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by MrAl · · Score: 1

      True but if the customer rejects your new product you should move on to something the customer would accept instead of forcing the reject down their throats because you have a monopoly on what they can use.

    4. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by FatRatBastard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm not disagreeing with that, but when you are changing markets (or branching out into new ones) its a bit arrogant to think that the folks that bought other stuff from you are going to jump joy. As I has said in the parent post, just because Porsche makes a kick ass lawnmower doesn't mean that Porsche owners are going to want it.

      Or a better analogy: if a fine furniture manufacturer decided to get into the piping and plumbing business then they better not rest their fortunes on selling piping and plumbing to all of their furniture clients. You may get a few, but if you go into the piping and plumbing business then you're better off selling to plumbers than going around to everyone who bought an chest-of-drawers trying to get them excited about U bends.

    5. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by aonaran · · Score: 1

      Probably only the ones that buy Samsung monitors for their PCs.

      http://www.samsung.ca:3304/av/tv/
      Look at TFT LCD model 171P
      Special Features: F.A. Porsche Design

      or these expresso makers and pots
      http://www.gadgeteerusa.com/products.asp?cat =3

    6. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The transition from cars to lawnmowers is hardly comparable to the shift, if you can call it a shift, Microsoft is making into the .NET service model.

    7. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mean, if Porsche designed a kick ass lawmower -- I mean a innovative leap in lawnmower technology -- would you expect Porsche's traditional to care about Porsche's new vision?

      Hell yeah I'd buy a lawnmower that did 175 MPH and could corner my brickwork out front without breaking a sweat!

      But since you really said lawmower, I'll take one of those too!

    8. Re:Not a MS bash (really) by zangdesign · · Score: 2

      I never said that it wasn't arrogant - it's just that any company coming out with something new (or even the appearance of new-ness) has to aggressively sell in order to achieve a high rate of adoption. Microsoft having a majority of the desktops doesn't release them from the onus of having to convince their customers that .NET is the way to go.

      BG admitting that .NET hasn't gone over very well is probably the result of hubris, and lack of understanding on Microsoft's part as to exactly what they have produced, leading to an inability to market their product effectively.

      I don't think anyone understands .NET yet, since it is not a clearly defined product, but rather a framework for building products (apparently). A single product may take off and grow wings and do all sorts of exciting things, but frameworks take much longer to integrate since you've only got the foundation to work with.

      Personally, I'm avoiding the whole mess until someone figures it out and can explain it succinctly and clearly, since I'd rather have a proven product than some blue-sky nightmare (ie., I try to stay just on the trailing edge of the bleeding edge curve).

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
  15. What _IS_ .NET? by swordgeek · · Score: 2

    I think that part of the problem here is that .NET is this amorphous thing that MS has been pushing, without ever actually explaining. Sure we know what passport is, but that's one concrete part of...

    what?

    What is .NET?

    Why should we care about it?

    --

    "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
    1. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      What is .NET?
      Why should we care about it?
      .NET is the future. It's so amazing you cannot live without it. It would be too difficult to explain .NET in common layman's terms so just understand that .NET is the key to the computing industry for the next thousand years. Microsoft is the gatekeeper and .NET gives YOU the power to expand your horizons and move into the next era of computing by unlocking the doorway for a small monthly fee. Don't delay, call your authorized Microsoft Solutions provider today and tell them that you must take advantage of .NET immediately at whatever cost. Don't be left behind or you may never catch up to this exciting new technology.

      Truthfully though, I have no idea what it is either. All I know is that I'll be switching all my computers to Microsoft XP Pro in the next few weeks so I can take advantage of it.. whatever it is. I love being on the leading edge of technology like this.

    2. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .NET is a virtual machine that runs on Microsoft products. OK, Why would Microsoft want a virtual machine to run only on one platform? I mean, that totally defeats the idea of a virtual machine in the first place. I thought that a virtual machine was so that different platforms could share binaries seamlessly.

    3. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      forget that webservice crap, ASP.Net

      its a whole bunch of enhancements to make development more efficient.

      COM installation for a target machine is much easier.
      no more DLL hell, you ship with the DLL you need, and the global cache on the target machine installs it seperate of a newer version of that dll.

      and much more.

      whats with all of the ASP "programmers" lately. we have had soo many resumes in the last month for ASP. right, if its a derivative of VB, we dont want it

    4. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is .NET?

      Unfortunately no one can be told what .NET is. You have to see it for yourself.

    5. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by mekkab · · Score: 2

      While the AC above me had the best definition of .NET, I'll try to take a swing (I was at a .NET developer "training class" (really, just a 3-day advertisement)) WARNING: I really don't remember much but this post should act as a good straw man for people to improve-upon. (kinda like software development!)

      From the ground up, .NET needs to be defined as the .NET framework (Someone else on slashdot has already gotten to it... but to summarize)- you have this CLR- common language runtime env? Basically, this is what .NEt has grabbed from java. You compile to byte code, then you run your byte code.

      In addition, the "international language" of .NET is XML sent through port 80 (oh, I'm sure a bunch of security-minded Sys admins won't mind that!).

      So you have these microsoft development tools, you have a new international language, you also have much better version control- as they "love" to say, no .dll hell! Your apps are signed in the registry and if version 1 of your app needs the first version of a .dll, it can use it, and version two can use the newer one, they don't get confused.

      On the higher level, the idea is that your web-app would make a "call" for these .NET services (call a couple of central servers, MSFT being one of 'em), the server would hook you up with somebody who was serving the info (lets say you want a currency conversion service), you two figure out what you guys need from eachother, and you get the data back.

      Okay, what did I miss?

      --
      In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
    6. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See Mono.
      It runs on a dozen varieties of UNIX, Windows and Mac OSX.

    7. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      .NET (as you should know from all those cute tv commercials like the one with the man and woman buying a car) is when there is 1 degree of separation between you customers and your business...

      *yawn* lousy marketdroids...

      Like I tell people...with all of Microsoft's security issues the last thing they need to be introducing is 1 degree of separation between their systems...."when hackers can take over your entire network in minutes, that's one degree of separation. that's business with .NET."

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    8. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is good there is an open source implementation. But I was more interested in the intentions of Microsoft with the development of a virtual machine for one platform. I mean they already own the machine that the virtual machine will run on, why create another layer of abstraction, if thier intent was to never have cross platform compatibility?

    9. Re:What _IS_ .NET? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you so retarded? I figured it out in about 15 minutes after reading some Microsoft web pages.

      Then I download VS.NET (ahem) and wrote some code, and decided I liked it.

      I guess that would be a bit too challenging compared to getting on your pedestal on Slashdot and encouraging the stanky ass linux nerds to bite back at your inquiry with "Haha LOL microsoftg doesnt know what .NET is hahahr lol"

  16. My Experience with .NET PASSPORT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I play Asherons Call. It's a good game, good dev team (Turbine) but the biggest pain to the game is the login process of .NET Passport.

    This is what happens.

    1. Select server to play on.

    2. .NET asks if you want to sign in or register. If you are already signed in .NET forces you to sign out.

    3. Type in your login information and wait about 5 minutes. A timeout page appears.

    4. Hit the back button and type it in again. You get an error message about security. Click OK.

    5. You are now logged in.

    I swear I have to do this every single time! I've done it from two machines as well and I know at least one other person who has to put up with this.

    I really can't see how they can sell this, unless they force you into it by locking it into other software (eg. Asherons Call).

    1. Re:My Experience with .NET PASSPORT by wichtolosaurus · · Score: 1

      You have totally missed the point about what .NET is.
      .NET is NOT .NET Passport.
      .NET Passport is the latest version of Passport, and the lastest versions are nowadays labeled " .NET" or ".NET ".
      .NET itself is a rich execution environment, a framework that I love to use, maybe even a philosophy.
      The problem with .NET at the moment is, that too many people believed crap like ".NET is only web services" or ".NET is jave for dictators".
      As time goes by, people might start understanding what .NET really is. Watch out for rich clients, watch out for coding at ease.

    2. Re:My Experience with .NET PASSPORT by hardcnxn · · Score: 1

      .NET may be all you say, but it INCLUDES Passport in its portfolio now. And if Passport does not work properly people will be tempted to judge that failure as partially .NET's fault.

      I can tell you .NET Passport will not allow me to sign into my Hotmail account from a WinXP computer. NT4 and 9x machines have no difficulty, however.

    3. Re:My Experience with .NET PASSPORT by AJWM · · Score: 1

      Watch out for rich clients,

      Hah! Your microsoft-speak gives you away. Only microsofties seem to use "rich" as a euphemism for "loaded with bells'n'whistles". They seem to love that word, must be the images of money it conjures up.

      --
      -- Alastair
  17. MS's original intention. by MongooseCN · · Score: 5, Funny

    MS believed that the way to avoid the problem of .COM's going under was to name their product .NET. I mean who's ever heard of a .net going under? Or the .net bubble burst? Clearly by naming their product .net, they would avoid all the problems the .com's had.

    1. Re:MS's original intention. by demaria · · Score: 2

      "I mean who's ever heard of a .net going under?"

      Worldcom. :-)

    2. Re:MS's original intention. by Da+Schmiz · · Score: 2
      You know, that honestly makes me wonder if a couple of years ago some MS exec had the great idea to name the next generation of COM (the component object model) "dot-COM" to capitalize on the buzzword.

      Then, when the bubble burst and it all collapsed, I can imagine a hurried meeting in Gates's or Ballmer's office, and someone shouting out, "I know! Let's just change the name to dot NET!"

      And the rest, as they say, is history.

      --

      "Anything is better than IE, and you can quote me on that." -- Wil Wheaton.

    3. Re:MS's original intention. by Yohahn · · Score: 2

      They were going to name it com3 (the next in the series of com technologies) but when they wanted to create the directory for the project they found they couldn't.
      Try it sometime in windows:
      Make new dir.. and try naming it com3
      hehe

    4. Re:MS's original intention. by shaldannon · · Score: 2

      (not having tried this but...) why doesn't it work? some kind of inherent system issue?

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    5. Re:MS's original intention. by Opie812 · · Score: 0

      The following reserved words cannot be used as the name of a file: CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9 from msdn

      --
      I'm not a nerd. Nerds are smart.
    6. Re:MS's original intention. by elmegil · · Score: 2

      Funny, but unlikely, due to Sun's success in identifying themselves with "the . in .com". So much good it's done after the bubble burst, of course.

      --
      7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
    7. Re:MS's original intention. by LinuxIsDyingGuy · · Score: 0

      This has nothing to do with microsoft's COM dev. system, its just an old dos device name. There are various reserved words in DOS, com3 - (ie, communication port 3) is just one, com1, com2, wont work either. Nor will PRN (printer), LPT1 (parrallel port 1) LPT2, LPT3, CON, AUX, or COM4.

      Our little friend here has either had a joke played on him, or is playing one.

    8. Re:MS's original intention. by micromoog · · Score: 2

      I'll be damned, he's right . . . why why why? 'com0' works, 'com1' ~ 'com9' fail, 'com10'+ works . . . WTF?

    9. Re:MS's original intention. by Skater · · Score: 1

      Gives an error about having a folder with the same name (which isn't there, of course).

      Neat!

    10. Re:MS's original intention. by foeclan · · Score: 1

      Y'know, after spending a few minutes tinkering with it, it occurred to me, 'duh, communications ports'.

      Stupid device manager, making me forget about DOS device names. ;)

      You can't name it that because COM1-9 are reserved for serial ports in the shell.

    11. Re:MS's original intention. by dakoda · · Score: 1

      yep! try 'nul' sometime too, same thing. i think there's one for the printer as well (LPTx ?), but i havnt done dos in years. fun stuff =)

    12. Re:MS's original intention. by asv108 · · Score: 2

      Perhaps OSS developers should come up with scheme called .ORG.

    13. Re:MS's original intention. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And where has Sun's slogan lead them.

      They're the money pit in dot.com now and many companies have figured it out.

    14. Re:MS's original intention. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, gee.

      I tried storing my personal information in a folder called ~ on my home page. It just got all crabby when I tried to cd to that directory.

    15. Re:MS's original intention. by izzertaq · · Score: 1

      com1-com9 are the names of your serial ports.

    16. Re:MS's original intention. by elmegil · · Score: 1
      An AC wrote:

      And where has Sun's slogan lead them. They're the money pit in dot.com now and many companies have figured it out.

      To coin a phrase, "duh". Did you notice my OWN comment disparaging the slogan? The point is, Microsoft hardly would have tried the name .COM at the same time Sun was being "the dot in dot-com", regardless of the actual efficacy of the slogan.

      --
      7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
    17. Re:MS's original intention. by Alsee · · Score: 2

      I wonder if Microsoft is going to come out with .ORG next, or or are they going to jump straight to .GOV?

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    18. Re:MS's original intention. by shaldannon · · Score: 2

      now that's interesting....I didn't realize that MS used filenames for devices too....

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    19. Re:MS's original intention. by Tepic++ · · Score: 1

      com1, com2, com3, lpt1, etc... are special ('virtual'?) files in Windows for referencing serial and parallel ports, therefore you can't create a 'real' file or directory with that name.

    20. Re:MS's original intention. by DysonSphere · · Score: 1

      The tears of laughter make it hard to type...

      --
      Mommy. What's a karma whore?
    21. Re:MS's original intention. by Saeger · · Score: 1
      Now see... that was funny. :)

      --

      --
      Power to the Peaceful
    22. Re:MS's original intention. by Yohahn · · Score: 2

      Actually.. if you use:

      mkdir '~'

      and

      cd '~'

      it will work just fine... how do you do that with com1-9 lpt1... etc?

    23. Re:MS's original intention. by Yohahn · · Score: 2

      Actually.. I heard that this story was told at a .net show in chicago.

      I know it's the reserved words.. but I think that just shows some of the inherent failings of microsoft.

      They never even got the commmand line easy to use (linux does a better job.. I have an old MAC user using the command line now). Why did they leave the reserved words?

      and lets not forget the new fun "virtual" folders... like anything that has a file named desktop.ini in it.

      Try writing a backup program or a file browser.

      This is a particular pet peeve of mine. Why didn't they provide a standard interface to a file browser like is used in their file dialogs?

      Every stupid CD buring program, backup program... etc all have to re-implement a "explorer like" file browser to drag files from. Stupid microsoft, stupid.

      And why is it that The IShellFolder enumeration is faster than the FindFirstFolder API?

      Write a small program and time it some time... it's slower to use the FindFirstFile functions.

      Come to think of it, all the ::SH* functions and ISHELLFOLDER and PIDL are all screwy.

      I'm in a job where I program in both windows and Linux. The day I can get out of the windows half.. is one step closer to nirvana.

      If anybody EVER says that Windows API is superior to Linux, you point them at this.

    24. Re:MS's original intention. by Trepalium · · Score: 1

      LPTx, PRN, COMx, AUX, NUL, and several others are "reserved" if for DOS/Windows-based systems. If you load device drivers from config.sys you can have a large number of other devices as well.

      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
    25. Re:MS's original intention. by dodobh · · Score: 2

      com0-9 are device files (the stuff that lies under /dev on unixy systems).

      --
      I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
  18. Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by Rahga · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    That will happen when they pry the webserver out of my dead hands.

    Seriously, what is going to happen? MSN will supply all the content for the world? I doubt it.

    http://www.rahga.com forever, and I suggest you do the same.

    1. Re:Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by RocketScientist · · Score: 2, Troll

      What will happen is this: All IE browsers will only load pages from "trusted" servers. You can only have a "trusted" server with Microsoft's blessing, specifically if it runs IIS. You can keep your webserver, because 95% of the computer market won't be able to see your pages anyway, or at the very least will get a warning that contains the word "illegal" at least once.

      It's all about making your security holes work for you.

    2. Re:Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by keller999 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, it's not at all just a software issue with ambiguous "illegal" messages. If Billy has his way, Palladium will make sure that you don't ever visit any site that Microsoft didn't provide the server for. Not only will you get grief for having the most popular OS on the market, you'll get it for owning a processor too.

    3. Re:Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No go! So the users are going to be locked out from 95% of the internet and are going to like it? Are you telling us that they will like the commercials and sales pitches so much that they will not get a Linux computer to peek at "the rest of the world"? You are terribly mistaken and so is Microsoft. They will gamble huge and lose it all. One last time! **people love freedom** It's time that we all learn form history. But Billy did't go through that university... so he is jumping from the cliff.. Look how interesting...

    4. Re:Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by JudgeFurious · · Score: 1

      You completely miss the point. The users are going to have complete access to 95% of the net. It will be the 95% that's mostly crap you couldn't care less about and it will be hand picked by the "powers that be" for you to see. You will get everything handed to you with cute little keywords and plenty of advertising around the edges. Content will be generic and come at a price. And of course it will all flow merrily to you through your friends at Microsoft.

      The problem for "the users" will be in trying to take a look at the 5% that makes a difference. That will be the content that has merit and mostly resembles what you are accustomed to being able to find easily enough today.

      Right now you can see it with no trouble. Before long you'll have to use something other than IE to get to it. Eventually though I can see a point where you have to change to an alternative OS to get to it. That's when things get interesting because then you have to ask yourself how long you have before the line gets drawn at your hardware.

      It's cool though because it's all to make sure your computing world (brought to you by MSPepsi Cola!) is safe and secure.

      Hope you are right though about the "gamble huge and lose it all" part. People love freedom I agree. A lot of those who love it couldn't spot one of their freedoms being taken away to save their lives though and I wouldn't even begin to put falling for this past the "silent majority".

      It's becoming harder and harder every year to insult the intelligence of the average American. By 2006 it's probably going to be impossible.

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
    5. Re:Oh really...? No. I don't think so. by RocketScientist · · Score: 2

      People love freedom? That's crap.

      People don't care about freedom. They want their bread and circuses. If MS gives them more of that, they'll sell their very souls to get it.

      The same people who "love freedom" voted for congressmen that passed the DMCA. The same people who "love freedom" probably don't know what the DMCA is or why it's important.

      Users locked out from 95% of the internet? Nope. Linux locked away from 95% of the users. People won't care what's serving which pages or which they can or cannot see. It's not going to be immediate, it'll happen over time, and eventually a version of IE will ship that won't allow anything but pages from "approved and safe servers" to be viewed. And the majority of the freedom loving folks aren't going to care as long as they can still find their porn.

  19. .NET by Twister002 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think when developers talk about .NET, we're talking about the .NET framework. Which does have many wonderful features and improvements to the languages (C#, VB.NET is a big improvement over VB 6.0), the ease of making web services. It's much easier to manipulate XML than in previous versions. In the developer community (at least the ones that make money by programming on the Windows platform) it is slowly gaining popularity and many web sites have converted over to ASP.NET.

    When the general public thinks about .NET, I think they are referring to the nebulous cloud of "web services" that Microsoft has alluded to, "Hailstorm", ".NET My Services", etc... Those still seem to be up in the air and not many people see the need for them.

    I don't think I'd pay Microsoft for a subscription to Word.NET when I can just keep using MS Word 2000 or OpenOffice 1.0, or AbiWord. I don't want to store my credit card info in my Passport (or liberty alliance or any other online identity service) account. Heck, I want the people in the checkout lane to ASK to see my ID when I hand them a credit card, I certainly don't want to hand over all the info that a thief needs to charge things to my credit card.

    --
    "For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
    1. Re:.NET by Malcontent · · Score: 1, Troll

      "slowly gaining popularity and many web sites have converted over to ASP.NE"

      I think this is the problem. MS programmers have no choice. They have to use whatever MS tells them to. When COM came out everybody has to switch to OCXs and ditch the VBXs they have no choice.

      I think MS is alarmed by how few of their developers are switching. By now they expected everybody who was useing VB to be using VB.NET and re-write all their applications in it. Apparently for the first time in history MS developers are actually showing some backbone and some are even switching to java.

      In the end MS will win. MS windows developers have no choice but to switch sooner or later. I think Bill G was thinking it would be sooner. We all have to pay Bill eventually though.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    2. Re:.NET by pmz · · Score: 2

      When the general public thinks about .NET, I think they are referring to the nebulous cloud of "web services" that Microsoft has alluded to, "Hailstorm", ".NET My Services", etc... Those still seem to be up in the air and not many people see the need for them.

      Actually, here, you need to include everyone who principally uses non-Microsoft software for what they do. This includes many many many developers, because .NET is pretty much nebulous to everyone not already brainwashed by a Microsoft marketing presentation.

      "developer community" != "Microsoft developer community". Such generaization makes me wonder if you work for Microsoft, but that's another matter entirely.

    3. Re:.NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If any developer can't understand what the .NET framework is all about then I would be scared to have them working on any project of mine - Windows or not. It is not all that complicated. You program in langauge of your choice (ok so right now it is C++, C#, VB.NET and J++) and everything gets compiled into one CLR (Common Langauge Runtime). This means that if I feel more comfortable coding in VB I can do so without worrying about taking a performance hit.

      Unfortunately, as somebody else pointed out, right now .NET is one huge performance hit but I am assuming that will be better with the .NET server.

    4. Re:.NET by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      ... We all have to pay Bill eventually though.

      Like HELL we do!

      Go 100% Microsoft free! Linux! Mozilla! OpenOffice! Gimp! Apache! ...

    5. Re:.NET by pmz · · Score: 2

      If any developer can't understand what the .NET framework is all about then I would be scared to have them working on any project of mine - Windows or not.

      If that developer has read Microsoft's marketing materials, read 3rd-party critiques of the software, talked over with co-workers, and still doesn't understand it, then fine, especially if you hired the developer to perform .NET-based development. However, there are plenty of very competent developers out there who still have the slightest notion of what .NET really is, and they are doing just fine and will do fine whether or not .NET is a success.

    6. Re:.NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You see what scares me is that I expect anybody who works for me to at least be somewhat caught up with what the rest of the world is doing even if that means just reading Slashdot everyday. You never know when some high mucky-muck decides - "You know what? I want us to use this .NET thing." I at least have to know enough to explain to him why we do or don't want to use it and I expect the same of my staff (some executives like to skip over chain of command and talk to the linemen).

    7. Re:.NET by chris_mahan · · Score: 1

      True. Am Microsoft-based developer. vb, asp, etc...

      Am switching to python/php and postgresql.

      Why?

      -Multiplatform.
      -ease of long term maintainability.
      -No Licensing nightmare.

      --

      "Piter, too, is dead."

    8. Re:.NET by jackbox · · Score: 1

      I want to see someone get up at one of Bill Gate's pep talks and ask Gates point-blank if he has entrusted all of HIS credit card info and bank account statements to Passport.

      That's what I want: The richest man in the world saying, "Yes, we have built a system so secure that I have entrusted even my own great wealth to it." Then I want to see the crackers go wild!

      Or, I suppose it would be enough just to have Gates answer something like: "Me? Uh, Hell no! My assets are far to great to entrust to this piece of s**t! Passport is for folks like you. And it's a bargain, believe me!" That would be effective, too.

      P.S. Can I post this same comment in a year substituting "Palladium" for "Passport?"

    9. Re:.NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go 100% Microsoft free! Shitty OS! Shitty browser! Shitty OfficeSuite! Shitty Photoshop Clone!

      Ok, Apache's alright.

    10. Re:.NET by CharlieG · · Score: 2

      I think you just hit the nail on the head!

      The .NET development stuff (and the CLR) work well. Heck, developing you own web services for you're own use works well

      Hailstorm?

      Yeah, right

      --
      -- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
    11. Re:.NET by Brummund · · Score: 1

      Pretty much everything out there is an improvement over VB 6.0. Trust me, I've been programming in VB from time to time since '94 and, lo and behold, it still sucks. VB should have stayed at 3.0. Something isn't OO just because there is a checkbox named "Object". (If I remember correctly from VB 4.0.)

      Thank <insert-favourite-deity> for J2EE.

  20. Tries? LOL by YahoKa · · Score: 1

    Keyword: Tries

    1. Re:Tries? LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or AOL KEYWORD: failed

  21. Ending? Whateva! by ZipperHead99 · · Score: 1

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    Haven't they been saying this for oh um... 5 years now?

  22. Not sure what to make of this by mistermoonlight · · Score: 1
    With this article and the news of .Net working with Apache and Oracle databases, I'm tempted to say "embrace and extend with modesty?"

    Is he trying to make it look like MS doesn't want control over data management, just buddy up with the competition?

    Why would he even admit this?

  23. Money, Money, Money by N8F8 · · Score: 2

    Even if .NET is a step forward, many business probably face the same problems our company and customers are facing. With all the belt tightening going around, implementing a new platform and retraining a bunch of employees is just out of the question.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Money, Money, Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Real programmers don't comment!
      It was hard to write, It should be hard to read!

