“Microsoft, which will attempt to unite its Windows and Internet
application developers under one umbrella, will unveil the
next-generation version of Visual Studio that tightly integrates
COM++and extensible markup language (XML) to allow developers to
write distributed multitier enterprise applications…”
“…Microsoft President Steve Ballmer recently said
the company is gearing up for its fiercest battle on the
development front vs. Linux and Java since it parted ways with IBM
Corp. over the OS/2 operating system.
‘Microsoft is having problems on a couple of fronts,’ said Dan
Kara, senior vice president and chief technology officer at
Westborough, Mass.-based research firm Intermedia Group. ‘If you’re
coming out of college now, the hot jobs are in Java. Visual C++ and
Visual Basic no longer are seen as hot technologies. In operating
systems for handheld devices, the hot platform remains the Palm OS,
not Windows CE, Kara said.”
“Earlier this year, Microsoft launched the BizTalk framework for
implementing XML schemas and tags used in messages sent between
applications. Some view Microsoft’s increasing interest in XML as a
response to Java.
‘I still think Microsoft is scared to death of Java and has to
either jump on the bandwagon or come out with a set of tools that
supports cross-platform and cross-operating-system development, as
well as ease of use of the Internet in Web browsers,’ [Tribune
Co.’s Advanced Technology Group development manager Jeff] Gear
said.”