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I was having lunch recently with a colleague when he asked, “Are you still messing
around with that .NET stuff?” I could tell by the tone of his voice that he—like many
computer users—still viewed .NET with suspicion.
And perhaps with good reason. Purposefully kept separate from the Windows
operating system, the 22MB Microsoft .NET Framework is an hour download on dialup
and four minutes on broadband. For .NET developers, this extra step adds one more
hurdle for a potential customer to overcome when purchasing our software.
So in this article I attempt to demystify .NET, encourage you to download the latest
version of the .NET Framework so you can run the latest and greatest .NET software,
and help convince Microsoft that it needs to ensure every PC user has the newest
.NET.
This is how Microsoft describes it: “.NET is the Microsoft Web services strategy to
connect information, people, systems, and devices through software. Integrated
across the Microsoft platform, .NET technology provides the ability to quickly build,
deploy, manage, and use connected, security-enhanced solutions with Web
services. .NET-connected solutions enable businesses to integrate their systems more
rapidly and in a more agile manner and help them realize the promise of information
anytime, anywhere, on any device.” See Microsoft for more information.
The CLS is a common platform that integrates code and components from multiple
.NET programming languages. In other words, a .NET application can be written in
multiple programming languages with no extra work by the developer (though
converting code between languages can be tricky).
The FCL is a collection of over 7000 classes and data types that enable .NET
applications to read and write files, access databases, process XML, display a
graphical user interface, draw graphics, use Web services, etc. The FCL wraps much
of the massive, complex Win32 API into more simple .NET objects that can be used
by C# and other .NET programming languages.
The CLR is the execution engine for .NET applications and serves as the interface
between .NET applications and the operating system. The CLR provides many
services such as:
.NET Tools
Visual Studio .NET is Microsoft’s flagship tool for developing Windows software. Visual
Studio provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for developers to
create standalone Windows applications, interactive Web sites, Web applications, and
Web services running on any platform that supports .NET.
In addition, there are many .NET Framework tools designed to help developers
create, configure, deploy, manage and secure .NET applications and components.
Microsoft started building .NET in the late 90s under the name “Next Generation
Windows Services” (NGWS). Bill Gates described .NET as Microsoft’s answer to the
“Phase 3 Internet environment, where the Internet becomes a platform in its own
right, much like the PC has traditionally been… Instead of a world where Internet
users are limited to reading information, largely one screen at a time, the Phase 3
Internet will unite multiple Web sites running on any device, and allow users to read,
write and annotate them via speech, handwriting recognition and the like,” Gates
said. We are certainly approaching that vision.
Microsoft announced .NET to the world in June 2000 and released version 1.0 of
the .NET framework in January 2002. Microsoft also labeledeverything .NET including
briefly Office to demonstrate its commitment and dominance on this new thing called
the Web. But out of that grand FUD campaign emerged the very capable and
useful .NET development environment and framework for both the Web and Windows
desktop.
For developers, .NET provides an integrated set of tools for building Web software
and services and Windows desktop applications. .NET supports multiple programming
languages and Service Oriented Architectures (SOA).
For companies, .NET provides a stable, scalable and secure environment for software
development. .NET can lower costs by speeding development and connecting
systems, increase sales by giving employees access to the tools and information they
need, and connect your business to customers, suppliers and partners.
For end-users, .NET results in software that’s more reliable and secure and works on
multiple devices including laptops, Smartphones and Pocket PCs.
Although .NET v3.0 is now available, Windows Update is not automatically installing
it, hence few people have it. People who purchase new PCs with Windows Vista pre-
installed will receive the latest .NET v3.0 but there may be some versioning issues.
Microsoft released a beta version of .NET v3.5 in April 2007.
Just my theory, but it probably stems from the Sun vs. Microsoft bad blood over
Java. Sun and Microsoft got into a legal spat, Microsoft stopped shipping Java with
Windows, and so now Java is a separate download for Windows users. As a result,
perhaps Microsoft is wary of appearing monopolistic, hence they maintain the .NET
Framework as a separate download too.
Why is this a problem? Because it is a large file that must be downloaded and
installed separately, naturally many people view .NET with suspicion or at least
hesitation. And this provides an inconvenience and yet another barrier for a potential
customer purchasing our .NET software. So here's my plea:
Links
• Download .NET
• .NET FAQ
• .NET Developer Center
• .NET Basics
• .NET in Wikipedia
• .NET vs. Java
• What Is .NET
(Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Runtime)