      I hope that is sarcasm, or I hope that I never have to work at the same place as you. =]

    2. Re:Money, Money, Money by Schnapple · · Score: 1
      I hope that is sarcasm
      No, it's an ingenious way of ensuring job security. Not only are you then the only one who knows how to read the code (and therefore are indispensable) but then everyone thinks you're a genius for being able to figure it out and write it.

      Of course when you retire and/or die then the company is screwed but hey, why should you care?

    3. Re:Money, Money, Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Retrain them for what?

    4. Re:Money, Money, Money by N8F8 · · Score: 1

      New DEV IDE, writing COM (oops!) .NET components. Maybe switching to C# instead of VBScript, configuring the servers, new features, etc. When a three day intro course for ASP.NET runs $1000+ it becomes cost prohibitive.

      --
      "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
  24. free exchange? by bigpat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, I think we should see the writing on the wall for this one. No large monopolistic corporation can make good enough money on a free (as in Paul Revere) internet, so they are trying to divvy it up with proprietary systems and protocols to impose artificial monopolies.

    Big companies may be able to undercut the competition at first, but the total cost of ownership will hurt you in the end.

    1. Re:free exchange? by shaldannon · · Score: 1

      ...so....if Paul Revere was alive today, would he send out mass email saying "Microsoft is coming! Microsoft is coming!" ?

      --


      What is your Slash Rating?
    2. Re:free exchange? by Hut-Moll · · Score: 1
      Well if he Paul Revere did do that, he would probably get his ass black holed..

      FRIGGEN spammer.

  25. A better general VM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .Net is a universal VM that can (in principle) run any language efficiently - not just Java. Its CLR VM instructions are a superset of those of the JVM. Unlike Java it optionally allows for "unsafe" direct-memory and pointer referencing code for greatly increased speed.

  26. They understand one problem... by interiot · · Score: 5, Insightful
    • Gates also acknowledged that confusion still reigns about .NET's very definition.
    Good -- they understand one problem. People can perhaps point to the CLR and assoicated libraries, but .NET has been touted as much more than that, especially to non-techies.
    • On Wednesday, he hammered home a new definition: "software to connect information, people, systems and services."
    Unfortunately, this definition doesn't help at all. Pretty much all internet-based software does this.
    1. Re:They understand one problem... by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 1

      >"software to connect information, people, systems and services."

      Reminds me of the engineer in my part of the world who says "We make things do stuff!"

    2. Re:They understand one problem... by dpilot · · Score: 4, Funny

      How about "software to connect your income to our bottom line."

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    3. Re:They understand one problem... by goldorak_dan · · Score: 1

      Maybe just call it "Synapse", after his
      movie/biography.

    4. Re:They understand one problem... by tshak · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately, this definition doesn't help at all. Pretty much all internet-based software does this.


      True, and .NET can be used to create pretty much all internet-based software.

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    5. Re:They understand one problem... by MrResistor · · Score: 3

      "software to connect information, people, systems and services."

      Unfortunately, this definition doesn't help at all. Pretty much all internet-based software does this.


      Pretty much all software does this. He could have said "Software that fetches, decodes, and executes." and been just as helpful.

      --
      Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
    6. Re:They understand one problem... by Wraithlyn · · Score: 2
      "With .NET, Microsoft is promising to change the way information changes hands so that software and services no longer depend on single computers, but can be run over networks and available over a wide range of devices, such as handheld computers and mobile phones."
      Hmmm.. seems a bit wordy. Wonder if I can shorten that up a bit? Lessee...

      How bout...

      "The network is the computer"

      Yeah! That works. Those Microsofties are always on the cutting edge.

      --
      They said FUD was bad, so I started spreading DUF.
      --
      "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
    7. Re:They understand one problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So can GCC. Your point?

  27. Web sites converting? by N8F8 · · Score: 2

    What web sites have converted? Could you give a few examples?

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Web sites converting? by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1

      BankOne is now running .NET, for one. The .aspx extension gives it away. (note: this is not apparent until you log in)

      Also, ASP.NET is incapable of maintaining state when using Post operations, thus everything is an ugly Get.

    2. Re:Web sites converting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, ASP.NET is incapable of maintaining state when using Post operations, thus everything is an ugly Get.

      Excuse me? I think perhaps you are mistaken. There is an option in web.config to change to cookie-less state which would use all get but it is not the default. A lot of sites use it though because they can avoid pissing off people who don't like cookies.

    3. Re:Web sites converting? by JeffryG138 · · Score: 1

      This is wrong. You can use cookies for maintaining state, and that has no bearing on using get/post. Jeff

    4. Re:Web sites converting? by Twister002 · · Score: 2

      The Home Shopping Network converted their site to ASP.NET. http://www.hsn.com

      NASDAQ.com is working on delivering personalized content to different platforms (PDA, etc...) using .NET technology

      I'm always surprised when I browse to a site and see ".aspx" in the URL, I figured it would be a lot longer before web sites and corporations started using .NET technology.

      --
      "For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
    5. Re:Web sites converting? by EllisDees · · Score: 2

      Bank One may be running .Net for some things, but it certainly not standardized on it. I know for a fact that their commerical banking portal (theonenet.com) is based on JSP because I was on the team that wrote it. :)

      --
      -- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
    6. Re:Web sites converting? by Schnapple · · Score: 1

      Texas A&M is using it for their "pay your bills over the Internet" site. Works like a charm...

    7. Re:Web sites converting? by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 1

      Only if the client accepts cookies.. and usually, you don't want to trust the client anyway.

  28. Open computing may end, somewhere by sam_handelman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wherever "open computing" survives will become the dominant cultural force of the next century.

    The United States is in a position to maintain cultural hegemony over the whole world - if we don't kill the free exchange of culture in order to make a quick buck.

    If we do, I predict, within a couple of generations, that other parts of the world will have outpaced us. Killing open computing will destroy our best way-out of the recent doldrums in popular movies and music.

    --
    The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
    1. Re:Open computing may end, somewhere by pohl · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Shame this post was moderated as 'off topic'. Did the moderator read the topic?

      --

      The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...

    2. Re:Open computing may end, somewhere by dwsauder · · Score: 1
      Wherever "open computing" survives will become the dominant cultural force of the next century.

      We don't have enough information to know what Microsoft meant when they mentioned the end of open computing.

      However, if you think about it just for a minute, you can figure it out. Here's a big hint: trusted computing.

      I think they are just referring to the fact that the age of innocence is over. And, if that's what they are talking about, then they are absolutely right. Think about spam as just one example of the age of innocence being over.

      Remember the age of innocence, when Usenet was actually useful and SMTP servers allowed relaying by default? Remember when you could put your real email address in your Usenet postings? Or when you could put it on a web page? Remember when a bunch of Netscape's employees had personal web pages sponsored by Netscape?

      In short, think of "the end of open computing" to mean the "the end of open SMTP relays".

      If I am right about this, then your point about "cultural hegemony over the whole world" is moot.

      Talk to any sys admin who has been in the business for 15 years or more if they understand the "end of open computing".

    3. Re:Open computing may end, somewhere by JohnsonWax · · Score: 2

      What, you mean standardized wireless phone communication hasn't resulted in the US leading the worldwide charge in cell phones?

      What about Noki...? Hmm, they aren't a US company...
      But what about Ericcso...? Hmm, they aren't either.
      Sony? No...
      Motorola? Ew.

      Maybe you've got a point there...

  29. Server 2000 components weren't ".NET ready". by EvilMagnus · · Score: 1
    Bill admits that all those Windows 2000 Server components (Exchange 2000, MSSQL 2000, Commerce 2000) weren't *really* .NET ready. They just said they were.

    From The Register:
    "Perhaps labeling those .NET products was premature," Gates said."[Since then] We've rolled out additions to those server products and now we have total support for XML and SOAP based capabilities."

    That was nice, wasn't it? ;-p

    --
    -EvilMagnus
    1. Re:Server 2000 components weren't ".NET ready". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      An XML and SOAP based future as dictated by M$ should put Worldcom back in the black with their "doubling of internet traffic every 100 days" ringing true with the associated data bloat.

      So..

      basically a 2 tiered internet with 30k binary tcp/ip (probably for wireless destinations) information parcels and their 1 mb .NET equivalents.

  30. The end of the Free exchange of info! by LWATCDR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am only worried about the goverment making Palladium the LAW. We need to tell the our goverment that.
    1. You can not take away our freedoms.
    2. we do not gives a rats ass about the Record companies.
    3. We do give a rats ass about us.
    The software compaines do not want DRM. Get talking to your reps.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    1. Re:The end of the Free exchange of info! by Stephen+VanDahm · · Score: 1

      My representative in government is Fritz Hollings. I'm screwed!

      Steve

  31. The end of "Open Computing" by fobbman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does anyone know whether Gates was wearing ruby slippers when he made the above statement?

    1. Re:The end of "Open Computing" by Xenographic · · Score: 1

      If he was, do you expect someone named Dorothy to take them from him after her house lands on him? Never heard him called the 'wicked witch of the west', though, but if he's converted to Wicca...

  32. Wait a Second by KingKire64 · · Score: 1

    They released .Net?

    --
    "All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
  33. It isn't clear ? by NexusTw1n · · Score: 1
    It isn't clear if Microsoft is talking about something happening beyond their control, or if they're boasting about

    Surely the " free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry" is exactly what the internet is supposed to be ?

    It's quite clear that Gate's uberplan is to lock people into .NET, creating a proprietary internet , a plan started with IE and continued with Passport.

    If he's talking about Open Source, he's clearly in FUD mode. Perhaps running scared from the latest UK Government proposals to look at Open Source software in a more postive light.
    --
    It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. --Albert Einstein
  34. Here goes some karma... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not use JBOSS/Linux or even JBOSS on the Sun machines they already have?

    JBoss doesn't have nearly the performance you need for a solid, production container. JBoss for testing and development is WONDERFUL, but for production, you're best to go with either BEA's Weblogic, or IBM's WebSphere.

    what, exactly is the point of going with a completely propietary Java/JSP solution by tying yourselves to Oracles tools so completely?

    Well, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there is anything in .NET that competes with EJB technology in J2EE. No connection pooling, no data caching, nothing.
    Also, Oracle tools access Oracle faster than anything you write in Java, including JDBC. Its best to let Oracle do as much as you can make it do, process wise (stored procedures, triggers, etc...) for performance.

    1. Re:Here goes some karma... by gwernol · · Score: 2

      Heading deeper off-topic. Sorry.

      JBoss doesn't have nearly the performance you need for a solid, production container. JBoss for testing and development is WONDERFUL, but for production, you're best to go with either BEA's Weblogic, or IBM's WebSphere.

      I've heard conflicting opinions about the relative performance and stability of JBoss compared with WebLogic and other commercial EJB containers. This is not meant as a flame, its an honest question. Can you point to any (even sorta) independent testing that compares these products head-to-head?

      I'd be very interested as my organization is currently building a large EJB system and we are considering which container platform to adopt.

      --
      Sailing over the event horizon
  35. the demise of "open computing" by Plug1 · · Score: 1

    I think it is interesting that Microsoft and various corporations are letting people know that their freedoms are gone. It almost seems that they think they can tell us "Well we tried out that freedom stuff and it just wasnt profitable so here is what you get now" and we're all supposed to just say thanks corporate america life with free expression was overated. The world is in a time of transition. What happens now will shape the course of freedom in the future. If we dont stand up now who knows whats next John Ashcroft warning that the area of "open speech" is over?

  36. What I'd really like to know... by windside · · Score: 1

    Is if someone at Microsoft can explain what the mythological construct of .NET is supposed to be. To me, .NET seems to be a generation of software, a plan to end all plans, a poorly woven mesh to weave together MS's myriad products, OR a documentation nightmare. Are they perhaps putting all of their eggs in the .NET basket?

    --
    ...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
    Churchill
    1. Re:What I'd really like to know... by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      Actually it's pretty easy to understand, and isn't the slightest bit mythological.

      There are three parts:
      1. IL/CLR/etc -- this is basically a runtime environment/component model
      2. Languages & compilers -- these compile code to IL (and of course we get C#)
      3. System object model -- thousands of classes

      The web services crap MS marketing is confusing everybody with is just a small subset of the system object model. MS expended great effort defining an extensive and deep model that covers everything from messaging to GUI management. They also made a real effort to isolate MS- and Windows-specific features from more generic features.

      Also, it's worth noting that the documentation is actually VERY good. It can be a bit overwhelming because there are tens of thousands of pages, but it's all cross-referenced with hot links, sample code is common, and it's backed up by a large amount of more involved samples.

      And all of that is available in the free portion that you can download, the .NET Framework SDK.

      It only seems mysterious because Microsoft marketing has fucked up so badly.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    2. Re:What I'd really like to know... by windside · · Score: 1

      True... I must admit that since I started *using* .NET (my employer decided that I should know how to use VB .NET) as opposed to just observing their hideously bad advertising campaign, it makes a lot more sense. As for the documentation, I'll admit that it's thorough (and that I bitch about it more than I talk about how helpful it can be), but doesn't anyone else find the tangled mass of hotlinks more than mildly aggravating?

      --
      ...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
      Churchill
    3. Re:What I'd really like to know... by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      I don't find the hot links half as aggravating as I would if they weren't there. :)

      Don't get me wrong, I think their docs have room for improvement, but they're far better than any technical docs Microsoft has produced in the past ten years or so (since their "Quick" line of compilers -- QuickC, QuickBasic, etc).

      What I've found about the docs is I can usually drill down to some piece of functionality I need -- even when I've never used it before and I'm not necessarily sure it exists. That says a lot for both the class hierarchy itself and the documentation. Of course, out of thousands of classes there are cases where the correct usage isn't always obvious, but even then you at least have a good starting point for digging up the right details.

      It's just a lot bigger than most developers are used to tackling all at once. It's almost like jumping from DOS programming straight into Win32 coding overnight in terms of how much there is to learn, and how much information is out there distracting you while you're looking for something specific.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    4. Re:What I'd really like to know... by windside · · Score: 1

      Actually, this IS my first experience with Windows programming. Everything I had done until I started here (I'm a summer student) was on Linux machines at school using emacs/gcc. One problem I found with the documentation is that it's too scattered. They break up one topic into 9 or 10 different documents. This makes printing stuff off and putting it into a binder for future VBasic learners (this is a part of my job) a real pain in the ass. Is there an easy way to get around this?

      --
      ...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
      Churchill
    5. Re:What I'd really like to know... by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      Unfortunately I can't think of a good way around it. Probably your best bet is to just cough up $40 or $50 for a good book. There are quite a few references springing up now.

      Also, unless VB.NET (or older versions of VB) are firmly in place at your shop, I'd seriously recommend looking at C#. It has a lot of the nice features you get from VB such as bounds checking, but it doesn't have the squirrely syntax baggage VB is dragging around from, in some cases, the earliest days of BASIC. BTW, before any VBers whine at me, I was a VB programmer for a long time at one point, too. Hated it, but it paid a lot of big bills. :)

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

  37. Oh thank god... by da3dAlus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I thought I was the only one who didn't get the whole .NET thing. Since that hype machine started up last year, I heard so many things from other programmers (who love MS products) talking about VB.NET and other .NET applications. I repeatedly asked them, what's the difference between the old environment and the new one, or simply what good is it all. Never have I recieved a clear answer of what it is, how it works, or what good it is. I'm not saying anything bad (or even good) about the whole .NET thing, I'm just saying that I've never heard a compelling argument from anyone who seems to fully understand it all. I think that right there proves that the idea didn't catch on.

    --

    Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
  38. Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by croanon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Then why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java in the last 2 years? No one is using .NET or planning to use it around. My firm tested it, tried to call some legacy activex controls and unmanaged C++ code, they of course rejected it after a biiiiiiig performance hit.
    I know lots of developers who shifted to Java from MS platforms though. :)
    .NET is new. Not tested, not trustable. Java existed 7 years ago. Why should I risk it? Why should I develop in .NET, just another VM based technology, but this time lock myself to Windows? I know that there will be other implementations of .NET, such as Mono on Linux, but those will not be cross platform compatible at all. Even they say it. One reason is that .NET's most important parts are not given to ECMA, such as WinForms and ADO.NET. Do not forget that. MS is still holding the patterns.
    etc. etc.
    .NET my BUTT. I will never use it.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    1. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by will592 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thank God someone finally has something good to say about Java. I've been developing java based solutions for the past 3 years and I honestly don't see any reason for this .Net crap. Seems like more and more people are moving their server side code over to Java and not looking back. But all you here is Java is dead. Maybe no one is using java on the client but Java seems to be surging forward on the server. Chris

    2. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Jord · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I would have to disagree that Java is dead on the client. I think it suffered a major stroke with AWT and then again with the first versions of Swing.

      However with the release of 1.4, there have been vast improvements made on the client side (read GUI) that makes it much more viable as an option. The company I am currently with is designing an entire GUI with Swing and so far things have been very positive.

      On the server side, however, Java is king. There are very few "single" technologies that can do as much as smoothly as Java does. Yes you can do everything that Java does with other technologies, but using a single technology, Java owns this arena currently.

      .NET is new. People are suspicious of it. A large number of developers out there view it as a clone and say "why do we want it". .NET does give you less in the interoperability department (basically windows only) than J2EE does plus it still has to prove itself.

      Give .net a couple more years. It will either get a foothold or die. Personally, I hope it dies.

    3. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by betis70 · · Score: 1

      >>The company I am currently with is designing an entire GUI with Swing and so far things have been very positive.

      Me too. We have been designing a new UI for our product and it is now in production and people love it. Use java on the server-side too, running on Sun and Linux hardware.

      Coming from the MS side of development a few years ago, Swing does some VERY weird things with focus control (1.4 seems to have fixed this, but we have not switched over yet). I have had to do more work-arounds for focus-related bugs (in AWT) than anything else. Our product is designed to be very data-entry friendly, so providing tight focus control is of major importance. Our previous UI was character-based, so long-term clients have come to rely on VERY fast response when doing data-entry. So far Swing has handled everything great.

      We use Java Web Start to deploy which is great for maintenance updates--we only need to patch in the classes that need to be updated. Reduces the download time considerably, and any "hot-fixes" can get our immediately rather than the user waiting for the next full release.

      Maybe C# is great too. Right now I don't need to think about it, so I haven't looked into it. If .Net starts heating up, I'll probably start learning about it, but for now knowing and working with Java, Apache, Tomcat, and Xml seems to be treating me just fine.

      --
      I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
    4. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by jarnot · · Score: 1

      It's called competition. This is a *very* good thing, and will help Java to improve even more.

      --
      -------------------------

      slashdot@com.jarnot (swap the domain)

    5. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Physics+Dude · · Score: 1
      I'll second that! :)

      Java 1.4 ROCKS! Very fast and seems to improve greatly with each new release. Our company is using it exclusively for our flagship product. Java has quickly become my language of choice for most programming matters.

    6. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Cnik70 · · Score: 0

      1.4 is quite nice. And there is word that platform dependant executables will be the next step for Java, which will make installing java aps much easier. I see no real use for .Net, it's an unwanted latecommer to a party. And it doesn't even bring a gift.

      --
      -Cnik
    7. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please do some more research on Mono.

      They plan to wrap Windows.Forms with GTK#, and eventually other bindings such as Cocoa/OpenStep.

      They are also implementing ADO.NET.

    8. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Helen+O'Boyle · · Score: 1
      betis70 writes:
      Coming from the MS side of development a few years ago, Swing does some VERY weird things with focus control (1.4 seems to have fixed this, but we have not switched over yet). I have had to do more work-arounds for focus-related bugs (in AWT) than anything else. Our product is designed to be very data-entry friendly, so providing tight focus control is of major importance. Our previous UI was character-based, so long-term clients have come to rely on VERY fast response when doing data-entry. So far Swing has handled everything great.
      Pete, is that you? If not, there's another company out here who's been a bit frustrated by focus issues. Those who say .Net needs a long time to grow up were probably burned on java's early versions -- IMHO, the stuff important on the client side (read: GUI) was rushed out the door, then fixed over and over again, necessitating constant java middleware updates by customers and changes to API usage in code.

      YMMV, of course. But until recently, trying to release a product with a complex, production-level GUI built in java, was like a cat chasing its tail, complicated by the fact that periodically the cat would start to grow a new tail and started chasing it before it was full-grown, only to find out that the new tail had completely different movement properties and could not be chased exactly the same way as the old tail (read: API's that completely changed just when you had modified your code to work around the old bugs).

      This isn't in any way meant to diminish java's back-end server-side usefulness. Just saying that it marketed itself as all things to all people, but that for a long time, it was really only suited to server-side processing and (maybe) simplistic graphical apps.

      Now java folks can say, "We've been around, it's stable," which is by orders of magnitude a more true statement than it used to be. But their apparent assumption that any competitor's product will be as awf^H^H^Hdeveloper challenging as java's GUI features were for the first couple years, isn't quite on the mark.

      OK, one can giggle at MS' endless succession of incompatible data access API's, but on the other hand, few folks in the "real world" spent more than a few minutes on RDO and OLEDB. ODBC works, folks still use it for serious coding, and it's still supported.

    9. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by betis70 · · Score: 1

      >>Pete, is that you? If not, there's another company out here who's been a bit frustrated by focus issues. Those

      Nope, must be a different company having 'fun' with focus in Java. :)

      As soon as I see a focus-realted bug from our testers, I generally start pulling my hair out, because I know it is going to take a while to find the problem and develop a work-around. "Calgon, take me away ..."

      --
      I forget...are we at war with Eurasia or East Asia?
    10. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by dawnsnow · · Score: 1

      I guess if EVERYONE is converting to JAVA, then nobody is using any other language... :)

      C/C++ had been a number 1 choice for lot of software vendor. When java first came out, you didn't see whole lot of company behind it. Only Sun, of course, Netscape and IBM were one of them. Then we saw more company support java. Java became more mature product, it's been around several years. You can't just compare user space between .net and java for now.

      And if you are worried about .net might not be cross platform compatible, it's all depend how to code it. You can even write java that is not cross platform compatible. Because mono doesn't fully implemented windows form (gui stuff), they can't created a sample program that compatible on MS windows. We'll definately see current software vendors that support MS window will use .net in the future. And you will see .net support on Unix. If a company has lot of code that written in Cobol, then it will be much easier for them to convert their code to support .net than java.

      Of course, it's microsoft. It's something we can't never trust. But technology-wise, .net is more interesting than java. For server side programming, why should you lock yourself to just one language? (well, maybe 2 including jython)

    11. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simple reason. Because using 1 language makes your source code much more maintanable than using several programming languages. With several languages you also need programmers who are fluent in several languages. And it's difficult enough to keep up your skills in one language/API set, let alone several different languages.

      Companies *standardize* on a single language because of this.

    12. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by croanon · · Score: 1

      We have no problems with Swing. Its working quite well. But if you do not like it, then use other GUI package, such as SWT from IBM (check out www.eclipse.org). It uses native widgets, and lightning fast.

      The focus related issues were really mind boggling, I am very happy to see that they are solved in the end with 1.4 release. JDK 1.4.1b is a wonder, even in its beta stage. It is incredibly faster than the previous releases. But I am much more interested in JDK1.4.2, since it will contain new garbage collection features which is said improve performance incredibly. Well, we will wait and see. :)

      Cheers!

      --
      Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    13. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by croanon · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should do it yourself. Just last week Miguel said they CHANGED their mind, and will not support WinForms with Mono, HERE ON SLASHDOT.

      Do you understand that they cannot implement WinForms, ADO.NET, or EnterpriseServices.namespace (the one containing transactions etc.), since MS is holding patterns to these most important parts of .NET?

      Well, wait and see then. :)

      --
      Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    14. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by DrTentacle · · Score: 1
      Actually, what Miguel said in the recent interview was:
      I think we're going to be pretty successful with ASP.NET and ADO.NET, which are really well abstracted. Windows Forms is probably going to be the trickiest one because we might have to do some emulation of the Win32 layer. But we're positive we can solve the problems that remain.
      Doesn't sound much like they have changed their mind to me...
    15. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... Then you will be unemployed someday, loser.

    16. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by Helen+O'Boyle · · Score: 1
      Blockquoth the poster:
      We have no problems with Swing. Its working quite well. But if you do not like it, then use other GUI package, such as SWT from IBM (check out www.eclipse.org). It uses native widgets, and lightning fast
      Oh *goody*! Yet another GUI port. Yes, that's just what we need.... You see, we started before Swing was even around. We've already changed GUI's once (to Swing), to get where we are. (And then waited, and waited, and waited, for it to work even as well as it does today. I'm glad to hear Swing works better in 1.4.)

