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Was .NET All a Mistake?

Posted by samzenpus on from the in-hindsight dept.

mikejuk writes "The recent unsettling behavior at Microsoft concerning .NET makes it a good time to re-evaluate what the technology is all about. It may have been good technology, but with the systems guys building Windows preferring to stick with C++, the outcome was inevitable. Because they failed to support its way of doing things, .NET has always been a second-class Windows citizen unable to make direct use of the Windows APIs — especially the latest. .NET started out as Microsoft's best challenge to Java but now you have to ask: what has the excursion into managed code brought the Microsoft programmer, and indeed what good has it done Microsoft? From where we are now, it begins to look very much like an unnecessary forced detour, and Windows programmers are going to be living with the mess for years to come."

5 of 688 comments (clear)

  1. What?! On the contrary: .NET is becoming relevant! by Kensai7 · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to an Ars Technica article, .NET will be first-class citizen in Windows 8.

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    "Sum Ergo Cogito"
  2. Re:No? by NJRoadfan · · Score: 3, Informative

    FWIW, I have seen Java applications require a specific version of the JRE to run properly. I've had stuff break if they were, for example, running on JRE1.5.0_06 instead of JRE1.5.0_05. .NET is no exception, plenty of stuff out there demands the .NET 1.1 runtime be installed even though 2.0 is present in the system.

  3. Re:Just a bigger and better framework by pcause · · Score: 4, Informative

    The key is that Microsoft is porting Windows to ARM. if you built you app with .Net and MS doesn't screw things up you should have an app that works on the ARM version of Windows 8. If that happens, then for MS and developers the entire .Net experience has been a HUGE win. MS will have a Win 8 ARM with a huge supply of apps and developers and developers will have access to the tablet market without having to do much new.

  4. Re:Was this article all a mistake? by Gutboy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Really? I guess you can't read pie charts http://www.humblebundle.com/

  5. Re:I definitely agree by FredFredrickson · · Score: 4, Informative

    With vs .net 2010, and the XNA game studio, a lot of game devs are writing both windows and xbox games .. in C#. I think you might rethink that.

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    Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex