To me .net sounds like it will be distributed computing (Remotely running programs running on M$ controlled machines) over the global and very insecure Internet and to make matters even worst Micro$oft security track record is really poor (even though they say they'll be improving it significantly, we'll see about that). The second thing that I've heard about .net is that people will renting applications (most likely to be on a per-user basis licensing scheme/scam), I bet as soon as they get enough people in they'll raise the rent.

To me it's likely to be a failure.

I dunno. I've read lots of articles in Comp magazines that absolutely rave about the whole .net thing, or more accurately, the whole VB.net/C#.net thing. Since lots of comp people are swayed quite heavily by publications such as these, rather than actually getting in deep and thinking about it for themselves, I can potentially see that .net will succeed.

As for the 'home' user, they probably won't have heard too much about MSs severe failures on the security front, and so anything that appears to 'make their life easier', however insecure it may be, will probably be accepted. I believe the saying is ignorance is bliss?

BTW, I am playing Devil's Advocate here. I personally don't like the idea one bit, and hope that it doesn't come to fruition.

I've heard C# (C Sharp) is like Java and C++ mixed into one programming language. If that's true I'm very skeptical that M$ will support proper cross-platform compatibility.

I think they are...sort of, in a very special Microsoft kind of way. I think that, take for example, VB.net code can be compiled straight into a runnable binary for the current platform, or can be compiled into a '.net binary' that is runnable by any .net supported platforms, but is a slow as...erm, something that runs slowly, or can be opened in VB.net on a platform different to the development one, and then compiled to be run as a native binary. So, I think they have got this cross-compatibility thing to work, but it only works on MS.net platforms, of which there are currently only a few. I can't see them hitting the cross-compatibilty that C/C++ has on Unix based OSs.

My take is sad but true..

People as a rule are very ignorant and really dont care about much that goes on around them. Micro$oft can get away with so much because few really care. If their life is made easier, that is all that matters.

I hope M$ falls flat on the rotten donkey faces with this.

Gosh I really hate them.

They are still talking about it, but now there are only names, no real utilities, compilers etc.

I dunno if it's true, but I heard a scary story from a Linux Consultant about an article he read somewhere about M$ ( I had alot of drinks when I heard this but it goes something like this ;-) Win XP has some port open for communicating over the internet, maybe a port for .NET, I dunno, I havent used XP nor intend doing so I havent read up on it.
Anyway, when M$ push enough XP's on to the internet & they will, hackers are going to have a field day exploiting this port XP is using & the internet in the eyes of the average home user will come to a standstill, here is the most scary part
(M$ WILL CLAIM THERE IS A SECURITY FLAW IN TCP/IP) & develop a new standard, imagine the monopoly they'd have then

As I said I had a few drinks when I was told this so dunno how true/accurate it is, but it would be the worst thing to happen to Linux

If anyone has seen a link to the article post it here..

Cheer's

that sounds like an MS strategy..............

bastards!

i've read this story once as well, allthough that was a few months ago and don't have the link anymore. personally, i think that's highly unlikely to happen. every company in the IT world already knows that MS and security don't really go together well. So if MS would come out saying that it's all TCP/IP's fault, every company will know they're just full of it. Also, UNIX and unix-like systems have always worked great with TCP/IP and don't have problems with it. the industry knows this. and if MS would still be dumb enough to actually try to create a new standard they better open it up for everyone to use it, because otherwise they'll get involved with another huge antitrust lawsuit.

yes... MS is bitch. but it's commercial. they've got an organized, coherent movement going on there.
well, i think we've got a movement here too. let's do our part compete with them.

Lets be honest, .net is just a name to something that will give M$ total control of the PC's of the future. They are gambling on an internet driven future, where dial-up will be history, and many will be have permanent, high speed internet access, and M$ want to be the ones who are in a position to control this.

TBO, I don't have a clue as to what .net will actually be able to do, or why the technology behind it will be so fantastic, but at the moment it is just hype. If it was so great why announce it to the world for others to copy, produce a better product before they had rolled out their own first, or were even close to rolling it out???

Anyone ever see the movie Anti-trust?

It stars Ryan Phillipe and Tom Robbins in a story about a company (similar to M$) killing hackers for their programming code to make a type of .NET infrastructure.

Of course, it is kinda cheezy the way it is put together, as it is a teen movie, but the similarities to this real world thread is staggering.

One neet thing though... the showed several computer screens in the movie, and they all were running Linux and GNOME! Hollywood may not product that great of movies now, but at least someone there knows enough to stops paying fees to M$ for their screen shots.

With regard to amp2000's post:

I read something similar, but it wasn't to do with TCP/IP, it was to do with SMB. Basically, up until recently Microsoft were quite docile on the SMB front - they allowed all and sundry to use their protocol without running their software (Samba). It was feared, at some point, that Microsoft were just waiting, developing a new protocol that'd be implemented in XPsp? to rival (and be better than?) Samba, and potentially put a stop to the use of Samba. We're still waiting to see if they're doing this, but their recent action against non-proprietary use of their protocol seems to suggest that they're not.

To Stephanie, why the change of name?

The above quote is from the MSDN web site. I don't know about you guys, but the whole idea of .NET sounds to me like a stupid attempt to force Internet Explorer down everyone's throats... They'll be running IE on everything, from personal computers to toasters and refrigerators! Sounds scary to me. I'd love to see the run-time files for VB.NET, I bet iexplore.exe is one of them!

Moreover, with more "languages" like VB, and development platforms like DirectX, soon any retarded script kiddie will start calling him/herself a developer.

Oh, man! I forsee a very bad thing happening. Script kiddies writing 'viruses' to which only MS software is prone...and they'll be doing it on their refrigerators!