      But the fact remains, we've been waiting 3, 4, maybe more, years to have a usable GUI. AS HAVE OUR PAYING CUSTOMERS, who haven't been entirely happy with performance/GUI bugs/delays, and who probably would have been happier sooner if we'd chosen a different implementation platform. This experience does not a ringing endorsement of java as a client-side platform make. This is my point.

      It's taken Java YEARS to get to the point that production-level GUI's, with the performance and interface polish that the Fortune 500 expects for internal mission-critical apps, can be efficiently coded, without spending lots of time diagnosing and programming special-case workarounds.

      The promise of java was great. I was as excited as anyone when Oak was demo'd at Usenix many years ago. But some early implementors have had a bumpy enough ride, that they've already lept off the train, given up chasing the java holy grail (which may, 5 or 6 versions after initial release, work well -- what was that we say about not trusting a Version 1.1 from M$? I'm up to not trusting a 1.3 from Sun...) and gone on to other, more stable, languages, possibly never to return.

      Don't get me wrong. I like Sun. I think SunOS was pretty much the one true "proprietary" UNIX, because it had so many of the good BSD features lacking in most other commercial unices, which were usually based on System V. That only causes me to shake my head in puzzlement, all the more, at how java's development has gone. It really should have been as debugged as it is today, a couple years ago.

    17. Re:Why I am seeing everyone is converting to Java? by lunatik17 · · Score: 1
      Those who say .Net needs a long time to grow up were probably burned on java's early versions

      I would be more inclined to say they have been burned on every single product Microsoft has ever made. Especially for undertakings the magnitude of .NET, Microsoft needs at least several years and 4 or 5 major versions before it's a viable product. Before that, people will use it anyway because its Microsoft and they will be burned horribly because of it.

      --

      Here's my DeCSS mirror, where's yours?

  39. As long as M$ puts out crap.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 2

    Open computing will be just fine. The genie will not go back in the bottle. Worried about Palladium? Now seriously, how long do you think it will be before there's a code work around for that? If I'm building a box am I going to include a Palladium component. My ass....

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    Please....
    This is Microsoft wishful thinking. M$ is full of shit and always has been.

    The system, the superior one, will always reign supreme. (except for maybe beta).

    1. Re:As long as M$ puts out crap.... by Rader · · Score: 3, Insightful
      "If I'm building a box, am I going ot include a Palladium component"

      Well, that sounds good until a couple years from now where your video card is getting really doggy, and the CPU's that are available are 4 times faster than what you've got, and no one is using CD-r's anymore, and the 27GB blue disc DVD's are looking nice and cheap.

      If Palladium passes and they enforced making the sale of non-Palladium hardware illegal... then all the companies will start making Palladium compliant hard ware. Sure, you can find hardware form the pre-Palladium days, but every year, those will seem so slow, it won't be worth it.

    2. Re:As long as M$ puts out crap.... by PW2 · · Score: 1

      It only will seem slow if you put new software on the old machines -- just keep the old software, development tools, and a hardware junkbox from the era of your machine and it should be good for a long time; (just like my 386 or Atari 1600XL)

    3. Re:As long as M$ puts out crap.... by Rader · · Score: 2
      Right, and you are reading and responding to comments on slashdot on your 386 or Atari right now, right?

      Depending on how old they are, you won't even have web browser applications on those machines, and by your rules, you're not allowed up install new software on it.

      The usefulness of software ages too.

  40. Bought my first Mac with OS X yesterday. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Worth every penny. Darwin is sweet and it's by far the best user interface available. Dont get me wrong, I like Windows and Linux. They just dont compare in ease of use.

    Now if Apple could only figure out that they need to lower the prices to decent levels. Just like DELL you can make as much profit on volume as gouging your customer-base.

  41. Definition? by Interrobang · · Score: 2
    software to connect information, people, systems and services
    That's not a definition, that's a mission statement. And like all mission statements I've ever seen, it's generalized (in the specific rhetorical sense) to the point of meaninglessness, and therefore, uselessness.

    Microsoft, I mock in your general direction. With all that money, you can't find higher-calibre copywriting talent than that?! (Actually, having seen some of their press releases and other "marketing collateral," I now know that software isn't all Microsoft does badly.)
    1. Re:Definition? by zCyl · · Score: 2

      That's not a definition, that's a mission statement. And like all mission statements I've ever seen, it's generalized (in the specific rhetorical sense) to the point of meaninglessness, and therefore, uselessness.

      Precisely. And that, above anything else, is why I have been completely unconcerned with .NET. Computer people like determinism and explicitly described meaning, anything else is useless and a waste of time.

    2. Re:Definition? by Interrobang · · Score: 2

      Yes, I agree with you. I'm not even technically a "computer person," if that isn't some horrible pun. Trained rhetoricians (who make their living tech writing) also like "explicitly described meaning," and tend to get really upset when people generalize words to the point where they have no meaning anymore (and not because that's just the way the language is moving, but to sell a product [?!]).

  42. Obligatory quote by Salsaman · · Score: 1

    Do, or do not. There is no 'try'.

  43. _NOW_ I know what .NET is by RisingSon · · Score: 1

    From the article (emphasis added):
    Gates also acknowledged that confusion still reigns about .NET's very definition. On Wednesday, he hammered home a new definition: "software to connect information, people, systems and services."

    What is that noise? That would be the sarcasm meter exploding due to an overload.

  44. New slogan for Sun by ch-chuck · · Score: 1

    "We're the dot in .NET"

    NASDAQ:MSFT is currently 43.86, new lows if anyone thinks a company with that much cash and captive customers is undervalued and has a future.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    1. Re:New slogan for Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just a thought, NASDAQ:SUNW is at 3.69 the new year low. What if tomorrow M$ just hit Sun's "buy it now" button and put Java into the .NET framework? Would that make everybody happy ?

    2. Re:New slogan for Sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      theyre already doing that with J#

  45. I think people are getting more intelligent... by croanon · · Score: 0

    ...day by day, and understood in the end that .NET is not something that special at all. Maybe it is to blame. ;)

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  46. .NET Pants by Shook · · Score: 1

    I have an acquaintance that works for Microsoft. He said one day he left the bathroom and forgot to zip up his fly.

    When a co-worker pointed this out, he replied "My pants are part of the .NET initiative. They are now more open and accessible."

  47. right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Migual wants to bring this to Linux...right

  48. You are mistaken: by croanon · · Score: 0

    1] Java VM can also run different languages, indeed there are much more languages built on top of JVM currently than .NET: http://grunge.cs.tu-berlin.de/~tolk/vmlanguages.ht ml 2] .NET will never be universal. .NET implementations on different platforms will never be 100 percent compatible. Even Mono on Linux. They will be just close to MS implementation. One of the reasons is that .NET contains Passport related classes etc. Other reason is that not all of the .NET platform is submitted to ECMA. MS is holding paterns to some very important parts of .NET, such as WinForms, ADO.NET etc. The only universal VM, which is around for 7 years is Java Virtual Machine, and it is still intact thanks to Sun. 3] The performance of CLI and JVM are not radically different, except for the client side .NET programs on Windows, since MS knows the OS code only. Sun don't. But it does not matter much, since the computers are fast enough and Java is getting more and more optimised with every release. :) Cheers.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    1. Re:You are mistaken: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please show me a 100% JVM port of C or C++.
      It does not exist.
      However, a 100% pure CLR C++ does exist in Visual Studio.NET.
      In theory you could write a conforming C++ for the JVM but it would 100 times slower than the CLR version due to lack of JVM opcode support.

    2. Re:You are mistaken: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well there is JVM assembly language. So I imagine that if sun wanted to make a c++ for the JVM they could.

    3. Re:You are mistaken: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You missed the point. I *was* talking about JVM and CLR assembly. JVM assembly is too Java-centric to host an efficient C++ compiler. CLR assembly code does not have the slow restrictions of the Java-centric JVM, and as such, CLR can run C++ today. A JVM-based C++ does not exist and if it did would be 100 times slower.

  49. Controlling the information age by dpilot · · Score: 2

    When the kids' last sitter graduated and went off to college, we got a beeper. They were too old to break in a new sitter, old enough to stay home alone when we have enough neighbors around that we are friends with, but a little lacking in the self-confidence to be home alone. The beeper supplied the necessary confidence. It turned out to be quite useful, sometimes for simple conveyance of binary information, as in beep me once for this, beep a second time if you really want me to call.

    The beeper died, and for about the same price (up-front and monthly, both) we got a pay-by-the minute cellphone. Nobody knows the number but the kids, and occasionally it's just plain handy.

    But it is so constrained as to not be an annoyance. Choose the technology you accept, and think about the uses you make of it.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Controlling the information age by topham · · Score: 2

      Exactly. I bought a cell phone so I could contact other people whenever and wherever I was. Not the other way around.

      Sure, if I'm walking through a mall and receive a call I'll answer it. If I don't want to speak to the person (Caller ID) I just tell it to stop ringing and they get voicemail.

      I turn it off when I go in a theater and turn it on when I come out. The phone beeps if someone left me a message while it was off, etc. (damn vibrate option is usefull, but the leatheret case absorbs the vibration...)

      I own it, it doesn't own me.

      I believe everyone who complains about cell phones, etc should try using one with Caller ID, Voicemail and the knowledge on how to use them. (Distinctive rings per Number is nice too. But not required.).

  50. There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Vicegrip · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are two main potential .NET targets:
    1. Companies who have not yet started to deploy solutions using J2EE or Java and are trying to decide which to use: Java or .NET
    2. Companies who have a need for some software that is only as a .NET application.

    I won't address issues involving getting companies to deploy the .NET environment to their PCs... Microsoft is most likely going to have to force people-- which may not be popular.

    a1. If you already have a substantial investment in software written in anything but a .NET language, chances are you aren't very motivated to switch paradigms.
    a1. Regardless of how you view .NET the fact is java has been here for quite a while and has a good following. I have yet to meet a serious java developer who has any interest in .NET
    a1. Regardless of all the claims Microsoft makes about C#/.NET maturity, nobody in their right mind is going to bet the company on a new MS platform just because the pay-for-plundits say it's sexy. .NET has to earn the industry's trust-- not an easy hill to climb these days.
    a2. There is little imperative to adopt something for which there are no major none-Microsoft commercial offerings.
    a2. Either way, I suspect difficult part of the sell for .NET is in convincing CEOs that they aren't further limiting their licensing choices and options in order to adopt something they just don't need-- at least not yet. The wait-and-see approach is a tried and true paradigm with respect to version 1.0 software from Microsoft.

    Personally, I find it hard to get excited about something from a company whose major call to fame these days is the latest way it is reaming its customers.

    --
    Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
    1. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Rentar · · Score: 2

      I'd give you a +1 Insightful if I wouldn't reply now ;-)

      I pretty much agree with everything you say, but I think you miss one point.

      I have yet to meet a serious java developer who has any interest in .NET

      In my opinion every serious Java developer should have some interest in .NET. (wow, .NET at the end of a sentence looks ... stupid) At least so much as to take a closer look at it, 'cause it's the one Java-Competitor that has the most similarities (I'm sure there are some that are closer to java, but they don't have the same kind of PR-department working for them). This alone is reason enough to have some interest in in Java. Additionally when you'll be told by your boss that you'll have to use .NET 'cause it's so cool and you tell him "But Java is so much better!" you should at least be able to tell him why it is better (No, "because Java is not a Microsoft-Product" will definitely not work)

      It seems to me that .NET took pretty much every idea from Java (not to say that Java invented it, but they used it) and added some little things. I took a closer look at .NET (especially C#), 'cause I wanted to know what I won't use (I avoid Microsoft-Products, but I also avoid flaming them without arguments). C# is basically Java with some syntactical sugar and the unsafe keyword. That means that you can do pretty much anything you can do in Java in .NET as well (except for having real Platform independence before 2008).

    2. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by tshak · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sorry if I sound like MS drone, but I have to contest your "+5 insightful" assertions.

      a1. If you already have a substantial investment in software written in anything but a .NET language, chances are you aren't very motivated to switch paradigms.
      This could be said with J2EE as well. We had a ton of Cold Fusion, PHP, and ASP/COM that we wanted to consolidate into one platform so we could reuse code accross applications. J2EE and .NET are the best candidates for this scenario.

      I have yet to meet a serious java developer who has any interest in .NET


      Again, this can be said for any set of competing languages. I could also say, "I have yet to meet a serious VB developer who does not have a huge interest in .NET".

      Regardless of all the claims Microsoft makes about C#/.NET maturity, nobody in their right mind is going to bet the company on a new MS platform...

      This is pure speculation. Sure, it sounds nice to say on /., but we're supposed to be scientists not religious zealots. Do the research (I'm not going to spoon feed it to you) and you'll find that you're wrong very quickly. One quick example, Verizon's entire customer service system (one of the biggest in the world) has been running .NET since it was in Beta. Ask anyone with solid .NET experience and they'll tell you that Beta 2 of .NET was more mature then Java was when it was released. It is much more mature then you think.

      There is little imperative to adopt something for which there are no major none-Microsoft commercial offerings.


      Unless you have no problems running on a Microsoft platoform, which many do not. Again, look at all of the ".asp" sites out there. The vast majority are NOT running on Chillisoft, and are probably looking to migrate to .NET within the next year or so (source: Gartner... grain of salt applied).

      The wait-and-see approach is a tried and true paradigm with respect to version 1.0 software from Microsoft.


      For larger and less technically ambitious companies I'd have to agree. However, for smaller companies who need to get away from ASP/COM, Cold Fusion, or even PHP, .NET is a viable solution, as is J2EE. I believe that they are both great competitors. Really, "Web Applications" are moving away from little scripting engines towards compiled, OO, strongly-typed languages. The only serious offerings are J2EE and .NET. I think the competition is great, and will only make our lives as developers better as both technologies get better.

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    3. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Svartalf · · Score: 2

      'Again, this can be said for any set of competing languages. I could also say, "I have yet to meet a serious VB developer who does not have a huge interest in .NET".'

      This is really a poor choice of analogy considering that VB is also supposed to be .NET language option... (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/)

      --
      I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
    4. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by sheldon · · Score: 2

      There are two main potential .NET targets:

      This is interesting. Most people confuse .NET Servers and .NET Services with the .NET framework. You've apparently taken a reverse course and choose to attack the Framework when Gates was talking about the servers and services side.

      I won't address issues involving getting companies to deploy the .NET environment to their PCs... Microsoft is most likely going to have to force people-- which may not be popular.

      It's being deployed in August here... No force involved. We also have a JVM installed? Is that bad? Are we confusing your first point?

      a1. If you already have a substantial investment in software written in anything but a .NET language, chances are you aren't very motivated to switch paradigms.

      We have software written in C++, C, Java, VB, Delphi, Uniface, COBOL, a few others I can't think of and now .NET. That's pretty standard in any large company, unfortunately. So this point of yours is really pretty invalid.

      a1. Regardless of how you view .NET the fact is java has been here for quite a while and has a good following. I have yet to meet a serious java developer who has any interest in .NET

      Now you've made this a religious argument. I've yet to meet a serious java developer who is not interested in .NET.

      But the same could be said for the multitudes of Visual BASIC developers out there. Should they switch? What they have works fine. Oh, wait... .NET works better. Hmm, might want to think about it then.

      a1. Regardless of all the claims Microsoft makes about C#/.NET maturity, nobody in their right mind is going to bet the company on a new MS platform just because the pay-for-plundits say it's sexy. .NET has to earn the industry's trust-- not an easy hill to climb these days.

      Ok, so now you're using FUD.

      That depends on how you define the word industry. If your industry is Silicon Valley dot-bombs, then yes, Microsoft isn't trusted. If your industry is consumers of computer software and services, then Microsoft is more trusted than either Sun or Oracle.

      a2. There is little imperative to adopt something for which there are no major none-Microsoft commercial offerings.

      Windows, Office, Visual BASIC... I could go on and on with the variety of industry defacto standards sold by Microsoft.

      a2. Either way, I suspect difficult part of the sell for .NET is in convincing CEOs that they aren't further limiting their licensing choices and options in order to adopt something they just don't need-- at least not yet.

      It's easier to sell it if you simply point out their software development will be cheaper because of the increased productivity provided by the new toolsets. CEOs like cutting costs.

      Personally, I find it hard to get excited about something from a company whose major call to fame these days is the latest way it is reaming its customers.

      Yet you are excited about Java. That's curious because Sun has always been a follower rather than a leader on pricing and adding value to customers, whereas Microsoft is the leader in the industry in that regard.

      From reading your post and the combination of religious dogma, FUD and flat out lies, it sounds to me like you are terrified your employment skills may become outdated.

    5. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by mmcshane · · Score: 1
      Ask anyone with solid .NET experience and they'll tell you that Beta 2 of .NET was more mature then Java was when it was released. It is much more mature then you think.
      I agree with you that many companies have become early .NET adopters but in the case of my company it was because of the old Microsoft BOGU (bend over, grease up). Microsoft is throwing millions of dollars at top companies in every industry (in our case, financial services), to use .NET. Free servers, load testing, MS developers on loan (not consultants mind you, but the same developers who wrote parts of the .NET framework), architects, free software, ANYTHING.

      They want case studies and success stories and they're willing to drop millions to shorten the time to respectability for .NET
    6. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by tshak · · Score: 2

      Actually, VB is not a .NET language option. VB.NET is drastically different then VB. VB is not just a language, it's an entire platform. VB.NET is a VB lookalike to help VB developers migrate to .NET. It's like saying that Perl is pretty much the same as .NET because of Perl.NET, or that Cobol is pretty much the same because of Cobol.NET. The analogy still holds.

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    7. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by irix · · Score: 2

      That depends on how you define the word industry. If your industry is Silicon Valley dot-bombs, then yes, Microsoft isn't trusted. If your industry is consumers of computer software and services, then Microsoft is more trusted than either Sun or Oracle.

      Says you - that is just more FUD. I know plenty of people in the industry who are "consumers of computer software and services" who don't trust Microsoft. And I don't blame them.

      It's easier to sell it if you simply point out their software development will be cheaper because of the increased productivity provided by the new toolsets.

      That sounds like more BS to me. Most of the time spent developing software is getting the design right and testing. Toolset improvements might reduce the time to develop features for the individual developers somewhat, but that is hardly something I would take to my CEO. The LOC required to implement a sample app in J2EE/.NET is a pissing contest between Sun and Microsoft that really has no bearing on the real world.

      it sounds to me like you are terrified your employment skills may become outdated

      I don't know about the original poster, but I am not worried. I have played with C# and .NET (VS .NET on W2K and Mono on Linux) and I consider these technologies evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Any developer worth their salt who understands Java (J2EE), C++ and web services could be productive in the .NET environment very quickly.

      --

      Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
    8. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Vicegrip · · Score: 3, Informative

      You're welcome to your speculations as well-- we'll see in a couple years or so.

      I *have* researched .NET for my company's needs and I've taken the time to go to Microsoft presentations as well.

      In essence, the major conclusion I drew is that much of our existing code and designs were not useable in .NET-- ADO.NET, for example, can only be used by managed code applications.

      It is apparent to me that .NET is largely just a new version of COM with all the old guts hidden under a new application management layer and runtime. It has advantages that only present themselves if you totally embrace the new paradigm-- a major pain if you use anything other than Windows in your enterprise.

      More details: Existing code written as a COM object interacts through essentially yet another marshalling layer to talk to managed code. Plain win32 native code does this too, even though the visual studio IDE hides much of this. The only native code I've seen that works well when ported to managed environments are Microsoft code samples.

      You mention VB programmers; this is appropriate. This is because they are the only ones who have an advantage to switching right now as VB in it's current state is a waste land of OCX controls of exponential flavors and versions that seem to only ever be good at leaking memory.

      So your company is going to toss away all its PHP, Cold Fusion, ASP/COM code... interesting setup they must have .... and find that magic bullet to fix its problems. To be honest, judging by that little list, I'd say your company has a need for consistency more than anything else. .NET will evolve and change-- do you want to bet your job on Microsoft not forgetting its early adopters?

      --
      Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
    9. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by tshak · · Score: 2

      Many Fortune 1000 and even more Fortune 10000 companies is not speculation, it's fact. True, J2EE is more mature and has a much larger adoption rate, but 2nd place is not out of the race.

      It is apparent to me that .NET is largely just a new version of COM with all the old guts hidden under a new application management layer and runtime.

      .NET has nothing to do with COM. It exists as it is even if COM never existed. As you mention, there is COM Interop wihch yields a small performance hit, so if you have tons of COM objects that you won't be rewriting anytime soon there upgrading to .NET would be a drawback. The reality is, we want to rewrite our COM because the COM is a pain to maintain. The COM interop layer essentially allows us to rewrite at our own pace while having all of the new .NET functinality.

      In essence, the major conclusion I drew is that much of our existing code and designs were not useable in .NET

      Yes, just as you can't use a PHP function in Java. I'm not sure what your point is.

      So your company is going to toss away all its PHP, Cold Fusion, ASP/COM code... interesting setup they must have

      Actually, this was the scenerio at my last company. It's called aquisitions and mergers.
      do you want to bet your job on Microsoft not forgetting its early adopters?


      We'll see. We had code in Beta2 that runs flawlessly on the 1.0 CLR less one minor exception (minor syntax change). Of course, being in Beta, we anticipated taking a week or so updating the code to 1.0. If the Beta to 1.0 was so painless, I can imagine the same for the next major revision.

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    10. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Vicegrip · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ".NET has nothing to do with COM. It exists as it is even if COM never existed."

      Well that's pretty rich. I guess I was imagining all those GUIDs.

      "Yes, just as you can't use a PHP function in Java. I'm not sure what your point is."

      Not having to reinvent the wheel for a new paradigm was the point... you know.. reusing existing code... anyways..

      "We had code in Beta2 that runs flawlessly on the 1.0 CLR less one minor exception (minor syntax change)."

      I'm glad to hear Microsoft didn't redesign the CLR between beta2 and version 1.0 ... that must have been a big relief.

      Working for a company that has the budget to redesign and re-code everything must be nice though. I'm glad not everyone is hurting in this economy.

      --
      Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
    11. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by sheldon · · Score: 2

      Says you - that is just more FUD.

      I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Any opinion(or fact even) which you disagree with you label as FUD.

      That's not the definition of FUD.

      I know plenty of people in the industry who are "consumers of computer software and services" who don't trust Microsoft.

      Disproof by counter example isn't going to work here. That there are exceptions to a general trend doesn't mean the trend isn't still there.

      That sounds like more BS to me.

      As I said in my first point.

      Toolset improvements might reduce the time to develop features for the individual developers somewhat, but that is hardly something I would take to my CEO.

      Explain to me why you are using Java and not Assembler?

      I consider these technologies evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

      That's pretty much what they are. Just like Java, C++ and other languages before them.

      Any developer worth their salt who understands Java (J2EE), C++ and web services could be productive in the .NET environment very quickly.

      Then you really have nothing to fear. So why are you attacking it?

    12. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by tshak · · Score: 2

      Since when does the usage of a GUID make it a COM object? My database uses GUID's for productID's, are my products based on COM?

      --

      There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
    13. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by irix · · Score: 2

      Any opinion(or fact even) which you disagree with you label as FUD.

      Put down the flamethrower. Since this is the first time I have ever replied to your (or any) post calling something FUD, I hardly think you can say that.

      Disproof by counter example isn't going to work here.

      Wasn't your "proof" that Microsoft is trusted more than Sun or Oracle really just your opinion in the first place?

      Explain to me why you are using Java and not Assembler?

      Do you really think that .NET is such a dramatic improvement over Java/J2EE? VB/VC++ and DCOM even? Don't be obtuse.

      So why are you attacking it?

      Who said I was? Like the original poster, I think that .NET will win over many Windows developers. I haven't written any Windows software for a few years, but it is what I would use on that platform if I had to. What it won't do is cause people to flee Java and UNIX for some great Windows.NET holy land. This is simply the next generation Windows development environment - no more, no less.

      --

      Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
    14. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by sheldon · · Score: 2

      "Do you really think that .NET is such a dramatic improvement over Java/J2EE?"

      It's a small, but considerable, improvement over Java/J2EE. It's really a difference of how they evolved. Java started out as a solution without a problem, and they tried to find a problem to fit with it, which resulted in the current kludge. .Net evolved as a solution to a problem, so they were able to start from step 1 with a better design.

      It's definately a major improvement of VB and DCOM.

      "Don't be obtuse. "

      Hmm, that sounds like an insult.

      "Who said I was? Like the original poster, I think that .NET will win over many Windows developers. I haven't written any Windows software for a few years, but it is what I would use on that platform if I had to. What it won't do is cause people to flee Java and UNIX for some great Windows.NET holy land. This is simply the next generation Windows development environment - no more, no less. "

      Seems to me like you are being obtuse.

