OSNews

I think you're really wasting your time on Sun. They've proven time and again that, while they sometimes produce cool technology, they really don't understand the dynamics of the software industry. .NET is indeed going to roll over them like a freight train, and McNealy will be lying on the tracks afterward, wondering how it all happened like Lotus executives musing over the demise of 1-2-3.

Microsoft has permitted the Mono and DotGnu efforts to proceed because it knows that they will eventually take hold on 'nix platforms -- and unify the API set across platforms, making it easier for MS to sell into server spaces. MS is throwing serious dollars at building out the .NET CLR, with support for generics, better interop, faster perf, ngen'ing, etc. Whether you like MS or not, VS.NET is one of the best development environments to date, bar none (and don't even bother mentioning Eclipse or any other Java IDEs. I've used nearly all of them, and they suck). MS is also pushing .NET into nearly all of its products, replacing VBA and COM as the automation drivers. This is going to have a huge impact on developers. Meanwhile, Sun is slowing down the pace of innovation, resting on its laurels, and giving MS too much room to maneuver -- and MS is getting the complicity of the open source community.

It's over but the crying, Sun. You had a chance but you blew it.