From Keith Wedinger: .NET clearly bears a strong resemblance to Java. It offers many of the same features, while adding interesting additions of its own (code metadata, versioned assemblies, etc). Microsoft, however, is better positioned to create a cross-market software unification framework than Sun Microsystems ever was (or is).
"The beta of the .NET Framework version 1.1 SDK and Redistributable is
now available, along with the add-on to build and run J# applications.
We encourage you to download these and provide us with feedback. You
may register for the beta program to access these downloads at
http://www.betaplace.com. Use the following userID and password to gain
access to the site:
ID: SDKBETA
Password: SIGNMEUP"
[Brian Harry, DOTNET-CLR]
From Andrew Webb: Even if you don't want to download the beta, this article gives a nice overview of what to expect in the 1.1 version of .NET Framework.
Note the 'Developer Tools Roadmap' link at top-right of the Beta Overview page.
www.gotdotnet.com has an article about forwards and backwards compatibility between 1.0 and 1.1.
From Keith Wedinger: What if your current application is currently a Java EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) implementation? Is it worth the cost and effort to migrate to Microsoft’s new platform?
From Jim Wilson: The DevelopMentor .NET Compact Framework Tools and Samples page is finally available. Check it out to see if there is something that you need or if you have something that you think would be helpful to others please post it.
QuickCode is a VS.NET add-in that expands phrases into code, e.g.
prop int test
would expand to an entire property implementation. It works for C# and VB.NET and appears to be very flexible.
"The KDE Project has emerged as possibly the first real-world adopter of Project Mono for application development. Mono is an open source alternative to .NET for Unix and Linux desktops, initiated in July 2001 by Ximian Inc."
The reason that this is interesting for Windows developers is that with both of the major Linux desktops, i.e. Gnome and KDE, supporting .NET, it's possible that a simple .NET application or component could actually work across Windows, Gnome and KDE. Now .NET becomes the OS. Shades of Java, which failed in this space I know, but still interesting...