    15. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i'd like to know where you got this infomation that verizon is running .NET for its customer service center ... because i work at verizon as a developer and i have not heard word one about this.

      just curious where you heard this ... sorry to be spoonfed ...

    16. Re:There's a large adoption issue surrounding .NET by csnydermvpsoft · · Score: 1
      One quick example, Verizon's entire customer service system (one of the biggest in the world) has been running .NET since it was in Beta.

      Hmm... So that explains why they left me on hold for an hour.

  51. Huh? by tswinzig · · Score: 2

    I think if we were really honest with ourselves, we would rate Linux at around the same score (perhaps C+). It is good to see our main competitor admit that we are on a level playing field :)

    You're comparing an operating system to a company?

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  52. Oh, by ehiris · · Score: 2
  53. Code Name Game by Joel+Ironstone · · Score: 1, Funny

    Greenwich?
    Yukon?
    Longhorn?

    If you make an acronym out of MS' code names and order them based on release dat you get GYL

    or

    Gates
    You
    Lost

    Coincidence....?

    1. Re:Code Name Game by crivens · · Score: 2, Funny

      How about Get A Life? Oh wait, you had a Y in the middle. My mistake.

  54. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill Gates predicts the end of the information age. Film at 11.

  55. OS Report Card by MarvinMouse · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Linux: B
    Win 95: D
    Win 98: D
    Win 2000: C
    Win ME: D+
    Win XP: C+
    OS/2 Warp: B-
    Unix: B+
    DOS: C-
    MAC OS X: A-

    Any others? Any changes you think are needed? I am willing to accept any modifications. (This isn't flamebait, just encouraging conversation on report cards.)

    --
    ~ kjrose
    1. Re:OS Report Card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BeOS: B

    2. Re:OS Report Card by mtec · · Score: 2, Funny

      Alien Spaceship OS in 'Independence Day': F

      --
      Cake or Death? Cake Please!
    3. Re:OS Report Card by spike2131 · · Score: 1

      i'd give Win ME a D-, not a D+. It had a few new features, but all of them were half-assed and it crashed twice as much as 98.

      Certainly, if I had to install that OS series again(and God willing, I won't have to), I'd go with Windows 98 Second Edition.

      --
      SpyDock: Scientific Python in a Docker container
    4. Re:OS Report Card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yoooo, win 2000 = D when XP = C+ ???? 2000 is the best OS MS did. XP is crappy.

      Linux: B
      Win 95: D
      Win 98: D
      Win 2000: D --> C
      Win ME: D+ --> D
      Win XP: C+ --> C-
      Windows AVG : D
      OS/2 Warp: B-
      Unix: B+
      DOS: C-
      MAC OS X: A-

      Got to agree...Mac OS X is currently the best OS available.

    5. Re:OS Report Card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did Win XP get a higher grade than Win 2000?

    6. Re:OS Report Card by loconet · · Score: 2

      I wouldnt give WinXP C+.. Id give Win2k C+ and WinXP C

      --
      [alk]
    7. Re:OS Report Card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BSD F

      BSD is dead!

    8. Re:OS Report Card by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I would give XP a C- or a D+.

    9. Re:OS Report Card by Jhan · · Score: 1

      BeOS: B (of course!)
      AmigaOS: A+ (shuts eyes, claps ears and screams "Yadda, yadda, yadda...")

      --

      I choose to remain celibate, like my father and his father before him.

    10. Re:OS Report Card by Milalwi · · Score: 2

      Yoooo, win 2000 = D when XP = C+ ???? 2000 is the best OS MS did. XP is crappy.
      Well, IMHO I guess it depends on your criteria. From a stability standpoint WinNT 3.51 was their most stable offering. When they moved the graphics subsystem into ring zero the result was many more crashes.

      Milalwi
    11. Re:OS Report Card by zCyl · · Score: 2

      Alien Spaceship OS in 'Independence Day': F

      Interoperability of Alien Spaceship OS in 'Independence Day' with Mac OS: A+

    12. Re:OS Report Card by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1

      So you deliberately left FreeBSD off the list? Maybe that was a smart move. On slashdot, you would get flamed by linux zealots for ranking it higher than linux, flamed by BSD zealots for ranking it lower than linux, and flamed by everyone except the microsoft supporters for ranking it equal to linux.

  56. Re:.NET my BUTT by slickwillie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just say ".NYET!".

  57. MS real message of open computing ending... by dpilot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All your data are belong to us.

    Aside from a cutesy cultural reference, .NET and DRM offer the ultimate customer lock-in.

    It really annoys me how one can see a black lining to ANYTHING Microsoft does. It annoys me even more that historically, this attitude seems to be justified.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  58. HE DOESN"T WANT TO FAGGOT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny
    1. Re:HE DOESN"T WANT TO FAGGOT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He doesn't want to faggot? What does it mean to faggot? Have you faggoted?

      Or are you just another stupid troll who holds down shift when he hits apostrophes, and doesn't use commas?

  59. It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "There's also a Reuters report and a NYTimes story on the same subject, which includes the interesting line: "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending." It isn't clear if Microsoft is talking about something happening beyond their control, or if they're boasting about ending it."

    It seems clear enough to me. Microsoft and the entertainment industry are in bed together. Both have something to gain from DRM.

    The entertainment industry can stop music and movie pirating, take away our fair use rights and set the stage for a future market. That market being the sale of digital video and music which will be streamed directly to hardware. It is important to the entertainment industry that we are not allowed to record the digital data because once recorded we, as individuals, could illegally swap the files with others. Obviously, that would greatly reduce the incentive to pay again and again for the privilege of having the entertainment industry stream it to us. So say good-by to your fair use rights.

    Microsoft has a lot to gain here also, on an entirely different front. They are fighting for their Corporate lives against a foe unlike any they have had to deal with before. Linux can not be made to go bankrupt, it cannot be sued into oblivion and it is steadily gaining popularity. How can Microsoft deal with this specter of doom? They must use any weapon available to them.

    1. FUD. Yep, good ol' fear, uncertainty and doubt has always helped Microsoft in the past. It hasn't worked very well against Linux because their FUD has been too transparent. People just weren't buying it. They need a more complex strategy.

    2. The Law. Make open source illegal. Hmmm... I'm sure they thought about that one... but how?

    How about using FUD, a grain of truth to paint open source users as pirates, thieves and other assorted forms of lower life. Then join together with the entertainment industry to buy a senator like say.... SENATOR HOLLINGS FROM SC. And have him draft legislation that will ram DRM down our throats.

    One all hardware is DRM enabled, only the entertainment industries bed partner will be allowed to receive digital data that will be streamed by this industry. Microsoft will do it's part to ensure that as few applications as possible will be allowed to run on Linux and have access to this new market. Definitely not open source. Thus they prevent competition. Typical strategy for Microsoft. Being afraid of competition they don't go head to head unless they can ensure themselves an advantage.

    --
    The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    1. Re:It seems clear to me... by pr0nbot · · Score: 1

      That market being the sale of digital video and music which will be streamed directly to hardware. It is important to the entertainment industry that we are not allowed to record the digital data because once recorded we, as individuals, could illegally swap the files with others.

      Is taking a video camera to the cinema illegal?

    2. Re:It seems clear to me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      as of right now, yes.

    3. Re:It seems clear to me... by Sri+Ramkrishna · · Score: 0
      It's not clear to me that what the recording industry wants will work with consumers. As a consumer, I would be very irritated if I had to keep paying each time I had to pay for a stream.

      I also don't see streaming as being as good quality as a DVD or other local device. It's not "good enough" to pay for and what happens if the net dies while your watching? If the initial market is comparable with what we have today I don't see anybody going for it.

      To wit:

      Lets compare the VHS tape market with movie requests from cable or satellite:

      1. I can watch the movie as many times as I want. (more importantly, children who want to watch the same funny scenes multiple times can do so if they want if you're a parent)
      2. it's relatively anonymous. If I wanted to rent a porn movie while my wife's out I can without it showing up on next months cable bill.
      3. I get to keep it for a number of days.
      This has been customer expectation for 20 years. If I had to switch to a nickle and dime version I will almost certainly be disgusted and do something else.

      Senator Hollings better be careful. Once consumers find out who started this whole mess they'll be fingering him and the Democratic party. Consumers take their entertainment very seriously in the U.S. :-)

    4. Re:It seems clear to me... by sheldon · · Score: 1, Troll

      It seems clear enough to me. Microsoft and the entertainment industry are in bed together. Both have something to gain from DRM.

      Microsoft's position on this is quite understandable. They aren't in bed together, but Microsoft feels that if they do not incorporate DRM into their applications and utilities someone else will and that application will become supplant Windows as a desired choice.

      It's called hedging your bets.

      FUD. Yep, good ol' fear, uncertainty and doubt has always helped Microsoft in the past.

      I hope you do realize that your entire post was nothing but FUD. If not, then you obviously do not know what the term means.

    5. Re:It seems clear to me... by BgJonson79 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Microsoft and the entertainment industry are in bed together

      And they're making the ugliest kid I've ever seen

      --

      There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.

    6. Re:It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Re:It seems clear to me... (Score:2)
      by sheldon on Thursday July 25, @02:05PM (#3952551)
      (User #2322 Info | http://www.sodablue.org/)
      It seems clear enough to me. Microsoft and the entertainment industry are in bed together. Both have something to gain from DRM.

      Microsoft's position on this is quite understandable. They aren't in bed together, but Microsoft feels that if they do not incorporate DRM into their applications and utilities someone else will and that application will become supplant Windows as a desired choice."

      I'm not buying it. With all of the applications out there and over 90% of computers in the entire world running a Microsoft OS there is no OS poised to "supplant Windows as a desired choice."

      In their recent FUD they claimed that the reason for their Palladium strategy is to protect customer's from evil hackers and "un-trusted" code. Yet it will not do a thing to prevent the majority of attacks. This initiative is mostly about hurting open source for Microsoft and about curtailing future P2P file swapping for the entertainment industry.

      You bet Microsoft is in bed the entertainment industry.

      One more partner that I didn't mention in my previous post was the hardware manufacturers. To pull this off they have to play along as well. All of them need to exclusively sell DRM enabled hardware because if any of them are not on board with this scheme then people will have a choice. Given the choice of hardware that the entertainment industry and Microsoft controls or uncrippled hardware, you can guess what people will choose. So we must not be allowed a choice.

      And just in case some of the hardware companies are reluctant to play along Microsoft and the entertainment industry have bought and paid for SENATOR HOLLINGS FROM SC. This is one corrupt SOB that needs to be removed from the equation. If you are from SC I would suggest voting the bastard out.

      As far as my opinion being FUD, I think not. It is by far more based on fact then fear, uncertainty and doubt.

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    7. Re:It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2

      They are looking toward the future when bandwidth, hardware and technology will allow quality programming to be streamed to paying customers. A lot of people will be pissed but have no choice but to pay or go without.

      Most people are mindless sheep and will end up paying and paying and paying...

      The amount for each stream will probably be small at first as to avoid an uprising but as choice dwindles and comp lacy sets in the cost will be ratcheted up. How much and how fast will depend on several factors:

      1. How arrogant are the heads of the entertainment industry?
      2. How soon can the populace be placated?
      3. What is the maximum the market will bear?

      Remember that our feelings don't enter into the equation unless they hurt the Corporate bottom line.

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    8. Re:It seems clear to me... by sheldon · · Score: 2

      As far as my opinion being FUD, I think not. It is by far more based on fact then fear, uncertainty and doubt.

      Well it's certainly not based on any facts, more like poorly informed idle speculation, which is why I label it FUD.

      There are certain concerns with Holling's bill, and I don't think it will pass.

      But as far as the DRM stuff, that's a non-issue. If the entertainment people think they can sell their product that way, I say let them. I don't care because I won't buy something I don't want. (Yeah, I know, silly me... I should instead pretend to be all outraged like yourself, when really I'm just concerned I won't be able to pirate music and movies.)

      As far as Palladium... we don't know what that is because it's years out yet. But your claims have already been denied by Microsoft and quite frankly I can't think of any logistical way in which they could accomplish your fantasy.

    9. Re:It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2

      "I should instead pretend to be all outraged like yourself, when really I'm just concerned I won't be able to pirate music and movies."

      If you have read many of my posts you will see that I'm absolutely against piracy of any kind. But then I guess it's human nature to throw insults when one lacks facts.

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    10. Re:It seems clear to me... by sheldon · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      But then I guess it's human nature to throw insults when one lacks facts.

      Yes, it seems you've definately proven that.

      I find it curious that you refuse to respond to any of the points I raise.

    11. Re:It seems clear to me... by Sri+Ramkrishna · · Score: 0

      I'm probably being naive but eventually I think people will get it. However, we should play our part by writing articles in newspapers and magazines and hilighting that. Individuals can make a difference by forcing people to think.

      This is something I would like to write sometime. I should definitely try.

      sri

    12. Re:It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2

      Well then let me respond to your points and let's cut the insults.

      "Well it's certainly not based on any facts, more like poorly informed idle speculation, which is why I label it FUD."

      Insult not worth a serious response.

      "There are certain concerns with Holling's bill, and I don't think it will pass."

      If no one objects it or a similar bill will almost certainly pass.

      "But as far as the DRM stuff, that's a non-issue. If the entertainment people think they can sell their product that way, I say let them. I don't care because I won't buy something I don't want. (Yeah, I know, silly me... I should instead pretend to be all outraged like yourself, when really I'm just concerned I won't be able to pirate music and movies.)"

      Well good for you, but the point is that DRM will be mandated by law if Senator Hollings has his way. So you will buy it.

      "As far as Palladium... we don't know what that is because it's years out yet."

      Yes, it is. But that's irrelevant. If we wait until it's here it will be too late.

      "But your claims have already been denied by Microsoft..."

      I don't think that they have. I claimed that they would do whatever they could to ensure as little software as possible would run on Linux and use the streaming technologies definitely not open source. So me a link where they deny this.

      "...and quite frankly I can't think of any logistical way in which they could accomplish your fantasy."

      Not a fantasy and very easily accomplished. Patents, fees and copyrights. Lawyers, litigations and court costs. Problem solved.

      Linux won't be able to remain free if it incorporates expensive technologies. So those technologies won't be incorporated. Microsoft's OS will be the only OS that will be able to view streamed music and video. Great selling point.

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
    13. Re:It seems clear to me... by sheldon · · Score: 2

      "Insult not worth a serious response."

      In other words it was an accurate statement.

      "If no one objects it or a similar bill will almost certainly pass."

      If it does, or if there is a similar bill, then obviously the proponents have put forth better arguments than the opponents. But I don't think it will pass because of the attention it's drawn.

      "Well good for you, but the point is that DRM will be mandated by law if Senator Hollings has his way. So you will buy it."

      Again it won't matter to me because I won't buy the products if they won't work the way I expect them to. That's more money in my bank, and less in the product providers bank, which means I win.

      "Yes, it is. But that's irrelevant. If we wait until it's here it will be too late."

      So we should instead use poorly informed idle speculation to think about what it might mean?

      "I don't think that they have.... So me a link where they deny this."

      http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/2002-07-05.html

      "Not a fantasy and very easily accomplished."

      Actually no, that's not at all correct.

      "Linux won't be able to remain free if it incorporates expensive technologies."

      Ohwell. That just means it won't have the same functionality.

      "Microsoft's OS will be the only OS that will be able to view streamed music and video. Great selling point."

      No, it will be the only OS that will be able to view streamed music and video from content providers who demand DRM. But that's a decision on your part, if you want to view these companies content, then you play by their rules. If you don't want to play by their rules then you create your own content and stream it however you want.

      It seems to me like you need to stop whining and start doing.

    14. Re:It seems clear to me... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2

      "In other words it was an accurate statement."

      Yet another reiteration of a worthless insult.

      "If it does, or if there is a similar bill, then obviously the proponents have put forth better arguments than the opponents. But I don't think it will pass because of the attention it's drawn."

      You really don't understand politics do you? The arguments do not determine the outcome. The facts, although interesting are irrelevant. The only thing that matters to most of our political leaders is being re-elected. They get re-elected by spending money campaigning so if Microsoft and the entertainment industry pays them a significant sum that will allow them to be re-elected they will do what the Corporations want so that the funding won't dry up.

      The only thing that would swing it the other way is if people get outraged enough that they fear losing too many votes. It should be obvious by your own attitude that this is unlikely to happen.

      "Again it won't matter to me because I won't buy the products if they won't work the way I expect them to. That's more money in my bank, and less in the product providers bank, which means I win."

      You say so but I really doubt that when push comes to shove, you'll stop buying computers after your computer dies.

      "So we should instead use poorly informed idle speculation to think about what it might mean?"

      Microsoft has laid out the fundamentals of what the Palladium strategy means. We don't know exactly how it will be implemented but we do know the general direction. And it's not a good direction.

      http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/2002-07-05.html

      Oh, do you mean this part:

      "It is possible to imagine that a Palladium-hardware-aware version of Linux could be created and could make full use of Palladium's hardware features in order to achieve trust comparable to the Windows implementation. Microsoft is only writing an implementation for Windows, but plans to publish all the technical details."

      Smoke and mirrors. This says nothing about open source software. Open source will NEVER be allowed to incorporate any technology that is patented by Microsoft. Further encrypted streams from the entertainment industry will never be allowed to be used by "untrusted" software. That's one of the things that Pallidum is about. Open source software will never be given the certification required.

      Even closed source software will be required to pay a fee to get certified and that's not going to happen and Microsoft know's it.

      "Actually no, that's not at all correct."

      Nothing to respond to here...

      "Ohwell. That just means it won't have the same functionality."

      One of my points was that Microsoft is doing this to gain an unfair advantage. I'm glad that you agree.

      "No, it will be the only OS that will be able to view streamed music and video from content providers who demand DRM. But that's a decision on your part, if you want to view these companies content, then you play by their rules. If you don't want to play by their rules then you create your own content and stream it however you want."

      Again, Microsoft is doing this to try to gain an unfair advantage. The fact that you don't care doesn't really matter. There are a LOT of people that do care and are tired of Microsoft's dirty tricks and outright illegal behavor. That's why Microsoft was found guilty of breaking the law.

      "It seems to me like you need to stop whining and start doing"

      Another insult.

      Look obviously you have nothing of substance to contribute so let's just agree to disagree. You have repeatedly insulted me and I have not replied in kind. So go do your Microsoft thing, pay, pay, pay for various Microsoft fees and have a great life.

      --
      The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
  60. Full of Holes... by akiy · · Score: 5, Funny

    A net, by defition, is full of holes...

    --

    --
    http://www.aikiweb.com - AikiWeb Aikido Information

    1. Re:Full of Holes... by stronglyopinionated · · Score: 1

      Now someone has finally noticed ... Wonder why it took this long!

    2. Re:Full of Holes... by Rupert · · Score: 1

      But in a .net, those holes are small enough to stop a dot from slipping through.

      --

      --
      E_NOSIG
    3. Re:Full of Holes... by Tony-A · · Score: 2

      But in a .net, those holes are small enough to stop a dot from slipping through.
      But not small enough to stop the worms and the viruses.

  61. All things being equal... by JudgeFurious · · Score: 1

    ...I would be forced to assume that the second of your choices is correct since we are talking about a man who has been "trying very hard to bring such predictions about" for over a decade.

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
  62. Bill: It's never happened to me before... by mtec · · Score: 2, Funny


    But it was a case of 'pre.net.ture ejaculation'

    I just got a little excited 'cause you customers are so sexy.

    Lemme help clean you up...

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  63. End of "open computing' as we know it by tylerdave · · Score: 1

    When he talks of the end of "open computing" he's likely referring to new hardware which will control how you use software and media. It's still unclear how they will get hardware manufacturers to adopt these technologies, unless of course there's legislation mandating it.

  64. Open Computing Ending by jav1231 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think that MS may see this as an opportunity to garner control along with RIAA via things like the DMCA. MS has practically embraced the idea of more control over content and media. Legislation like the DMCA simply reinforces their further control of "innovations" as they call them. If things like proprietary encryption and the like come down the pike, MS will be the medium. The fact that this will further alienate the Open Source community is a huge bonus for them. >

  65. What is .NET by imta11 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    .NET is an Enterprise Tier program specification, similar to J2EE in planned functionality. The enterprise tier is where real applications are written, and by real I mean distributed both logically and computationally. .NET and J2EE allow programmers to connect services such as databases, webservices, webpages and applicatins together into a larger Enterprise Application that is the sum of its parts. If you don't understand most of this you should try a google search and read some specification documents. If you find that reading too dry, that is why you are a 50,000 tech that writes shitty pearl instead of a Genius that doesn't care about money but makes more of it than your whole family anyway.

    spellin' is for F7

  66. Time to stop expansion? by Jacek+Poplawski · · Score: 1

    Windows CE on palmtops? PalmOS is still on top.
    Xbox? Failed completly.
    And now .NET...

    Maybe something is changing in this world? IMHO 20 years is enough.

    1. Re:Time to stop expansion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi, Having fun in Redmond? Guess when a company pays your bills your're willing to pimp for them. Say hi to Bill for me.

  67. sort of a correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is connection pooling and data caching in .NET. It's not like having an EJB server (no CMP, particularly, among other things), which depending on your perspective is either a good or bad thing.

  68. Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't wave that tired grunge Java language site in my face.
    Did you actually try to use any of those languages on that site? The list looks really impressive until you realize that a third of the links are dead, and of the remaining links only a quarter of them actually function as a language. Most are just aborted experiments. Lisp will NEVER be efficient on JVMs because they do not support the tail-recursion optimization. Lisp dialects on JVM will always blow the stack in deeply recursive calls. CLR mandates that all compatable VMs MUST support tail recursion.
    I will concede the point that there exists more languages for JVM than CLR _at_the_moment_ - but this will change. The JVM makes all sorts of basic language constructs inefficient: array access, unsigned bit manipulation, just to name a couple. The JVM only has slow "safe" access methods. Sometimes a programmer just wants something to run as fast as the processor allows - and CLR/.Net allows just this - in a portable way.
    Mono need not be 100% compatable with .Net - it need only be compatable with enough of .Net to get a solid user base and then it will be its own entity - a better universal VM.
    As for your other points, you are grasping at straws.

  69. What is .NET?????? by Zspdude · · Score: 3, Interesting
    On Wednesday, he hammered home a new definition: "software to connect information, people, systems and services."

    Before .NET was released, no-one knew what it was. After its release, we still didn't know. Maybe I'm just stupid...But what kind of software connects information? This definition is all-encompassing, vague, and one of the more impressive examples of burble that I've seen. I guess MS just doesn't want us to *ever* know what they're doing.

    --
    What's in a Sig?
    1. Re:What is .NET?????? by Sangui5 · · Score: 2

      .NET is basically Corba and SOAP, tied to a new virtual-machine sandbox, which allows running the usual "trusted" (garbage collected, bounds checked, etc) sandboxed code, as well as untrusted (that is, you can turn off array bounds checking, use pointers, not use garbage collection, etc), possibly mixed together.

      One could look at it as Java and RMI redesigned, with the benefit of seeing where Java needed a bit of work.

    2. Re:What is .NET?????? by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny
      Simple:

      .NET is something that .FISH get .TANGLED up in.

  70. .NET as a Data Utility by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 4, Informative


    My understanding of .Net is this: MSFT wants to be a data utility as much as your power company is a power utility. Said again, MSFT wants your data to flow from you to any other service that you can connect to the data pipe, be it your cellphone, your fridge, your car. MSFT intends to provide the mechanisms for making this flow possible, mostly be enabling data forms that are useful anywhere, and by abstracting the application that interprets the data.

    I believe that the vision is that computing devices would mostly allow you to dip into that data stream, and lose almost all of the autonomy that they now possess--while historically useful, it means that I can't have my fridge interoperate with the grocery store and compare my cupboards with what's on special today, and then alert me with a pop-up ad while I'm watching TV. All of these devices would be manufactured independantly, but MSFT would provide the means and the infrastructure to connect their data streams.

    If said data was regulated by an open protocol, you could probably achieve much the same kind of thing; however, MSFT is a demonstrated monopoly, and as such can dictate a data-transfer protocol and make it a defacto standard. MSFT then gains the ability to charge on the basis of each transaction, or rent your data transmission method to you or to the device manufacturers.

    Will it work? I dunno. I suppose anyone can install solar panels and resume their autonomy from the infrastructure. However, there's lots of good reasons to still be connected to the grid, even though it costs you more in the long run. Took a long time for this infrastructure to be implemented, though, and I'm not sure MSFT has the patience.

    This is really all just speculation and conjecture--I would love to hear what others think of these assumptions. Am I right?

    --

    --
    $tar -xvf .sig.tar
    1. Re:.NET as a Data Utility by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2
      If said data was regulated by an open protocol, you could probably achieve much the same kind of thing; however, MSFT is a demonstrated monopoly, and as such can dictate a data-transfer protocol and make it a defacto standard.

      Indeed, and that protocol is called .NET Remoting, and is a set of extensions to SOAP which allow for true object serialization a la CORBA. SOAP is useful now, but one thing I never understood until a few months ago is why they left out what's known as object-by-reference, which lets you pass objects around (pretty useful). Then I remembered that SOAP was partially designed by MS. I can just see the meetings:

      Microsoft: "No no, we don't want objects-by-reference, we want to keep the spec clean and lean"

      only to then turn around and add it as their own extension to SOAP. Now SOAP is just XML so it'd be pretty easy to reverse engineer said extensions, but who says it's not patented?

    2. Re:.NET as a Data Utility by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      .... have my fridge interoperate with the grocery store and compare my cupboards with what's on special today ....

      I really really don't want to see my toilet have a Brown Screen of Death someday.

  71. Re:Say what you will... by dmarien · · Score: 2

    I think a big thing to take into account is that, until linux desktop is a viable alternative (read: an exact clone) of windows, and until it's easy to configure and install, and maintain for complete newbies, it's userbase isn't going to expand dramtically to include my parents and their friends.

    The above is important for one reason. Bill Gates isn't a computer genius, he's a genius business man. He founded a company which he knew could penetrate everyone's everyday life, any business, and any commerical entity.

    The 'innovation' MS, Apple, etc all, are introducing is a result of a companies which wants to make more money -- it just happens to be that they make software.

    Profts drive innovation becuase one will innovate to find a market niche and sell that innovation as a product and become rich.

    Until the linux desktop can interoperate completely with windows, act like windows and install like windows my parents and their friends will not be using it. When that happens you can be sure that the user base will expand. When the user base expands companies will create and sell innovation in an attempt to recieve profit.

    And, Bill Gates doesn't give a flying fuck whether he's making money from Software, cars, toilet paper, or whatever! It's business. Business drives innovation, and there's really no business attacking the software linux software industry as hard as microsoft is attacking the win32 software industy.

    First the clone, then the interoperability, then the useability, then the user base.

    Sure, right now we're at step 1 - clone. But what a fucking clone it's becoming. I love linux, my desktop is beautiful, functional, and i've doing everything and more i ever did in windows. it'll come dude, but it needs to mature greatly.

    --
    dmarien
  72. Open source Open computing by PanopticnetPrisoner · · Score: 2, Insightful

    While open source is a subset of open computing, the two are in no way synonyms. The idea Microsoft is trying to convey is that business models are finally beginning to catch up to modern technology. Open computing could be taken to cover everything from internet access (where business models are already beginning to evolve from unlimited monthly access to capped transfer/bandwidth or pay-by-MB) to P2P file sharing systems (no explanation necessary). Personally, I still believe technologically open solutions are evolving faster than traditional business models, but certainly the industry is now actively aware of this open computing -- not "problem" -- but "opportunity" to make more money. (Or, after the latest string of quarterly losses, make ANY money). I've always found it interesting how gargantuan companies can lose millions (or billions) of dollars each year, yet the CEO's of said companies still manage to turn a profit of hundreds of millions of dollars and live in houses with six hot tubs and three pools (at least one indoor) and other such ludicrously excessive luxuries.

  73. Is "C" average? by dpilot · · Score: 2

    That's because the schools want to catch up with Lake Woebegone, MN.

    On a more serious note, corporate America is at least partly to blame. The Fortune Nxx pretty much won't hire below 3.5. Colleges get at least some rating on jobe placement, so there's very real pressure for grade point inflation. The highest GPA in the house I lived in at school didn't have a lick of common sense, either. So the excessive emphasis on grades isn't good.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Is "C" average? by InOverMyFeet · · Score: 2, Interesting

      'Corporate America' doesn't want you to have common sense. It allows you to see behind the curtain and reveal the stupidity that defines upper management. They hire based on grades because it defines your ability to learn/be taught (i.e. transformed into a mindless follower).

      --

      -- Probability does not dismiss possibility --

    2. Re:Is "C" average? by Reckless+Visionary · · Score: 2

      I disagree. 'Corporate America' doesn't believe you have common sense. And I think, if you surveyed the population on these issues, they would be largely correct.

      --
      I think I'll stop here.
    3. Re:Is "C" average? by InOverMyFeet · · Score: 1

      '...doesn't believe...' vs. '...doesn't want...' what's your point, troll?

      --

      -- Probability does not dismiss possibility --

  74. Probably not talking specifically about Open Sourc by jidar · · Score: 2

    I doubt that Gates claim of the end of "Open Computing" is an indication of an attack on Open Source specifically, that would be business as usual and not worth mentioning, more likely hes talking about some type of digital rights management or content control. Probably something catering to the large content providers and specifically aimed at pirates.

    --
    Sigs are awesome huh?
  75. Re:Sometimes Ad Hominem is called for. by jav1231 · · Score: 1

    Dude! Don't hold back. You hold that shit in and it will eat at ya! >

  76. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by unicron · · Score: 4, Funny

    "From my parent's home in Wyoming, I stab at thee."

    --
    Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
  77. Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my problems by croanon · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yes, Java! Because: - Java is cross platform compatible. .NET may never be cross platform compatible %100 including Mono project etc., since MS is holding patents of very important parts of .NET, such as WinForms, ADO.NET. They did not submitted all the parts of .NET to ECMA. They kept the most important parts.

    - Java was there 7 years ago! :) Think about it. Now it is matured, reliable. There are millions of Java programmers (still there will be %50 more need for in 2003 according to Gartner research), thousands of open/close, ready to use, matured programs, frameworks, libraries written in Java. .NET is a newbee, need at least 3 years to become reliable. During this time, Java will be much better.

    - Java is working already. Its doing everything I need. Why should I change to .NET? :) There are many programs written in Java, basically working on many different platforms already.

    - Performances of .NET and Java are not very different. Both are VM based. .NET might be faster than Java on Windows, especially in client applications, but, it is not very important, since CPUs are fast enough, and Java is getting better optimized with every release. In short, Java is fast enough.

    - All the big companies other than MS, such as Sun, Oracle, Sybase, IBM, BEA, HP, Fujitsu, Nokia, Sony/Ericcson, JBoss, etc. already rolled their dice and chosen Java. They have many products based on Java. Why should they burn their investments and move to MS's .NET? Of course they won't.

    - Java is not from the most unethical company in the history of mankind. Some people believe in ethics and don't use it. Such as me.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  78. Why SEC should look at Microsoft by dpilot · · Score: 4, Informative

    Two reasons to begin with:

    1: They're manipulating their balance sheets. Under-reporting is as bad as over-reporting, neither is "transparent". (the new accounting buzzword) Besides, last I heard, and I admit I can't currently substantiate this, they were "revenue smoothing", under-reporting on very good quarters, and holding that around to over-report on lean quarters. The net effect was to always meet/beat projections, which helps the stock keep going up. And isn't this where it all started, with "opaque" accounting practices being used to inflate stock value.

    2: Stock options counted as a business expense for tax purposes, but not counted against revenue. Though recently S&P and TIAA-CREF have called for this to change market-wide.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Why SEC should look at Microsoft by spruce · · Score: 1

      Check out this article.

      Basically is states that they were doing what you talked about, but settled with the SEC without having to admit any wrongdoing.

  79. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by jmu1 · · Score: 2
    Quote us not the Metallica. As much as I think that PA is funny as hell, I can't stand the "Gamer" attitude they have. -- "I don't care if the whole world stops working... just so long as I can play my video games"

    Pretty pathetic.

  80. Telling line... by lgraba · · Score: 1

    The NY TImes article has the following line:

    Microsoft is now locked in competition with small start-up companies that originally pioneered the Web services field

    Usually the mainstream press makes it seem as though Microsoft invented web services (and the internet, for that matter.) Its refreshing to see a little more accuracy in reporting once in a while.

    1. Re:Telling line... by The+Cat · · Score: 2

      is now locked in competition

      Ever notice how poor journalists always over-dramatize verbs into phrases?

      "Microsoft is now trapped in an epic struggle with dozens of aggressive, desperate companies, all of which seek the same distant goal..."

      Bleh. How about something simple like:

      "Microsoft is now competing with small start-up companies..."

      Save the hyperbole.

  81. I wonder what a 'Senator Hollings' goes for... by mtec · · Score: 1

    ...probably just rented. Looks like a lot of wear and tear on that one.

    --
    Cake or Death? Cake Please!
  82. Slick PR by JojoLinkyBob · · Score: 1
    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    Very nice wording, pick a double entendre that connotes both something great(Open Source) and evil(unsafe nonsecure software).

    Now we just have to worry about John and Mary Sixpack buying into all this crap.

    It's a beautiful world we live in.
    --
    -jc
  83. Trademark? by ndecker · · Score: 1

    Will they sue freshmeat.net for violation of their trademark?

  84. So what? by croanon · · Score: 0

    C++ on .NET is not C++. You cannot create dynamic languages on top of virtual machine based environments. Also, my company tried calling C++ unmanaged legacy code and some Active X components from .NET, and of course rejected it after huuuuge performance hit. :P

    And, I personally think that C++ is not such a nice language. I even think that many of the additions C# brought on top of Java are harmful.

    If you like it, use .NET. I don't, and seems like the others also don't.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are trying to deflect debate from the fact that the JVM does not make a good general purpose language runtime.
      The point was that JVMs in their current form CANNOT host C++ and CLR can - and does.

      And, I personally think that C++ is not such a nice language. I even think that many of the additions C# brought on top of Java are harmful.

      Thanks for the commentary.
      Just to clarify: you use "harmful" as a synomnym for "I don't understand it, therefore I am scared of it".

    2. Re:So what? by croanon · · Score: 0

      No, I did not try to deflect debate.

      ""you use "harmful" as a synomnym for "I don't understand it, therefore I am scared of it".""
      It is not nice to make up things about someone that you don't know. I know C++ (I am using it for 9 years.), and Java (7 years) and C# (1 year) quite well. I don't like C++, because it is very powerful. There is too many responsibility on the shoulders of programmers. I saw lots of C++ projects full of pointer errors from C++ gurus. I saw incredibly hard to determine bugs related with wrong usage of operation overloading etc.

      CLR can run unmanaged C++ code after turning it to managed CL code. The performance hit is incredible, I know, because I tried it. If you bypass translation, your C++ code might not be compatible with the platform you are running CLR. In both the cases, the point is running a dynamic language such as C++ on top of VMs do not make sense. You can also compile C++ code into JVM bytecode if you want to. But why? For what reason? I don't know. :)

      --
      Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  85. Gates Tries to Explain .Net but... by ASeed · · Score: 1

    ...he insn't able to come with a good answer...

    Bill Gates could say this:
    ".NET is...
    well, there's a new language called C#,
    there's a platform, an intermediate language, a runtime, ... ...
    well, it's easier to explain:
    you know about Java?
    "

    --

    --
    ACid
    1. Re:Gates Tries to Explain .Net but... by fuali · · Score: 0

      A Java is a language, virtual machine and a framework(aka API). .Net has a framework and several languages. It also has a collection of server platforms (currently: SQL2000, Application Server, CMS, and more) There is also Passport(I don't even like passport, but it is part of it).

      THe best definition of .Net that I have heard is this:

      .Net is Microsoft's attempt to give cohesion to applications, the way they are developed, the way they manage data/media, and how they are delivered to and used by the end-user.

      That is it. It is not c#. It is not passport. It is not Longhorn. It's all of it and it's the glue that will stick it together. period.

    2. Re:Gates Tries to Explain .Net but... by ASeed · · Score: 1

      Well, I was trying to suggest that the concept of .NET was not made very clear (even Bill Gates wouldn't be able to explain it easily... unless he relates it with Java technology)

      On the other hand, you can compile code from a lot of languages to Java bytecodes too: Scheme code (using Kawa), Python (using Jython), etc...

      I made another post to this slashdot story recommending an article (".NET Signals an Industry Shift")... It has a lot to do with your definition of .NET, which I think is good. It talks about applications, development...

      --

      --
      ACid
  86. 15 other websites? by JudgeFurious · · Score: 1

    Might want to think about walking away from the computer, going outside, getting the paper, and looking through the classifieds.

    They got these things called jobs.

    --
    Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
  87. Microsoft is... by Valar · · Score: 1

    like so 1990s! Like duh!

  88. Is .NET about the net? by twocents · · Score: 1

    I went to three days worth of the training, and I will say the instructor was quite good. I will also say that as primarily a web application builder, I wasn't impressed with Interdev or the new names they have for cookies, etc, or much of .NET's treatment of web based services - I can write my own XML parser damnit and this whole rolling back application changes...who programs in such a way that you would ever use this? But it seemed that the framework does allow for better delivery of applications to the client, which seemed to me to be the true power. In fact, very little time of the training was spent talking about the web. Instead, it seemed to be about building applications using VB and C#. It seems to make sense that .NET is not about the WWW, but instead is about making people buy the framework so they can run the applications developed by the people that bought the developer tools. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really see .NET being much about, well, the net.

  89. Good! by wirefarm · · Score: 2

    He doesn't get it either - I feel vindicated...

    Cheers,
    Jim in Tokyo

    --
    -- My Weblog.
  90. Gates is responding to the '.Mac' threat? by toupsie · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If you believe what Steve Jobs said during the MWNYC keynote, 'Dot Mac' is the same thing as 'Dot Net'. Of course, we are smarter than that but Jobs was taking advantage of the problem Bill Gates has. Nobody that owns the corporate checkbook knows what the heck 'Dot Net' means. The only thing the 'General Public' knows about .Net is that they will have to pay more for wine instantly when some idiot at the winery destroys the best vintage. And to be completely honest, as much as I know about .Net, I am still not sure what the heck I would do with the technology.

    I think in hindsight, .Net will be taught not in Computer Science courses but in Business Marketing courses as a failure of Public Relations.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  91. How Gates planned to secure .NET by Mr.+Firewall · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One of the people at the White House Office of Cybersecurity told me an interesting story once.

    About 2 years ago he was at a briefing of high mucky-mucks where Gates was pitching all of the Good Things (TM) that .NET was going to be.

    My friend was in one of the front rows, not twenty feet from Gates. He knew that if he raised his hand, Gates couldn't ignore him. So he waited for a few reporters to ask their usual lame questions and then made his move: "Bill, how in the hell are you going to secure all of this?"

    He says that Gates's eyes glassed over and his knuckles, where he'd been gripping the edges of the podium, turned white. He spent the next several minutes rambling about QOS -- yes, QOS was going to secure .NET!

    There is more to this story that I wish I could tell. Suffice it to say that the White House cybersecurity people (including Howard Schmidt, who was recently vilified here) are not as stupid as slashdotters think they are. These men will never reveal in public their true opinion of Micro$oft, but they have spoken to me in private about it. They're not as far away from our opinions as you think.

    --
    In times of universal deceit, telling the truth gets you modded -1 Troll
    1. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by jgeelan · · Score: 1

      Ken, that's a vivid account...what, in your view, was Gates's motivation then in grasping the security nettle so publicly the other day, somewhat hubristically in the view of many? Maybe it's going to be one of those self-correcting prophecies...

    2. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by sheldon · · Score: 2

      That's interesting, I know people who work in the White House Office of Cybersecurity, and they tell me just the opposite of what you just said.

      Now, of course it's possible I don't really know anybody who works there. Then again, it's even more possible that neither do you. That's the wonderful side-effect of Whitewater, it proved that hearsay evidence is incredibly powerful, even if it isn't true.

    3. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by Mr.+Firewall · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...what, in your view, was Gates's motivation then in grasping the security nettle so publicly the other day...?

      I don't know Mr. Gates personally so I can only guess based on what I was told, by someone who does know him, in a conversation that occurred last winter.

      My friend said that Gates finally "got it" about two years ago as far as realizing that security is actually important, but still did not realize that security is something that must be designed in to a technology from the very beginning. He described Mr. Gates as a visionary who likes to dream up new stuff and believed that security was something that could be added on to a technology later -- by low-level underlings. Kind of like believing that you could make the Corvair safe by simply adding air bags.

      He also mentioned that BillG considered security to be more of a PR issue than a real one.

      The "Trusted Computing" letter to which you refer is consistent with that view. Most of the letter is pure PR and most of the rest is consistent with a viewpoint that security can be obtained by simply having coders go back through source code looking for bugs.

      I don't think Gates realized until just recently that he has literally built Windows on a very dangerous foundation (ActiveX, for one example) that CANNOT be made secure. I think that's what Palladium is about: yet another add-on by underlings (hardware designers, in this case) so that he does not have to admit that he made some very fatal errors several years ago when he designed the Win32 architecture.

      Gates is a betting man -- he played a LOT of poker in his college days and usually won -- and it shows in the way he keeps "betting the farm" on his company's products and technologies. If the world ever figures out what he's done, he's going to lose it all.

      So to answer your question, I THINK that he believes that he really is on the track to better security. I think he's starting to realize that it ain't really true, but I think he also believes that he can bluff his way out of this one just as he has no doubt done in countless poker games in the past.

      It will be interesting to see whether that actually happens.

      --
      In times of universal deceit, telling the truth gets you modded -1 Troll
    4. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by moby · · Score: 1


      They're not as far away from our opinions as you think.

      Doesn't apply here because...

      These men will never reveal in public their true opinion of Micro$oft,

      ...because they don't want to lose their precious little piece of the pie too!

    5. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by Mr.+Firewall · · Score: 1

      I know people who work in the White House Office of Cybersecurity, and they tell me just the opposite of what you just said.

      Just the opposite of what? That Gates once said that .NET could be secured with QOS?

      We probably do not know the same people there.

      By the way, congratulations on your GIAC certification.

      --
      In times of universal deceit, telling the truth gets you modded -1 Troll
    6. Re:How Gates planned to secure .NET by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, you have no opinion!

      With a link, is it still hearsay? If it's on the Internet, it's got to be true!

  92. Re:Say what you will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Linux is created by Users, so it's features are what those people want. Developers often take feature requests, so it has a lot of what "we" want in it to.

    Most people don't want something "new" if the current technology is good enough, unless somebody tells them they want it :)

    I wouldn't have thought of .NET, why? Because we have Java, if SUN didn't want to play, then we could've created our own if anybody wanted it. People made their own scripting languages (Python), embedded cgi code in html (php), etc, maybe people dont want byte-compiled languages - maybe source compatibility across platforms is more appropriate.

    I probably wouldn't have thought of a database filesystem, but Microsoft didn't either. It was ofcourse, around before they made it a big deal (The Be operating system tried this i think).

    I didn't think of a PC running only signed code and identifying every document/file going out of the PC as belonging to the PC via a hardware chip - only in nightmares :)

    Was embedding IE into the OS as a file/manager and browser innovative? Not really, they saw that Netscape was making the OS irrelevant, so they needed to tie the browser to the OS. People have made whole desktops out of mozilla.

    Did I think of a 3D hardware rendered desktop? Well I had thought about it before I heard microsoft was going to do it, and it has already been tinkered with. Just hasn't been promoted as "the next gen desktop!!!", more as an "experiment".

    They are only innovative because they say they are, they dress up their "inventions" in pretty fluff. "It's the same malabu stacy, just with a silly hat" ...silence.. "But she has a new hat!!"

    I honestly can't think of a single thing they've done that wasn't copied from somewhere else and dressed up to look like something better. Maybe I'm just too cynical.

  93. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by miffo.swe · · Score: 1

    The speed of java isnt bad at all. Even advanced programs like LimeWire that runs on java is in some cases faster than similar linux native apps once they are started. On my AMD 650 Mozilla takes longer to start than LimeWire. Sadly enough microsoft holds the desktop and will use it to cram in all net services they can fit into it in all default installations and make sure they become a vital part of the os. Like windwows update, why in gods name didnt they do like Redhat and up2date? Because they needed something to bolt IE down in windows with thats why.

    --
    HTTP/1.1 400
  94. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by unicron · · Score: 2

    Well not everyone that has a computer is going to be into it as much as another guy, which is completely fine, of course. Gabe was just ragging on the uber-bored that think Linux is cause for a holy war. I for one, have sworn to choke the shit out of the next guy I meet that is convinced running a counter-strike server on his out-of-date redhat linux server makes him a hacker.

    --
    Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
  95. What is .NET? by quantaman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Reporter 1: What is .NET?

    Gates: No one can tell you what .NET is. You have to see it for yourself.

    Reporter 2: But I have sources telling me that .NET is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  96. You are funny. by croanon · · Score: 0

    1. Some JVMs support tail recursive based optimizations. Please read before you post: http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library /j-diag8.html

    2. And what about .NET languages? .NET has only one language, and it is called CL (common language). All the other languages are on top of that. In other words, all .NET languages are essentially the same language with a different syntatic sugar. I played with .NET enough. Believe me I know it very well. MS also knows that more than one language is not something nice, so that they are pushing forward C#. If they wanted, they could give VB.NET etc same functionality, but they did not. What they want is to shift VB programmers to VB.NET, then to C#. Multiple language support is nothing but a marketing trick. Do you know the story of "Tower of Babylon?". I can invent a language and put on top of CLI. So what? Languages, number of languages etc. are not important at all.

    Stop calling Mono a universal VM. It is not even completed on Linux yet. It will take 3 years to become robust afterwards. MS and Java will leap miles ahead during this time. In the end, Mono is not %100 .NET compatible. Period.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  97. The end of freedom, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mm, Mr. Gates never read much Tolkien, did he?

    He may have one Passport to rule them all, but in the end, he'll be defeated by some unwashed insane coder who bites off Linus' finger.

  98. Are they serious? by miffo.swe · · Score: 1

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending." If they try to pull a stunt like that i cant think too many will follow them where they go that day. They tried MSN network as an own version of internet at first but people seemed unvilling to lock themselves in volontarily. I cant see any good for the users thet could come from limiting how they could use the internet. If they try, good luck since very many of the people thet uses the internet are the ones that appriciates freedom. If they try to take it away many will go elsewhere and develop nonlimiting technology like encrypted tunneling between hosts. Id like to see them try though because for every customer they piss off there is a possible helping hand in the Open Source community. PS. Be nice to the newbies, dont be an asshole. Ive read some bulletin posts that makes me ashamed of being a linux user. DS.

    --
    HTTP/1.1 400
  99. nail on the head by mblase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shouldn't the company care about its customers' vision?

    Some columnist recently pointed out that Apple achieved in one stroke everything MS is trying to achieve with .NET, by announcing iCal and iSync last week at MacWorld. Those two programs allow users of Mac OS X Jaguar to connect their PDAs, cell phones and desktop PIM software to a single database and publish them on the Internet, connect with the calendars of others, and resolve conflicts between the two.

    In other words, while Microsoft spent two years talking about Web services and technologies, Apple quietly went about actually building them into a program its users will want to use. MS has been announcing and releasing software for other people to build these Web applications, but Apple decided to lead by example instead.

    No doubt the next release of Windows will include similar features, and of course they'll be more widely used than Apple's. But just think what might be happening right now if Microsoft had spent as much time creating Web applications for Windows XP as they did promoting them.

    If a person could synchronize their PocketPC to their MSN account and Outlook at the same time, then reconcile with all their coworkers' calendars and documents, without having to do anything more than press a button, Microsoft wouldn't need subscriptions to sell the next version of Office or Windows. Instead they settled for getting halfway there so that they could sell more copies of Exchange Server and keep PocketPCs as expensive as humanly possible.

    1. Re:nail on the head by sheldon · · Score: 0, Troll

      Apple announcements only enthrall Apple loyalists.

      You're not going to see iMac in use in most business or homes.

      It is amazing the amount of free publicity Apple get's though, and it should be disappointing to their shareholders how little of it materializes as revenue.

    2. Re:nail on the head by JohnsonWax · · Score: 2

      In other words, while Microsoft spent two years talking about Web services and technologies, Apple quietly went about actually building them into a program its users will want to use. MS has been announcing and releasing software for other people to build these Web applications, but Apple decided to lead by example instead.

      Exactly. I'm sooo tired of the slashdot crowd moaning on about false technology promises from industry. My god, does anyone realize how hard it is to figure out what Apple is going to ship just next month? These guys NEVER promise. No ubiquitous computing, no web browsers in your toaster oven, no tablets that run your life. They just ship products.

      And, when Apple doesn't promise pie in the sky, there's more moaning. This is one of the few companies out there that is building real products, shipping them, and moving on to the next real product. And what's more, they are using open standards most of the time. Most of .mac is centered around technology like WebDAV, XML, ZeroConf, and so on. iCal is based on vCalendar format. iSync uses SyncML.

      There's not much hidden magic here.

    3. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Microsoft wasn't just promoting webservices, they were busy building a massive framework with which anyone could write their own webservices in a matter of 4 lines of code or less. I'd rather have the framework to do it myself than to just be given one or two that I may interop with if I pay a subscription fee.

      Of course Microsoft is working on these exact features. It was leaked out as Office NGO and Slashdot was the first to report that it was Microsoft trying to take over the universe by requiring that people pay for shit. Pictures of the next Outlook synchronizing calendar data stored online, months ago. Apple says the same thing, Apple gets applauded, Apple gets the credit.

    4. Re:nail on the head by the_verb · · Score: 1

      Johnson, Johnson, Johnson.

      Remember the strategy we all agreed on at the super secret l33t meeting? Encourage companies to use open standards instead of proprietary ones in the name of interoperability? Then refuse to buy their products in favor of cheap half-finished freeware once thethe companies have spent millions making the open standards ubiquitous?

      What? Oh... I mean... sorry, we're flaming M$. Sorry, carry on, carry on.

      --the verb

    5. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >>allow users of Mac OS X Jaguar to connect their PDAs

      This isn't true. If I have a PocketPC PDA or one of the new Linux-based PDAs, I'm still out of luck. I hope that Apple expands to more kinds of PDAs or that third parties develop plug-ins or drivers so that iSync will work across the board.

    6. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you missed the point, fellow anonymous coward- Apple's webservices are available, M$'s aren't

    7. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a graphic artist I also see the possibility of putting my work in a password protected public folder for clients to retrieve. I just email them the URL & let them download there comps. Eliminates a lot of different file transfer sites & processes for less than 2 bucks a week.

    8. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Possibility?? As a freelance photographer I've been doing this since the dawn of iTools. With iPhoto I can automatically load my selected images up to shared files folder. What would be cool is auto notification that would send an email from my contact database to client XYZ when new images are placed in their folder. Now I just have to get each my clients to pay $100 a year to have their own .Mac drive.

    9. Re:nail on the head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reason Apple HAD to do this is that they never released the developer tools to allow anyone else to do so. If they had, it would have only been a matter of time until Apple decided to compete in the developer space and destroy their developer's marketshare by releasing a competitive product at a lower price point and driving their developers (who paid Apple for a developer's license and for the tools in the first place) out of business.

  100. Nope, part 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get a clue before you post. I am familiar with the IBM JVM link.
    The tail recursion optimization is not mandated by the JVM specification. The official Sun JDK does NOT support the tail-call optimization so you point is entirely moot. I cannot reliably target my Lisp compiler to the JVM as result and expect it to work beyond a low level of recursion. I CAN target my Lisp compiler to CLR and expect it to handle tail call recursion correctly since the CLR specification DOES mandate it. Even Mono handles it correctly.
    The universal Mono VM is remarkably full-featured after just one year of work. I expect it to be of production quality within a year. Why are you afraid of Mono, anyway? Competition is good.

    1. Re:Nope, part 2 by croanon · · Score: 1

      -]The fact that Sun's current JDK does not support the tail recursion does not mean that the next releases will not support it. It just does not mandate with a reason. There are problems with supporting tail recursion optimization technique on virtual machine platforms. Also on .NET. I can't remember the details though. But, the open source JVM called Kawa supports tail recursive optimizations with some technique as far as I remember. But you are taking the subject too deep! :) These are not important at all:

      -]I am not afraid of Mono. What I do not like is that Mono will help MS in couple of ways. I do not like MS. I find them extremely unethical. They are bullying bastards. I hate them.

      -]You may think that Mono will reach production quality in a year, but I won't trust mono before 3 years. None of the decision makers would, until it proves itself after couple of years.

      -] You are pulling the conversation into very low level details such as tail recursion optimization, .NET being Turing compatible etc. Those are not important. I used .NET and Java. I know both of them well. The point is there is no immediate advantage of using .NET over Java. The performances are not radically different in the end. Java is working already on many platforms. From technical point of view .NET can be interesting, but in real life, it is just another VM specification, and it is a newbee in the kingdom of Java which has been there for 7 years. It is mature, supported by millions of programmers, thousands of open/closed source projects, libraries, frameworks.

      --
      Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
    2. Re:Nope, part 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only truly open JVM is Kaffe and GCJ.
      If you rely on the JVM remaining free you should support them.

      Don't rely on Sun for keeping their JVM and their licensees JVMs (IBM) free forever. They won't.
      Just wait for the Java(tm) tax once Sun's hardware revenues begin to slide due to the cheaper priced x86 boxes.

      As for tail recursion, it is an important issue that affects a lot of software today.
      I was pointing out a shortcoming of the JVM that is not present in CLR. There are many others.

      By supporting Mono and Kaffe you are ensuring that this software remains free and open forever.
      People sitting on their hands hoping a feature is added to the next official Sun Java(tm) release are patently naive. By supporting an open source effort you gain control of the future of your development tools.

  101. a little .NET story to share by frovingslosh · · Score: 2
    Last friday Microsoft sent out a message to beta testers informing them that they had to start using .NET. It said, in part: This announcement affects all Microsoft BetaPlace users! We are transitioning to a mandatory .NET Passport Single Sign-in Service for BetaPlace beginning Tuesday, July 23, 2002.

    Yesterday, the day after this mandatory change was to take place, they sent another announcement. It said, in part: We encountered some issues while implementing this new process and as a result this update has been postponed.

    Apparently, the company who wants to push .NET down the world's throat can't even make it work correctly for their own in-house projects on their own chosen time table. Good luck to the rest of the world.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  102. Re:Say what you will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Why aren't companies/developer groups trying to push the envelope and move Linux from being a clone to being something that wows people, turns heads, and truly innovates?
    Because most of the time, innovation produces garbage that nobody wants.

    You're right: Linux (at least at the upper levels) is not innovative. Linux is bland and boring and safe. Linux will still be around 30 years from now. If you want innovation, you should go to the less popular fringe projects (Atheos, Hurd, whatever). Most of those projects will fail, because they will either never be finished, or they'll become something that few people want. Live fast, die hard. It's glorious and it's lonely.

    Then, somewhere along the way, the followers will examine the corpses for something worth copying, as Microsoft appears to be doing with BeOS' filesystem.

    But why aren't the powers that be trying to do anything new?
    Because that's not how you be a power-that-is. Microsoft didn't get to where they are be being innovative, either. Every time that Microsoft did try something new (e.g. having web browsers and email readers execute foreign code with full privledges (on purpose, I'm not talking about buffer overflow bugs)) it was a disaster, and they remained powerful in spite of it.

    Now Microsoft is trying to be innovative, again, by copying parts of Java, and adding a bunch of scary crap to it that is directly opposed to the interests of users. They are doing this because they are becoming irrelevant, and wish to reverse the trend. It is most likely to result in something crappy, like everything else Microsoft has done to-date. They should keep it inside their research division, but they are so desparate to show the world something, that they have to ship it.

    BTW, your comment about "enhancing the desktop experience" shows lack of taste, IMHO. You're right that they're providing users with something that no one else will provide, but using the word "enhance" is absolutely perverted. Windows' current desktop experience is inferior to the state of the art in the 1980s. Windows sucks. If you think they're "enhancing" anything, you really need to get out more.

    Or to rip off "Good Omens": Windows is state of the art, but the art is pottery.

  103. Right :"The era of open computing is ending" by N8F8 · · Score: 2

    This may be more true than people realize. Even RedHat has implemented it with Up2Date that ties platform and user data to services.

    Most Open Source advocates point to a business model that is largly service based. Software for free but support for pay. Much of the traditional software business, especially retail, has been anonymous. Buy the software and run it. This shift will inevitably result in pushing "trust" issues and maintaining customer profiles.

    So the next step (talk to Oracle, Sun, MS and Even RedHat) will be distributed services. All you get is services. The only problem is the whole "trust" issue. Who do you trust with your personal data? Your corporate information? Add to this the whole .BOMB wave and you create a really big impediment. What if your accounting service provider goes under? What if your medical data service provider goes under? No easy answers here.

    So for now we remain at status quo. People and companies store their own data and slowly migrate to distributed applications. But the real question is, how do companies trying to exist on the old business model of "pay for software" model survive in a market of free software?

    As a consumer who is happy with that status quo, I could care less. I say free beer for everyone. It's a dog-eat-dog corporate world and only the innovative will survive. Give me a reason to spend more money and put my personal or business data at risk.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Right :"The era of open computing is ending" by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 2
      "The era of open computing is ending".

      Is anyone besides me reminded of those old AT&T commercials?

      "Have you seen the era of open computing end? The death of the PC? Have you seen your ability to run your own computer systems dry up and blow away forever?"

      You Will.

      And the people who will take it from you? Microsoft (tm)."

  104. Dumb question by hey · · Score: 1

    Do you need Internet Explorer to visit a .net-powered site. Can one use Mozilla?

    1. Re:Dumb question by erasmus_ · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not a dumb question if you're unfamiliar with the technology. All of the improvements in .NET for developers are essentially manifested server-side, where ASP.NET intercepts calls for .aspx pages and processes them. The result is javascript that is supposed to be browser-independent, and allows developers to write a heck of a lot less code. So the short answer to your question is that users would see no difference, whereas developers see great improvements.

      Of course, there are some browser-specific features, but the code for those is not written to the client if the browser doesn't support it. The best example is something called Smart Navigation, which reduces flicker on pages between trips to the server. If you're not running IE, or older IE, you get the flicker, but it doesn't prevent you from working with the page. HTH.

      --
      Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
    2. Re:Dumb question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good summary. I would just add that VS.NET has the added feature of letting you code specifically for older browsers including the awful Netscape 4 series. I have played around a little bit with ASP.NET and I test everything in IE 5.5, IE6, Netscape 4.7, Netscape 6.2, and Mozilla 1. While there are some appearance issues (especially with CSS and Netscape 4) the sites work the same.

    3. Re:Dumb question by ClosedSource · · Score: 2, Informative

      "The result is javascript that is supposed to be browser-independent, and allows developers to write a heck of a lot less code."

      If what you mean by "the result is javascript" is that javascript runs on the client, then that's incorrect. ASP.NET returns html. On the server side the logic can be written in any .NET language including jscript (javascript), VB.NET, C++ or C#.

    4. Re:Dumb question by erasmus_ · · Score: 2

      Yikes, maybe one should do some research before telling someone they are incorrect with 100% certainty. Actually I am correct, ASP.NET uses and generates client-side javascript. For example, take a look in your C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.0.3705\ASP.NET ClientFiles (depending on what version you have). Those .js files are included as needed in the returned html.

      Additionally, let's do a view source on an .aspx file. What's this?!

      function __doPostBack(eventTarget, eventArgument) {
      var theform = document.ContactSearchForm;
      theform.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget;
      theform.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument;
      theform.submit();
      }

      You are correct about the variety of server-side options, however. As I pointed out in my original post, the fact that most of the code is server-side is makes the development so easy.

      --
      Please subscribe to see the more insightful version of th
    5. Re:Dumb question by budalite · · Score: 1

      Sounds like what Cold Fusion 4 was. If the world had only stopped there, I would've been content.

    6. Re:Dumb question by ClosedSource · · Score: 1

      I was too absolute in my comment. ASP.NET can return javascript if the designer requires it, but it doesn't have to.

      By saying that ASP.NET returns javascript without further explanation, you implied (unintentionally I guess) that scripting must be enabled on a browser in order to properly view or interact with an .aspx page, which is not true in general. That was why I made my prior comment.

  105. How to end confusion over .NET by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At a local consumers conference, Microsoft's Bill Gates, apparently growing frustrated over the questions surrounding .NET ("What is it?" "What does it do?" "Why do I need it?") finally said, "Look! You know Java? Same $%#@ thing!" and then stormed out.

    You know, to be honest, I think they kept it vague on purpose, so that they could sell a whole bunch of products and tout each one as an essential component of .NET. They were looking to brand first and foremost, and it's worked to a certain extent. I know some guys who landed some venture capital who say that they think .NET is great even though they can't quite explain what it is.

    To be honest, I think if we weren't in the middle of the a Linux revolution right now, nobody would be asking the questions that needed to get asked about .NET and that Microsoft can't answer because they weren't expecting to have to answer them. Consider all those commercials touting One Degree of Separation. Yes, we all know that we could recreate the same systems in any OS/platform, only with .NET you can do it in VB.NET. Perhaps that's a bonus, but only the VB programmers are going to recognize that, and I wonder how many IT departments (the people who'd give the green light on the switch) would be dominated by VB programmers? Or there's the bonus of being able to write ASP+ pages in several different languages. How many different IT departments are dominated by the web programmers? Furthermore, even if the different programmers made a fuss over .NET, I wonder how many IT departments would have said "That's nice, but with a little effort and good design we can incorporate the benefits using our current tech."

    --

    --------
    Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

    1. Re:How to end confusion over .NET by jelle · · Score: 2

      "You know, to be honest, I think they kept it vague on purpose"

      It's a basic economic principle: The less transparency, the higher the profit margins.

      It's the same reason why often the price is not the only thing you're paying for, there are lots of added fees (try buying a car or even simple telephoneservice).

      About .net: it microsoft's long-term response to linux: move the applications a layer up away from the OS. Just like what often is already happening with html. Who needs to buy TurboTax if you can do it securely on-line on their website? Expand that to all applications and you don't really use the operating system anymore except for a java capable html browser. Now 'embrace and extend' that and you get .net

      --
      --- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
  106. Re:Survey says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think he's talking about Open Source as
    far as the free exchange of information. I
    think He's talking about Napster like free
    exchange and how more sites on the internet
    are moving to a subscrption based model. But then
    again He is MS...

  107. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by Anonymous+Cow+herd · · Score: 1

    As much as I think that Slashdot is funny as hell, I can't stand the "Open Source" attitude they have. -- "I don't care if the whole world stops working... just so long as it's open"

    'nuff said :-)

    --
    Ita erat quando hic adveni.
  108. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Clue4All · · Score: 0, Troll

    On my AMD 650 Mozilla takes longer to start than LimeWire.

    That's related in any way HOW? They're completely different beasts. You've compared apples to oranges in an attempt to justify Java allegedly not being slow. Considering the rest of your statement, perhaps you're just a troll.

    --

    Is your browser retarded?
  109. this is like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is like president bush explaining what a terrorist is...EVIL doers.

  110. Good article: ".NET Signals an Industry Shift" by ASeed · · Score: 4, Insightful


    ".NET Signals an Industry Shift"
    also referenced as the article about "Moore's Triple Crisis".

    The author of the article (David Bau, who made the popular "Dave's Google Quicksearch Bar") writes about a three-way Moore's law crisis: crisis in systems, apps and development.

    Systems: "the exponentially rising power of PC technology has started to overshoot the needs of the ordinary customer. This means people are starting to shop for cheaper computers instead of more powerful ones."

    Development: "Moore's law crisis affects development costs just as dramatically as it affects hardware costs. As computing power gets cheaper and software becomes more ephemeral, it makes sense to save software development hours by wasting CPU cycles." The Garbage collectors and Intermediate Languages of .NET and Java are according with that. Scripting languages too.

    Applications: "Microsoft is facing the problem of saturation. The widely recognied issue here is that almost everybody who wants to do something with their computer software can already do it. Why would you buy a new version of Microsoft Word or Excel?" "Microsoft is facing competitors like America Online that are using a new model for software applications."
    That's why Microsoft introduced his .NET services.

    --

    --
    ACid
  111. Ohhh, there is more Allright! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just saw this on the Lighweight Language List in a message with the subject line: Is Systems Software Research Irrelevant?

    For some strange reason this thread caught my attention.

    Artificial Intelligence is the by-product illusion of automating enough stuff that ...... well, it'd pass the Turning test. The ability to fool a human. Now who would want to do that, and why? Don't we have enough of that already?

    It's also worth noting that regarding AI..... nothing is naturally that stupid. Real intelligence is allways able to go beyond programming, what you might call the ultimate exception generation. Or maybe I'm confused, the exception generator being some form of consciousness, not nessasarily (sp?) intelligence (re: the bottomless pit of flamefests).

    Hold on, I'll get to the subject line if it's the last thing I do in this message.

    When I first saw the thread topic I thought it was from the Hurd List, then I thought it was from the dotgnu list and now I finally realize it's from the lightweight language list. Ahhhhhh, enlightment.... Good thing I'm not on a bunch of other lists, huh? Me Rebol sub goes to it's own group.... And I've heard enough about Tao's Virtual Processor elsewhere.
    Geee, I bet you can guess I know about Amiga IPC "ports" where even the dumba.. end user can tie things together like applications, function libraries, devices, or even tap into the OS and System GUI... within limits of the (nature likes three) spectrum of IPC signal/semiphor, message and memory location(s).

    Do I need to put the blender on tornado speed?

    Virtual Machines are the effort to create execution engines (of what ever flavor you want, Firing Squad, Gas Chamber, Gillotine, the simple noose, etc...) but all of them have one and the same goal. To be able to run a program hardware independant, send it to heaven compatability on top of whatever hell of sacrifice.

    Programming Languages are the effort to .... well, if there as only one then it'd have to be machine language, but then the tower of babel... uh err...abstraction began to be built with Assembly language and then some higher level languages and again even higher.....so now we have some 3000 plus different ways to ....... try and reach heaven on what kinda looks like a pyrimid (it aint no tower of pizza, data for sure).

    Pot, kettle, black....... Who cares what color it is? let's turn up the fire and boil it all down........ to get what is described by the ECMA-335 document. Hey look, Alphabet soup.......CLI, CTS, CLS, CIL and for a little meet (ever notice how chicken taste like everything?) VES. And that's only what I sea floating ATM, but it all seems to be a compatable collection of programming concepts and data types in a have a byte code of soup.

    Ya know, if we boil it long enough it will all turn into the same consistancy. But we still need a bowl to hold it and a spoon to eat it.

    Soooo, with this dictionary of programming concepts soup, the Virtual Machine Bowl, and...... well what's your favorite eating utensil? I like Chop Sticks myself, you should see me eat soup with them.... I got this hole drilled ...... well that's a trade secret...

    Oh yeah, IS system Software Research Irrelevant? Naw, it's just done gone virtual, it floats, on water and in air.

    Oops! it's several hours later and I gotta use the ..... ladies room... Ever notice how men can always use the ladies room but ladies can't always.... well never mind....

    Anyway, what are we outputtin? Not only is it platform independant and language independant but it's also compatable with other shit and even netable (cheeze cloth filter before reuse - netable edible).

    Oh damn, how are we gonna keep the users from figuring out that they too can put shit to-get-her? Where is heaven gonna be ifn we can't keep pyrimid base in hell foe support?

    There are three type of user interfaces, the command line, the GUI and the side door IPC (signal/semiphore, message, memory locations). Nature likes three. But ifn you take the primary color blue out, dem dumb users ain't gonna sea day sky or anythin day would need side door enlightenment for.

    Fresh air, light and a cool brezze way above the stench of hell and te peon users, there for us to abuse in our god hoods pleasures and AI.

    At least until MS comes in with their wide scope well patented general automation and auto-coding tools of the master software architect, engineered isoftwar eknowledge base built upon the boiled down standards of programming concepts and data types. Now you either pay rent for or the eusers will do it for themselves, while looking to MS as their saviour worth to pay gratis to dotDMR.

    Didn't you know? Bill Gates is the return of Christ..... but only if you pay rent for your measly existance.

    And the best or worse part is...... You think I'm kidding

    We all "know" automating software creation is not possible, right?

    But it will be his "System of software" and it won't be irrelevant.

    1. Re:Ohhh, there is more Allright! by 3seas · · Score: 2

      And the Systems of Software name is LongHorn.

    2. Re:Ohhh, there is more Allright! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      youre either a genius or a raving lunatic.

    3. Re:Ohhh, there is more Allright! by 3seas · · Score: 2

      What?! you mean I can't be both, like Nobel Prize Winner John Nash?

  112. Re:.NET my BUTT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or even ".Not" - it even rhymes!

  113. How MS plans to end the "free exchange/warez" era by laddhebert · · Score: 2, Interesting
    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending."

    Does this mean open source software or does this refer to the rampant warez/pirating scene that has existed for as long as I can remember? Or does it possibly mean both?

    It does appear that MS is getting more aggressive in their licensing. Personally, I thought the XP licensing was pretty aggressive. But I guess I've accepted it because I was not really surprised when I saw a story describing their latest licensing escapades .

    It basically describes how MS plans to end the "XP pro for corporations" pirating party by fixing/rewriting the algorithm used to generate product keys. They also plan to shaft the business customers already using valid keys by forcing this update into a service pack which will require all machines to get a new "valid" key.

    -Ladd

    --
    Don't Panic.
  114. Re:F+? by br0therben · · Score: 1

    Once when I was a kid my teacher gave me an F+. Even then I knew biting cynicism when I saw it. An F PLUS? If nary a fellow stundent had been around, I would have given her coffee mug a good ten-second dirty-dickin' and a Frisian Teabag to boot. Bitch (honest, I'm not bitter).
    Nonetheless (back OT) I don't see MS getting a C, maybe a C+ is better. I'm an AIX and BSD fan and I even think XP is a decent OS. I give them some credit for actually stablizing an OS for once...
    Secondly, botching .NET is a good thing to me, so I have to give them some credit for that. Once they dive head-first into DRM then I'll whip out the red marker.

  115. quote from my post by Twister002 · · Score: 2

    " In the developer community (at least the ones that make money by programming on the Windows platform) it is slowly gaining popularity"

    of course "developer community" != "Microsoft developer community", that's why I clarified and said
    "at least the ones that make money by programming on the Windows platform". Such generalizations make ME wonder if you read the post before hitting "Reply" :)

    Obviously, the ones that DON'T make money by programming on the Windows platform, but insted make money by programming Solaris and Linux applications don't give a rats ass about the .NET framework.

    I make my money by doing Web Application development, so sometimes I'm using ASP and VB/VC++ and other times it's JSP and servlets depending upon the platform. For my personal web site I chose PHP hosted on Linux because it's cheaper to run a Linux web host than a Windows web host apparently. :)

    --
    "For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
  116. MS Toadie #001 by mojoNYC · · Score: 2, Funny

    Jim Allchin, one of the company's top vice presidents, acknowledged the shift in focus in the industry from personal computers to plumbing, and bemoaned the difficulty of getting Microsoft's traditional consumers to care about its new vision.

    "It's hard to get sexy about protocols," he said. "It really is about plumbing and concrete and protocols."

    translation: we want to come into your house and rip out your plumbing, install our private plumbing network, and you will pay us for the privelege. don't worry, we'll never shut the water off on you, because we're trustworthy--can't you damn fools see that?

  117. Predictable joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately, noone can be told what the .net is.

  118. Future DRM function? by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 2

    add component drag.NET?

    Duh, nuh, nuh, nuh.
    Duh, nuh, nuh, nuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
  119. Services - an idea whose time has passed by Animats · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The next big thing was supposed to be Applications Service Providers. Rent your key business apps. A hosting provider with a support staff would resell applications. Remember? Where are those guys now?

    There are successes in that business, but Microsoft isn't one of them. PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP, EDS, and Automatic Data Processing are the successful players. They're big, vertically integrated companies that build and service what they sell. They're not value-added resellers, and they don't usually work through value-added resellers.

    Microsoft's model, that you download something, pay for it forever, and don't bother them much, isn't how it's done. The big service providers provide real service; they are in the business of outsourcing corporate support functions, not pushing software.

    1. Re:Services - an idea whose time has passed by budalite · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of a line out of an old (American) cowboy movie. Went something like - "Only way to make money out here is to open a bank or a general store." I guess not much has changed... Yeehaw!

      Life is a bitch, but she is fertile.

    2. Re:Services - an idea whose time has passed by Animats · · Score: 2
      That's a reference to the Big Four: Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins, and Crocker. They were the four men who put together the transcontinental railroad deal after the Gold Rush, and ran San Francisco for years thereafter.

      All of them became rich from the gold rush. But not by gold mining. Stanford was a grocer, Huntington and Hopkins were partners in a wholesale hardware operation, and Crocker was a drygoods retailer who branched out into banking.

      There is, indeed, a lesson here.

  120. History repeating itself... by jpellino · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending." It isn't clear if Microsoft is talking about something happening beyond their control, or if they're boasting about ending it.

    Nothing new. Bill Redux: I remember hearing of an episode from back when GEM and Windows were still battling it out - at a conference panel where Bill and Gary Kildall were members, and Gary was going on about OSs, and how there'd be plenty of ways to run your computer. Bill grabbed a microphone and interrupted, with a clarification to the effect that "No, there will be one way to operate your computers. One. (uncomforatble silence) You may continue."

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
    1. Re:History repeating itself... by Whispers_in_the_dark · · Score: 1

      Good thing Bill was wrong... so far anyway, hopefully forever.

  121. Microsoft admits anti-ownership strategy by dubious9 · · Score: 1

    My favorite quote from the Nytimes article is: "Many customers have yet to accept Microsoft's contention that computer software should be subscribed to as a Web-based service rather than purchased as a product they own and use, as most is today". At least they are not beating around the bush about restricting consumer's rights.

    --
    Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
  122. Re:Say what you will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. Microsoft almost never innovates. They buy, steal, or otherwise acquire the ideas and products of others. Then they rename or repackage them.
    2. KDE is a much more productive, flexible, interesting, and attractive interface than any Microsoft Windows. Galeon is a better web browser than IE. Apache is a better web server than IIS.
    3. Open Source projects innovate in many ways, BUT this is usually represented by small features that are application specific. It would be nice if the Open Source community came up with better alternatives to things like .Net or preferably invented new technologies that force companies like Microsoft to play catch up.

  123. .net by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  124. Porsche Lawnmowers by Danneskjold · · Score: 1

    Your example is interesting. While I don't know if Porsche ever made lawnmowers, at one time they built tractors. You can easily hook up a lawnmower attachment, and away you go. However, I guess the tractors didn't kick enough ass to enthrall many of the faithful, as they only had 9 horsepower.

    However, some people care mightily about Porsche's foray into farm technology. Porsche's web site has a page about a Porsche tractor club - you can view it at:

    http://www.porsche.com/english/events/clubs/news /c w0299/schleppercup_i.htm

    Draw your own parallels =)

  125. Times Article text for those who value privacy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative



    July 25, 2002
    Microsoft Tries to Explain What Its .Net Plans Are About
    By JOHN MARKOFF

    EDMOND, Wash., July 24 -- Two years into its quest to create a new kind of Internet-enabled computing it describes as .Net, Microsoft found it necessary to pause today and try to explain what it meant.

    One day before its annual conference for financial analysts, the company assembled its top executives before several hundred reporters and industry analysts and engaged in a tutorial that one participant referred to as ".Net for Dummies."

    The .Net brand (pronounced dot-net) is Microsoft's approach to a computer industry market called Web services. It has two basic ideas: to create standards that allow all sorts of information to be transmitted and acted upon in uniform ways, and to move the software that performs those actions to the Internet, where programs may now span multiple computers.

    Microsoft is now locked in competition with small start-up companies that originally pioneered the Web services field, as well as with software and hardware giants like I.B.M., Oracle and Sun Microsystems, all of which are developing their own Web services.

    Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, said that he gave his company good marks so far for creating the basic software infrastructure for .Net, but acknowledged that the company had more work to do in explaining its mission.

    "We still get people saying to us, `what is .Net?' " said Mr. Gates. He said that the idea of the .Net infrastructure was clear, but acknowledged that the company had not created a clear view of what it intended for its customers. Many customers have yet to accept Microsoft's contention that computer software should be subscribed to as a Web-based service rather than purchased as a product they own and use, as most is today.

    Jim Allchin, one of the company's top vice presidents, acknowledged the shift in focus in the industry from personal computers to plumbing, and bemoaned the difficulty of getting Microsoft's traditional consumers to care about its new vision.

    "It's hard to get sexy about protocols," he said. "It really is about plumbing and concrete and protocols."

    Moreover, the challenge that Microsoft faces in explaining and promoting a new style of computing that is intended to harness millions of disparate large and small computers is complicated by a growing consensus in the computer industry that few new software ideas will be realized until large corporate customers resume spending on the infrastructure of information technology.

    Mr. Gates took some time in his review of the company's technology to recalibrate the industry's expectations about how quickly its .Net strategy will take effect.

    "Phase 1 is essentially behind us, with things that went well and not so well," he said. "This is a long-term approach. These things don't happen overnight."

    Microsoft sketched out an abbreviated road map today of how it will introduce products that offer .Net capabilities. One example was a communications server program with the code name Greenwich that is intended to enable advanced multimedia conferencing features for desktop and hand-held computer users. Another example was the next version of the company's database product, SQL Server, named Yukon, which is intended to make it easier to manage distributed data.

    Finally, a brief demonstration was given of Windows Media Center -- a PC-based television that is intended to bring .Net-style information to the television in the living room.

    Mr. Gates indicated, however, that the company's software promised land would be a new version of its Windows operating system with the code name Longhorn, which is still at least two years off.

    Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending.

    The company is trying to influence an industry consortium called the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, which has been trying to create a new standard that will build a cryptographic key system into future personal computers.

    The idea has been challenged in the past by both civil liberties and consumer groups, who argue that it could potentially undercut privacy and intellectual property fair-use rights.

    Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

  126. Silly Codenames... by whyse · · Score: 1

    Why do these projects all have silly codenames? The codenames are leaked to the press, so they're not really "secret." What other use do they have other than to sound "cool" (aka "goofy")

  127. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2

    I didn't expect this.

  128. Did anybody else receive an "E"... ? by tommut · · Score: 1

    At my high school, we could receive a grade of "E" as well as "F".

    An E meant you Failed (With Effort). That is, you did homework and tests, but you just did so poorly that you received a failing grade.

    An F meant that you just plain Failed, as in you stopped trying or didn't even care. I think that F's outweighed the E's, but receiving an E was by no means rare.

  129. What would Microsoft say? by Dthoma · · Score: 1
    It isn't clear if Microsoft is talking about something happening beyond their control, or if they're boasting about ending it.

    Knowing Microsoft, what do you think?

    --

    Note to M1-ers: a curt but otherwise insightful message is not "Flamebait" or "Troll".

  130. .Net defined by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a .trap for .customer .fish see .seine net a large fishing device that hangs vertically with weights at the bottom that slowly closes to trap unsuspecting creatures before they realize what is happening. Ready to be filleted?

  131. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Limewire loads and runs very fast in Linux. Really, the only way that you can tell that it isn't a native binary instead using the java runtime libraries is because it looks different than the rest of the running programs.

    Perhaps people should quit mistaking proper java runtime libraries with the buggy MS code that was implemented into Win 9x.

  132. Oh glory yes.... by SomeOtherGuy · · Score: 2

    I finally found out what .NET is. It's a label to attach to the winner of Bill's: "Lets throw everything up against the side of the barn and we will see what sticks...." Whatever sticks is going to get the grand prize of --- "We bestow upon thee the label .NET" --- "See world here is what we were talking about..."

    --
    (+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
  133. The simple fact of the matter by intermodal · · Score: 1

    if linux won't run on PCs made after a certain point in time, I'll switch to Mac hardware. After all, I can still run Linux on a PPC if none of the PC cloneboard companies make non-palladium boards. Same goes for internet services. If none of the sites i want to use will let me do it without palladium/.net/other bullshit, i'll go to different sites. And while i'm ranting and killing my karma, when i bought my domain, i had intended to get it .net till Microsoft rolled out their .NET scheme. then i changed my plans and bought a .org.

    --
    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  134. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "f y a"
    -- Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Terminator

  135. Time Space Continue-ism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After Bill Gates got off the stage, William Shatner proceeded to explain the Time Space continues-ism that is so popular in the Star Trek, Terminator, and Back to the Future movies. The crowd apparently grasp Time Space Continue-ism more than the .NET. Even Mr. Shatner was confused with .NET. "It's sounds like a device used to strain tribbles from grain", he remarked.

  136. I don't give a rats ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I save them up for a rainy day.

  137. Mac OS 9: C+, Win3.1: D- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    2 pesos

  138. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Schnapple · · Score: 1
    MS is holding patents of very important parts of .NET, such as WinForms, ADO.NET. They did not submitted all the parts of .NET to ECMA. They kept the most important parts.
    If I'm not mistaken, Sun hasn't sent any of Java to the ECMA. Correct me if I'm wrong but the language itself hasn't been submitted despite many broken promises that it would be.
    Java is working already. Its doing everything I need. Why should I change to .NET?
    You shouldn't. Period. If what you have does what you want it to do then don't change. I'm 25 and in my first post-college job and I'm programming in COBOL on a 30 year old system. 75% of the world's business code is in COBOL. Hell, even .NET has a COBOL compiler (yeah I know it's not "real" COBOL). Only when you hit that thing Java won't let you do should you change - until then, plug away.
    Java is not from the most unethical company in the history of mankind
    Well neither is the .NET platform/languages, but then again I don't think Enron or Worldcom are into this business...
  139. HOT DAMN by ReidMaynard · · Score: 1

    Porsche Lawn mowers! I've searched the net but cannot find anyone selling them :-(

    I NEED one of the SO bad.

    --
    -- www.globaltics.net

    Political discussion for a new world

  140. Re:Probably not talking specifically about Open So by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Open Source" is piracy.

  141. Re:Say what you will... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not sure it's actually possible for an open-source project as big as Linux to innovate in the same way that, say, OS X or Windows can. Because everyone has a different vision of what it should be, and nobody is being paid to follow anyone else's vision, there isn't enough person-power behind any one vision to actually make it happen.
    Little projects *do* happen--many of the open-source web browsers, for example, have features that IE or Netscape can't hope to offer--but that, again, requires a group of people all committed to a single goal. Innovations (major changes in the way someone would use or think about something) can only happen in a directed environment, which (unless you have a crate of hardworking zealots or graduate students) only happens when you are paying people.

  142. It's official! by gruntvald · · Score: 1

    Gates really does now think he's a prophet, like Moses. Anyone notice that the next version of 'doze after longhorn will be called "Promised Land". Thanks Bill, for rescuing me. Not. (Or should that be .NOT ?)

  143. More awful puns... by KC7GR · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps the developers could dub one of the shared libraries .BUTTERFLY. Then, at least, the users of .NET would have something to chase.

    (There go my karma points...)

    --

    Bruce Lane, KC7GR,

    Blue Feather Technologies

  144. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the big companies other than MS, such as Sun, Oracle, Sybase, IBM, BEA, HP, Fujitsu, Nokia, Sony/Ericcson, JBoss, etc. already rolled their dice and chosen Java. They have many products based on Java. Why should they burn their investments and move to MS's .NET? Of course they won't.

    Interesting. Why did I recently read of Sony/Ericcson looking into .NET to port some existing applications to? The same goes for Nokia, HP, etc.

    Get off your Java donkey for a second and think for a minute: Java is not all that portable, especially when it comes to thread management and UI issues. You ALWAYS have to tweak the code when porting from one platform to another using Java.

    I use both Languages (Java and C#) and I would have to say that the C# Language is superior to the Java Language at many different levels. Until MS opens up the kimono a bit more regarding forms and data access, however, it has limited use in a multi-platform environment, obviously.

    So, If you are exclusively developing code for the Windows environment, then take your Visual Cafe, JBuilder, etc., and uninstall it. Go with .NET instead. If you're UNIX, go with Java. If you have a mix -- do both. It certainly can't hurt the old resume.

  145. Marketing aside, y'all always give me a laugh by jeffyjones · · Score: 1

    I tend to agree that MS has made a mess of the marketing, because the .Net Framework itself sure is cool. It has changed my life, increased my salary by five figures and let me and my team build good stuff in a hurry. All this in a down economy! What continues to be funny to me though is that people go on and on slamming Microsoft while those of use who actually use the stuff are out there building things. Does anyone actually do that anymore? Microsoft could release a cure for cancer and most of you would rather die waiting for Service Pack 2 than be cured.

    1. Re:Marketing aside, y'all always give me a laugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi, how are things in Redmond? Rainey? To bad it is nice and sunny here. Maybe you should get out and see what the country is really like. Seems that Redmond has left your vision very narrow.

  146. It's very clear that Microsoft was boasting... by Newer+Guy · · Score: 2

    Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending. The company is trying to influence an industry consortium called the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, which has been trying to create a new standard that will build a cryptographic key system into future personal computers. The idea has been challenged in the past by both civil liberties and consumer groups, who argue that it could potentially undercut privacy and intellectual property fair-use rights. And also very clear that IP advocates see the digital revolution as a way to completely eliminate fair use rights....and Microsoft is leading the charge. This is a well planned, deliberate crusade by corporate America to take away individual's rights. Just look at how they have Congress and the courts already in their pockets! The DMCA is one of the most blatent anti-consumer, pro-corporate, special interest laws in history! And now the greedy bastards think even the DMCA isn't enough..they want to build additional 'protections' into the hardware and the OS software...and make software that doesn't have these 'pet things' illegal. My hope is that the massive corporate greed that deregulation has spawned will finally let the American public see how the wool has been pulled over their eyes. Already Congress is running scared..they know that they allowed corporate greed to run unchecked and now it's biting them in the ass. Maybe they'll finally 'get it' with regards to the fact that the PEOPLE send their asses to Congress..not the RIAA and MPAA!

  147. oh.... by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2

    .... you mean its just like M-life?

  148. How to kill .NET by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The one thing that the JVM doesn't do as well as .NET is supporting languages other than Java. This has been its Achilles' heel. Although you can sort of coerce other languages to run on the JVM, the match isn't very nice. The CIL and CLR provide a much more friendly interface to languages other than C# and, thanks to our friends at the Mono project, .NET will soon have the platform interoperability that once only Java could boast of. If Sun wants to remain relevant in the portable VM space, they need to embrace languages other than Java.

    --
    That is all.
  149. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by rickerbr · · Score: 1

    If I'm not mistaken, Sun hasn't sent any of Java to the ECMA. Correct me if I'm wrong but the language itself hasn't been submitted despite many broken promises that it would be. There is a long story to this. Suffice it to say I think right now (and in the end) Java will be far more open than .NET will ever be. MS has never changed standards to break existing competing products (SMB, Word and Excel format versions, etc.). Between the JCP (Java Community Process) and IBM offering alternatives to Su If I'm not mistaken, Sun hasn't sent any of Java to the ECMA. Correct me if I'm wrong but the language itself hasn't been submitted despite many broken promises that it would be. n in the Java arena, I think it's safe to say the Java will offer more diversity than .NET (even with mono) ever will. MS products will (at least for the near future) be stuck in the monoculture that produced them.

  150. I get it! by talks_to_birds · · Score: 1
    "...Gates also acknowledged that confusion still reigns about .NET's very definition. On Wednesday, he hammered home a new definition: "software to connect information, people, systems and services..."

    So it's like Trumpet Winsock!

    (anybody remember that? My god... I think I've still got a copy around somewhere...)

    t_t_b

    --
    I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
    1. Re:I get it! by certsoft · · Score: 1
      So it's like Trumpet Winsock! anybody remember that?

      Yup, in fact I used it (well, actually firesock) a few months ago to make use of a dial-up account while waiting for my DSL modem to arrive (delivered to wrong address by UPS).

  151. That famous blue screen by BoVLB · · Score: 1

    The funniest part of the Reuters report is what Bill is caught standing next to in the photograph.

  152. Java is cool but . . . by AmateurCoder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . . . PHP is also an excellent alternative to ASP.

    I read somewhere that PHP is the fastest growing scripting language on the web, and has already surpassed the popularity of the more mature ASP.

    Exellent development tools available for Java make it a good choice for some bigger web projects, but the downside is that the cost of setting up a server. Not too many people offer virtual hosting for java. You pretty much need your own server with root access to set things up.

    For smaller projects you can get a domain name, virtual host with PHP, and mySQL for about $20 US per month.

    Of course you can design and test both technologies on your free OS, with your free web server, with your free database.

    So why is anybody switching to .NET?

    1. Re:Java is cool but . . . by essdodson · · Score: 1

      PHP is easy. But that's not all there is to it. PHP is a real hack job thrown together with little thought. Sure its free, sure its fairly fast and available for most platforms. But it lacks structure and secure design.

      --
      scott
    2. Re:Java is cool but . . . by Spunkee · · Score: 1

      PHP Web Hosting is only $10 a month.

      You get unlimited bandwidth, unlimited e-mail accounts, e-mail forwarding, mailing lists, C compiler access, mySQL, PHP, Telnet/SSH, cron jobs, SSL, and just about any other thing you can ask for that would be availible on a Linux server.

      I'm not affiliated with phpwebhosting.com, but I am very satisfied with their services.

  153. Contemplations on the Universe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

    What is the sound of one hand clapping?

    What is the Matrix?

    What is .Net?

  154. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  155. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  156. C# isn't all that it is cracked up to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Read the critiques section on this page: www.geocities.com/csharpfaq It exposes flaws in the design of C#, including
    • Delegates
    • Boxing/unboxing and Type System Unification
    • Properties
    • Structs
    • User-defined implicit conversion operator
  157. Grasping the security nettle? by Mr.+Firewall · · Score: 1

    Forgive me, but I'm not grokking you here. To what event/speech/news item are you referring?

    --
    In times of universal deceit, telling the truth gets you modded -1 Troll
  158. Re: Porsche stuff... by djshaffer · · Score: 1

    Just visit any Porsche discussion board to see the reaction to the new Kick-ass Porsche SUV.

    Check out the specs at Porsche's website -- it really does seem to be something special, yet most Porsche enthusiasts seem to be against it.

  159. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  160. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by devilbat · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Microsoft will win this one in time. Sun is in bad shape. People are switching in droves to Linux because it has a better price / performance ratio than Solaris. There is nothing this side of a an IBM mainframe that is more painful than Solaris. Crusty user interface from the 80s. Pain in the ass cryptic config files. Overpriced shit. About the only reason that you'd run this hunk of shit OS is for it's one strong suit. It runs on hardware that is compatiable with large corporate databases with tons of I/O. We had a power failure. We lost a Solaris box because something in the file system FUBARed. Usually it's just a pain in the ass to start after a power outage. All of the windows NT and 2000 boxes rebooted without so much as a hiccup. Second Intel will (already has) surpassed the SPARC architecture. Sun from a business perspective is fucked. They will be lucky to stay in business over the long haul. Microsoft has 50 billion in the bank. Sun is letting people go and losing money every 1/4. Microsoft is hiring 5000 for R and D. Linux is eating Sun's lunch. Windows XP on a strong Intel box will bury a Sun workstation in performance, ease of use, available software, available hardware, you name it. Microsoft on the desktop for any use is better than Sun. Further, C# and Java are both abstracted from the hardware via a virtual machine. Follow me on this. Sun created a Java VM to run on Windows. What do you think the chances are than Microsoft can create a VM to run on Solaris? Lastly outside of Struts and Apache open source software sucks. Leading the pack in suckage is CVS. The god forsaken hunk of shit.

  161. sorry, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If that's where you wanted the world to stop, your parents should have had you aborted.

  162. what about solaris? by davesag · · Score: 1

    Solaris get's a B from me. osx10.2 aka jaguar gets an A+ it actually feels like it's from the future.

    --
    I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
    1. Re:what about solaris? by MarvinMouse · · Score: 1

      You've gotten a copy of OSX10.2? Where did you get it from?

      --
      ~ kjrose
    2. Re:what about solaris? by davesag · · Score: 1

      I'm nice to apple and pay my select developer fees, so they seed me with nice toys. jag has been out in developer release for a month or so and the full release just hit the servers with the usual - be nice to the servers please warnings. i expect it will arrive on 3 cds and 1 dvd soon enough - apple love sending their developers such goodies. last month i got a dvd with all the technotes from the beginning of time. i have to say apple really do look after developers well, even if they do tread on them from time to time. when elephants fight the grass is crushed.

      --
      I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
  163. A better definition. by Bodrius · · Score: 2

    I have a better definition for .NET that Microsoft might seriously consider:

    " It's like Java, but pretty. "

    --
    Freedom is the freedom to say 2+2=4, everything else follows...
  164. Didn't we all learn this from Citizen Kane? by espilce · · Score: 1

    stereotypically if a person has managed to work their way up to the level of Bill Gates et al., he or she must have very little concern for other people, that's just the way it works.

    Microsoft reminds me most of the quote: "You never loved me, all you wanted was for me to love you!"

    --
    :q!
  165. Moritz Hunzinger buys politicians for MS by SabberFlapper · · Score: 0

    http://www.hunzinger.de/site/geschaeftsfelder/pr_u _politik/microsoft_pa_260602.html

  166. Re:Grasping the security nettle? [Wm Gates E-Mail] by jgeelan · · Score: 1

    Not to a speech, but to this "Trustworthy Computing" e-mail, sent to me (as, presumably, to tens of thousands of others) last week: -----Original Message----- From: "Bill Gates" Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 01:10:32 To: Subject: Trustworthy Computing I'm writing to you, as a reader of one of Microsoft's customer newsletters, about an issue of particular importance to those of us who routinely use computers in our work and personal lives - making computing more trustworthy. Trustworthy Computing involves a lot of things - reliability, security, privacy and business integrity. Before I share my thoughts about this in more detail, I want to give you some context on why I am sending this email. This is the first in an occasional series of mails that CEO Steve Ballmer and I, and periodically other Microsoft executives, will be sending to people who are interested in hearing from us about technology and public-policy issues that we believe are important to computer users, our industry and everyone who cares about the future of high technology. This is part of our commitment to ensuring that Microsoft is more open about communicating who we are and what we are doing. As I mentioned at the outset, you are receiving this email as a recipient of a Microsoft newsletter. If you would like to hear from me, Steve and periodically from other Microsoft executives in the future, please go to http://register.microsoft.com/subscription/subscri beMe.asp?lcid=1033&id=155. If you don't wish to hear from us again, you do not need to do anything. We will not send you another executive email unless you choose to subscribe at the link above. As I've talked with customers over the last year - from individual consumers to big enterprise customers - it's clear that everyone recognizes that computers play an increasingly important and useful role in our lives. At the same time, many of the people I talk to are concerned about the security of the technologies they depend on. They are concerned about whether their personal data is being protected. Although they know that computers can do amazing things, they are frustrated that their technology doesn't always work consistently. And they want assurances that the high-tech industry takes these concerns seriously and is working to improve their computing experience. Six months ago, I sent a call-to-action to Microsoft's 50,000 employees, outlining what I believe is the highest priority for the company and for our industry over the next decade: building a Trustworthy Computing environment for customers that is as reliable as the electricity that powers our homes and businesses today. This is an important part of the evolution of the Internet, because without a Trustworthy Computing ecosystem, the full promise of technology to help people and businesses realize their potential will not be fulfilled. Ironically, it is the growth of the Internet and the advent of massive computing systems built from loose affiliations of services, machines, communications networks and application software that have helped create the potential for increased vulnerabilities. There are already solutions that eliminate weak links such as passwords and fake email. At Microsoft we're combining passwords with "smart cards" to authenticate users. We're also working with others throughout the industry to improve Internet protocols to stop email that could propagate misleading information or malicious code that falsely appears to be from trusted senders. And we are making fundamental changes in the way we develop software, in our operational and business practices, and in our customer support efforts to make the computing experiences we provide more trustworthy. For example, we've historically made our software and services more compelling for users primarily by adding new features and functionality. While we are continuing to invest significantly in delivering new capabilities that customers ask for, we are now making security improvements an even higher priority than adding features. For example, we made changes to Microsoft Outlook to block email attachments associated with unsafe files, prevent access to a user's address book, and give administrators the ability to manage email security settings for their organization. As a result of these changes, the number of email virus incidents has dropped dramatically. In fact, email viruses like the recent "Frethem" virus propagate only to systems that have not been updated - underscoring the importance of updating them regularly. We are also undertaking a rigorous and exhaustive review of many Microsoft products to minimize other potential security vulnerabilities. Earlier this year, the development work of more than 8,500 Microsoft engineers was put on hold while we conducted an intensive security analysis of millions of lines of Windows source code. Every Windows engineer and several thousand engineers in other parts of the company were also given special training in writing secure software. We estimated that the stand-down would take 30 days. It took nearly twice that long, and cost Microsoft more than $100 million. We've undertaken similar code reviews and security training for Microsoft Office and Visual Studio .NET, and will be doing so for other products as well. THE TRUSTWORTHY COMPUTING FRAMEWORK Trustworthy Computing has four pillars: reliability, security, privacy and business integrity. "Reliability" means that a computer system is dependable, is available when needed, and performs as expected and at appropriate levels. "Security" means that a system is resilient to attack, and that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of both the system and its data are protected. "Privacy" means that individuals have the ability to control data about themselves and that those using such data faithfully adhere to fair information principles. "Business Integrity" is about companies in our industry being responsible to customers and helping them find appropriate solutions for their business issues, addressing problems with products or services, and being open in interactions with customers. Creating a Trustworthy Computing environment requires several steps: - Making software code more secure and reliable. Our developers have tools and methodologies that will make an order-of-magnitude improvement in their work from the standpoint of security and safety. - Keeping ahead of security exploits. Distributing updates using the Internet so that all systems are up to date. Windows Update and Software Update Services, discussed below, provide the infrastructure for this. - Early Recovery. In case of a problem, having the capability to restore and get systems back up and running in exactly the same state they were in before an incident, with minimal intervention. FIRST STEPS TOWARD MORE TRUSTWORTHY COMPUTING There is still much work that Microsoft and others in our industry must do to make computing more trustworthy. Here is a summary of some of the progress we've made, six months after my email to Microsoft employees: - We have changed the way we design and develop software at all phases of the product development cycle. Our new processes should greatly minimize errors in software, and speed up the development process for new products and services. - Software Update Services (SUS) is a security management tool for business customers that enables IT administrators to quickly and reliably deploy critical updates from inside their corporate firewall to Windows 2000-based servers and desktop computers running Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional. - Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer is a new tool that customers can use to analyze Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems for common security misconfigurations, and to scan for missing security hot fixes and vulnerabilities on a variety of products, including newer versions of Internet Information Server, SQL Server and Office. - In addition to providing customers with tools and resources to help them maximize the security of Windows 2000 Server environments, we are committed to shipping Windows .NET Server 2003 as "secure by default." We believe it's critical to provide customers with a foundation that has been configured to maximize security right out of the box, while continuing to provide customers with a rich set of integrated features and capabilities. - The error-reporting features built into Office XP and Windows XP are giving us an enormous amount of feedback and a much clearer view of the kinds of problems customers have, and how we can raise the level of reliability in those products - and that of products made by other companies. As part of this effort, we recently created a secure Web site where software and hardware vendors can view error reports related to their drivers, utilities and applications that are reported through our system. This enables the vendors who work with us to identify recurring problems and address them far more quickly than in the past. All of our server software products will incorporate these error-reporting features in subsequent versions of the products. - With Microsoft Windows Update, we are completing the customer-feedback loop based on the error-reporting features mentioned above. This globally available Web service delivers more than 300 million downloads per month of the most current versions of product fixes, updates and enhancements. When customers connect to the site, they can choose to have their computer automatically evaluated to check which updates need to be applied in order to keep their system up-to-date, as well as identify any critical updates to keep their system safe and secure. - We are working on a new hardware/software architecture for the Windows PC platform, code-named "Palladium," which will significantly enhance users' system integrity, privacy and data security. This new technology, which will be included in a future version of Windows, will enable applications and application components to run in a protected memory space that is highly resistant to tampering and interference. This will greatly reduce the risk of viruses, other attacks, or attempts to acquire personal information or digital property with malicious or illegal intent. Our goal is for the Palladium development process to be a collaborative industry initiative. - We've incorporated what is known as P3P (Platform for Privacy Preferences) technology in the Internet Explorer browser technology in Windows XP, which enhances a user's ability to set privacy levels to suit his or her needs. The P3P standard enables a user's browser to compare any P3P-compliant Web site's privacy practices to that user's privacy settings, and to decide whether to accept cookies from that site. Identifying and addressing critical Trustworthy Computing issues will require significant collaboration across our industry. One example of the kind of cross-industry effort we need more of is the recent creation of the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) Organization (http://www.ws-i.org/). Founded by IBM, Microsoft and other industry leaders including Intel, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, BEA Systems and Accenture, WS-I's mission is to enable consistent and reliable interoperability of XML-based Web services across a variety of platforms, applications and programming languages. Among other things, WS-I will create a suite of test tools aimed at addressing errors and unconventional usage in Web services specifications implementations, which in turn will improve interoperability among applications and across platforms. WHAT YOU CAN DO Given the complexity of the computing ecosystem, and the dynamic nature of the technology industry, Trustworthy Computing really is a journey rather than a destination. Microsoft is fully committed to this path, but it is not something we can do alone. It requires the leadership of many others in our industry and a commitment by customers to establish and maintain a secure and reliable computing environment. For customers, the most important first step is understanding what it will take to make their computers and networks more reliable and safe. Below are some suggestions on what individuals and businesses can do to create a more Trustworthy Computing environment for themselves and others. - Give us feedback by using the error-reporting features built into Office XP and Windows XP. - Use Microsoft Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.com/) to ensure that you have the most up-to-date and accurate versions of product updates, enhancements and fixes. - Businesses customers can take advantage of Software Update Services to download critical updates from Windows Update. (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/windowsupdat e/sus/) - Use Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer to analyze Windows XP and Windows 2000 for common security misconfigurations. (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default .asp?url=/technet/security/tools/Tools/MBSAhome.as p) - Enterprise Systems Integrators can take advantage of the Systems Integrator Source Licensing Program (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sharedsource/) . - Hardware, software or systems vendors can sign up for Microsoft's Windows Logo Program at http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/ to ensure a high-quality user experience. - Find more information about computing security at http://www.microsoft.com/security/. - Our White Paper on Trustworthy Computing is at http://www.microsoft.com/PressPass/exec/craig/05-0 1trustworthywp.asp. - If you don't already have Internet Explorer 6.0, download it for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/evaluation/ove rview/ to take advantage of its increased reliability and security and privacy features. We are doing everything we can at Microsoft to make software as trustworthy as possible. By building awareness, through collaborative work and with a long-term commitment, I am confident we can and will create a truly Trustworthy Computing environment. Bill Gates For information about Microsoft's privacy policies, please go to: http://www.microsoft.com/info/privacy.htm.

  167. No you're not... by KlomDark · · Score: 2

    No, sir, YOU most of all have a duty to do your best to ensure that YOUR representative understands how you, the represented, wishes him to vote. He is YOUR representative. People from your state are the ones with the problem of a rogue, corrupt politician, and I sure hope you SC people do something about him before he takes down all of us.

    Unfortunately, us in other states can only beg and cajole you to vote him out, or convince him of changing his ways. Instead, I have to wait for your deranged idiot to make his move, submit his stupid legislation, then spend my time trying to convince my representatives to vote against his crap. It would be much better if you SC people would just take responsibility for your problem.

    1. Re:No you're not... by Stephen+VanDahm · · Score: 2

      I know that its the responsibility of the voters to ensure that we get good leadership. However, the problem is this -- if Hollings goes, who will take his place? Hollings is one of the last important Democrats in office in this state and overwhelmingly the most influential. No Democrat will challenge Fritz Hollings in a primary.

      The challenger would have to be a Republican. My rights to use technology are important to me, but there are other issues that are important to me, too. And while I despise the Entertainment lobby, I also despise everything that the Republican party stands for. If I vote for the Democrat (Hollings), I lose. If I vote for the Republican, I lose. In either case, by saying "no" to evil, I say "yes" to more evil.

      I don't think many people in SC are fond of Hollings -- those that vote for him do so either out of party loyalty or out of fear of what the Republican challenger would do should he get elected. Perhaps Hollings' days are numbered, though -- he loses ground each time he runs for relection.

      The one thing you can count on is this: whoever eventually gets Hollings seat will be just as bad as he is. The guy will have a different hidden agenda, but he'll still be good old-fashioned home-grown South Carolinian slime.

      Steve

    2. Re:No you're not... by Moofie · · Score: 1

      I'm curious. What does the "Republican Party" "stand for" that you do not like?

      I'm not trolling...I really would be interested in your view. See, I contend that the only difference between the Republicans and the Democrats is who they want to give more of my money to. I'm curious for your perspective.

      --
      Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  168. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude! you are absolutly correct! Microsoft is a God-Send...
    We Love You Bill!!!!!

  169. Dumbing down by jmorris42 · · Score: 2

    Nah, because higher education gets dumbed down to match what is coming out of the high schools. Your younger brother will do just fine in college. Won't actually LEARN as much as you did, but who cares about that?

    The whole point of modern education these days seems to be keeping people out of the labor force for as many years as possible and brainwashing them with political correctness.

    --
    Democrat delenda est
  170. Strictly wrong by wichtolosaurus · · Score: 1

    Only microsofties seem to use "rich" as a euphemism for "loaded with bells'n'whistles"

    Nope. Only people who have worked with .NET long enough to judge and to know its terms use "rich" as a part of a feature name.

    Your kind of talk disgusts me, would I read and post here if I was a microsoft nazi general?

  171. here is his explanation.. by geekoid · · Score: 2

    .."We're .net, and everyone else is .fish"

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  172. Sentence needs trimming. ;-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    ``Again, this can be said for any set of competing languages. I could also say, "I have yet to meet a serious VB developer who does not have a huge interest in .NET".''
    "I have yet to meet a serious VB developer."

    Pretty much says it all. ;)
  173. Retroactive editing by p3d0 · · Score: 2

    Well, what do you know... By the time I read it, the headline is "Gates admits 'misstep' in parts of .NET launch".

    --
    Patrick Doyle
    I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
  174. Exactly right by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Lots of people hither and you are annoying at Apple charging for .Mac. But what I see coming from .Mac and the reason I signed up even though I didn't really use iTools before is that Apple has created a number of compelling real-world web services that people want to, and will be able to, use.

    One service I'm looking forward to you didn't even mention is the web backup, which is sort of an extension of iSync in my mind (or perhaps it's really part of iSynch?).

    On top of the interesting services they have announced they'll be developing more services in the future, from the same minds that designed iPhoto and iTunes.

    And all this at a flat fee - note that while MS wants you to pay every time you open Word, Apple is content to let you pay a minimal yearly fee and do what you like, charging extra only for real resources like more disc space.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  175. Java developers and .net by willis · · Score: 2
    I'm not sure what constitutes a "serious java developer", but at my workplace (with "serious developers"), we're taking a damn good look at .Net. Our backend is almost always unix/linux, and we need something fast that plays well with existing infrastructure (i.e. unix backends pumping data into Excel, etc). C# looks like it'll help this a lot -- it looks to be faster than java for gui code, about as easy to program in, and it works with other products decently well (you going to try and embed java into ms office apps for front ends? yeah right).

    In any case, my company is listening (and the linux processes that I write in Java/C++ will supply the data to these C# front ends).

    --

    there is no thing
    what else could you want?
  176. Why? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    No to suck too much wind out of your sails, but why?

    Java seems to have done pretty well as is, and I really haven't seen anyone saying "You know, Java would be perfect if only I could compile my old SNOBOL code in it.".

    Personally I think there are very few useful libraries you could write that would work well across multiple languages - in almost any given case you'd be better off obtaining or writing a library that present a language-friendly API that takes advantage of a languages features, than a library that CAN be used by any language but really only makes sense in a few.

    I was convinced of this fact when I read a white paper some time ago detailing how Eiffel# would work, and how it would call into standard CLR libraries... I wish I could find that paper but I've nad no luck for months.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  177. Hey USA Congress folk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    audit Microsoft!!! :)

  178. .Net is DEAD ,,,, give it up MS ...JAVA rules by whoaah · · Score: 0

    Give it up Bill and M$ trolls DOT NOT is nothing but a hype. I have not seen any enterprise application on DOT NOT which not close to what it say it is there. We have seen what VB has done after 4 release and 6 service packs for ech real garbage in and garbage out. MS is plain shit Marketing bluff. According to Gartner whole market 84% chare is doing JAVA J2EE development. We had 100 % success in J2EE development for enterprise application which is scalable & stable. All the .Net is a bluff from what I saw , and all it runs is on IIs & Broken Windows and talk about memeroy leaks and security leaks you cannot .NET in production with puting Visual Studio in the PROD server what fuck is this MS. MS give it up on .Net and make a good OS for once in ur life or LIUNUX will crush you.

  179. .NET is DEAD by whoaah · · Score: 0

    Give it up Bill and M$ trolls DOT NOT is nothing but a hype. I have not seen any enterprise application on DOT NOT which not close to what it say it is there. We have seen what VB has done after 4 release and 6 service packs for ech real garbage in and garbage out. MS is plain shit Marketing bluff. According to Gartner whole market 84% chare is doing JAVA J2EE development. We had 100 % success in J2EE development for enterprise application which is scalable & stable. All the .Net is a bluff from what I saw , and all it runs is on IIs & Broken Windows and talk about memeroy leaks and security leaks you cannot .NET in production with puting Visual Studio in the PROD server what fuck is this MS. MS give it up on .Net and make a good OS for once in ur life or Linux will crush you.

  180. The clueless mentality of a generation by Dwonis · · Score: 2
    Microsoft also warned today that the era of "open computing," the free exchange of digital information that has defined the personal computer industry, is ending.

    Microsoft is talking about the DMCA and the things worse than it which are to come.

    Let's face it: this injustice is going to continue as long as the generation of people who were hippies in the 1960's are in power.

    This generation is filled with people who bucked centuries of moderately well-functioning social customs for a narrow-minded, self-centred set of principles that were logically broken, namely, that everyone could be a freeloader, and that taking mind-altering drugs and raising children only affect the individuals who make those decisions.

    We're not going to change these people's minds about these technology issues, because that would involve drastically changing the thought process that has been engrained in their minds since their childhood.

  181. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lastly outside of Struts and Apache open source software sucks
    you forgot PostgreSQL, NS (IBM's network simulator), and almost an assload of others... browse the ports collection once in a while!

  182. CLR and JVM-- why? by ShadowDrake · · Score: 1

    What's the need behind these custom 'sandbox' environments? Why can't we use, for example, an 80x86- or 680x0-based architecture as the model for our virtual machine, and the VM software could just be a hacked copy of Bochs or UAE or whatever running a custom OS/BIOS combination?) This would have several advantadges:

    1. Limits and optimization of the VM platform are well-known. People know how to make a good optomizing compiler for 80386-- do they know for CLR architecture?

    2. Many development tools exist, and/or could be modified to suit the needs of the architecture relatively quickly. Language choice is helped.

    3. There is actual hardware somewhere that could be used to run the VM-compiled software natively, or at least with faster native-code based execution (like DOSEMU or Plex86)

    Is this path ignored because it makes vendor lock-in more difficult in terms of development tools and VM sources?

    --
    It's just like a fascist dictatorship, without the punctual rail service!
  183. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bill & MS days is over. Java & Linux will end MS evil empire. 84% market is using Java and there is not one application written in .Net. .Net has same issues like VB and MS never fixed that. .NOT has memory leaks and security issue and not at all scalable and um it only some how works on windows. MS is good in marketing on products that does not exist. Java is here to stay and thriving.

  184. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by unicron · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    That was the most pointless rant ever posted on this forum. You spouted a bunch of random facts that together made absolutely no sense.

    Let me let you in on a little secret..Linux will never, ever be a desktop OS for the simple reason that only a fool wants to do something the hard way. This has nothing to do with education or laziness or drive. Because for every 1 person you show me that calls himself an avid linux user I can show you 10 people in the business world that want an OS that's easy to set up and use. Reliability and Security? Let the tech's worry about it, it's not their problem. You seem to think only in right and wrong, black and white.
    Try thinking like a business man and you'll see: their is no right and wrong, only cheap and expensive, hard and easy.

    But you go ahead, keep the dream alive. While you live in that world, I'll live in the real one. The Linux Desktop will never exist.

    --
    Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
  185. .NET Alienates MS Developers, Threatens WWW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    starting with the developer community:

    The alleged 3 million Visual Basic programmers face a high hurdle moving to VB.NET which, it turns out, is an entirely new language.

    C++ developers are looking somewhat askance at C#: should they move to it or stay with a language whose standard is established by industry rather than a vendor?

    The ASP developers, who put up all those .asp sites on the WWW, and who kept Microsoft in the game while it craftily forged it's .NET initiative, are cruelly discarded, since their favorite language VBScript is a dead-end. That's right, Microsoft terminates VBScript as of .NET; VBScript is NOT a .NET language!

    During a recent talk by consultant David Chappell, he said that Microsoft expected the top 1/3 of Visual Basic developers to move to the new C# language and .NET, the next 1/3 of VB developers to slowly migrate to the VB.NET language, and the lower 1/3 of VB developers to fall by the wayside, maintaining older versions of applications. So much for a caring attitude.

    If you look at the web services initiatives present at W3C, it becomes apparent that the web services initiative is a poorly-disguised attempt to ruin the WWW by layering noise over http. What was once a relatively safe protocol (http:) now will become a channel for SOAP envelopes that could contain *anything*.

    SOAP and web services need to get their own ports and leave ports 80 and 443 free for the World-Wide Web, which works, and works extremely well. Otherwise, in 5 years, http: will be so flummoxed up with SOAP noise that we'll have to abandon it and move elsewhere.

  186. Hailstorm by Rustla · · Score: 1

    So Hailstorm's failed?
    I was a little scared about Hailstorm from what I read.

  187. Re:.NET my BUTT by goodhell · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Just say ".NYET!".

    or even more harsher

    "DA-t NYET"

  188. My Favorite Gates Quote: by jjustice · · Score: 1

    From this story on Yahoo:

    "A lot of people like flexibility in choices, so what are the choices here in terms of what .NET means?" he said. "Well, we want the choices all to be exactly the same: software to connect information, people, systems and devices."

    A lot of people like flexibility in choices...we want the choices all to be the same...

  189. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by croanon · · Score: 1

    Actually they sent all of it, then took it back, since they recognized what MS was doing. The point is, you can use Java language in a free manner. They language itself is in the control of the Sun (well, actually, not totally, through the JCP many other firms are controlling it.) Sun did never threaten open source community, or sees it as a virus, or communist. They are getting ready to release their own Linux distribution. Sun is protecting Java by holding its controls. Actually, they are doing really well. The only bad thing is that Sun's marketing do not work well enough, like MS's. Also, their JVM implementations could be better.

    MS is much more unethical than Enron, or Worldcom.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  190. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by croanon · · Score: 1

    Dear Anonymous Coward, MS cannot even approach J2ME's success. There will be 100 million Java phones in the world end of this year. What are you talking about?

    Lets look at the application server world. BEA, ORACLE, IBM, SUN, HP, FUJITSU, JBOSS, ORION, APACHE, etc. All of their application servers, ALL of them, are Java J2EE based. It took years of these firms to mature these products. Make them secure, make them optimized. Websphere is in its 8th release or something like that. How many .NET based application servers are around?

    Java is very very portable. It simply works. I am not lying. I've been developing in Java for 7 years. We have developed many products which DO work CURRENTLY on Mac, Mac OS, Windows 9x, NT, XP, 2000 etc, Linux, Unix, Solaris. The tweaking was necessary, as you said. 1 day tweaking for every new system. : )

    C# has some superiorities over Java, but it is not important, since Java is working already. And, the improvements are not really vitally important. Apart from that, I do not like C# much, (I've been using it for one year), since I think that the additions over the Java language it brings are harmful. Such as operator overloading.

    Also we should remember that neither C#, or Java are fixed languages. Java is getting better with every release. JDK 1.4.1b is working incredibly fast already. Has lots of new features. :)

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  191. Did you ever heard "TOWER OF BABYLON"? by croanon · · Score: 1

    Maybe you should check it out. ; ) One language is always an advantage. If every computer engineer knew only one language (of course ONE for ONE language type. Such as LISP and C++ are different, used for different things.) everything would be much easier.

    Also, CLI is just another VM like JVM. It is possible to develop more than one languages over JVM too. There are something like 160 languages already developed on top of JVM. But, Sun did not want to push these. It only concentrated on Java, since they knew about the power of being equilingual. MS also knows that, so that C# is the most prominent language of .NET. That is why they did not give VB.NET etc. the same broad functionality as C#. Different languages of .NET is a marketing bullshit. Check out JVM languages here:
    http://grunge.cs.tu-berlin.de/~tolk/vmlanguages.ht ml

    The important thing is it is not possible to create a VM, which may support all the languages. Because there are huge variety of languages. For instance, it is not possible to run dynamic languages like C, C++ on top of VMs directly. .NET VM is not an exception. .NET has only one very generic language called CL (common language). All the .NET languages are the same language with same functionality and capability, with different syntatic sugar. So, in order to fit into CL, these languages are cut and crippled and changed to make them .NET compatible. I am sorry, but that is not my type of thing.

    --
    Dear Bill, do you have a .net tatoo on your ass for marketing?
  192. Limewire blowz on Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You've got to be kidding if you think LimeWire makes Java look good. It makes my Linux machines behave like Windows boxes.
    The C version of Donkey is way better although intererestingly enough the new Donkey called Overnet has a Windows runtime that actually does require the .net framework.

  193. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by Steve+Franklin · · Score: 1

    I didn't have any trouble putting his "random facts" together. And I certainly didn't find him pointless. You, on the other hand, DO seem to be missing a point or two from your pointy little head. But I digress. What always amazes me about these little rants is that they never seem to relate to what has been said. It's as if the poster didn't bother to read the previous post. And this from a character whose sig line is: Arrogance and Ignorance go hand in hand. They certainly do seem to, don't they? ;o) How more arrogant and ignorant can you get than not bothering to read the words of your target?

    --
    Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
  194. [Offtopic] Grading scale by Wildcat+J · · Score: 1

    At my alma mater, the University of Arizona, we actually had 'E' instead of 'F'. Why, I'll never know. Maybe they thought 'F' implies failure, and they don't want to bruise any delicate egos...
    -J

  195. Why should I use Java? .NET is coming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear Java Dork:

    Oracle is actually thinking about scaling back it's J2EE server product, due to it's overwhelming flop as a solution. Their customers simply will not use the J2EE server and have been bitching about the drastically increased costs as a result of adding all that new J2EE stuff that no one really uses anyway.

    BEA? Please. They're barely making their numbers. Apache? Don't make me laugh. Name one Fortune 500 organization that has adopted Apache and/or Jakarta as their standard corporate development and hosting platform.

    In short: you don't have a clue what you're posting about. Once .NET takes hold (and it will) Java will become yet another proprietary language that has its devotees -- sort of like COBOL and ADA programmers.

  196. You have a point by uncletweet · · Score: 1

    Yup, and I also think it's cool how Apple is handleing this economy business. They are releasing new products, new services. Give me Jaguar w/isync, one of those new sony ericson phones, and a iPod. These are great man toys for a boy who grew up with the nintendo enertainment system.

  197. Re:Why should I use .NET? Java is solving my probl by messiertom · · Score: 1

    > What do you think the chances are than Microsoft can create a VM to run on Solaris? Can, or will? Microsoft has had plenty of time and loads of resources to port their products to Free (in the FSF sense) Operating Systems, like FreeBSD and Linux. But they don't, for fear that it will destroy their empire. I think that Microsoft has plenty of opportunity to create a .NET VM on Solaris.

  198. Another Clueless Dork Posts a Meaningless Message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know what to post, except to state that you are an incredibly dull-witted and clueless individual, someone that does not have any serious technology experience whatsoever.

  199. Re:Gates doesn't do mistakes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look,

    MS is nothing more than what AOL would be with a developer tools business (and a larger installed base)... why is that so hard to see?

    Why bother learning their rules to the game unless your a 21st century Maytag Repairman with a name tag that says "microsoft"?

    Learn Open Sourse standards computing and you'll understand MS... Learn MS and you'll know nothing about OSS (except that it 'unamerican').

    What happens 5 years from now when you look for support for Windows95/2000? ... good luck.

    I use C/Perl/mod_perl/Apache/Linux/PG/mySQL for EVERYTHING.. connecting, speaking to everything, free now and forever.

  200. Been there, done it... by Workshop+Alex · · Score: 1

    And I've been wondering about dotnet too... For me, a software developer, dotnet is nothing more than a huge runtime library. And the sad thing is that while it can create very small executables, you're always stuck with this huge library. Even worse, dotnet is supposed to put an end to the DLL hell but I'm not so sure about that. I do know that with dotnet, I can't support any Windows '95 anymore. Even '98 and older NT machines are a bit hard to support since dotnet is very resource-hungry.
    Dotnet is also supposed to become platform-independant. Yeah, right... Do you believe that? It is supposed to run in small devices with very limited resources. I don't see that happening either.

    I do know one thing... Their marketing will probably tell lots of dyslectic managers that dotnet is the new standard and that they need to spend huge amounts of cash to support this new technology. Why? Because they've spend lots of months designing new names for old technologies...

    What is dotnet? It's nothing more than a set of COM+ components with some additional features. And COM+ itself is based upon COM/DCOM with some additional features. And COM/DCOM is just OLE with some additional features. And OLE? Well, Ole is old... Very old...
    So now we're stuck on this advanced OLE library that is supposed to run everywhere. But look a bit further... MS also creates Office-dotnet. A version of Office where some parts of the application will run on a Microsoft server. And MS will probably create more similar applications. It reduces your expensive, powerful computer to a dumb terminal that is connected to some slow server. Why slow? It's slow because you have to share it with those millions of other MS-Office-victims...

    Free exchange of digital information? Yea... You can provide your personal information and your creditcard-number to MS for free. Then they will decide what you need and what to spend it all on... And if they notice that your licence is nearly ended they will love to use your creditcard to give you a new licence, free of charge for the extra service...

    Gonna be a sad day when my boss decides that investing in dotnet will be more important than increasing my salary...