.Net Roundup

A related item to Voodoo's MS takes .NET to Oracle post.

Microsoft announce another step forward in broadening the appeal of .Net whilst Gates admits that things haven't all been plain sailing (as anyone aware of the aborted plans for My Services will attest.)

Microsoft will take a significant step toward expanding the appeal of its .Net software plan by announcing a link to Apache, one of the most important open-source software projects. The software giant plans to extend .Net to the popular Apache Web server, which could give Microsoft access to a far larger audience of software developers. Apache is used by more than half of all Internet sites, according to an ongoing survey by research firm Netcraft.

The links to Apache are expected to be announced on Wednesday by Covalent Technologies, a venture-backed company that sells Apache along with support and enhancements.

However... Bill Gates said, "in some respects we are further ahead, and in some respects (we have) not (moved) as fast (as we hoped)" with .Net, which the company introduced two years ago.

"There were elements of (.Net My Services) that in some ways were premature," Gates said. "We feel good about (the vision of .Net My Services), but we made a couple of missteps on this."

Gates said that Microsoft is doing "a bit of a reset" and over next 12 months or so will be moving .Net forward on several fronts. A major update to Office, as previously reported, will make better use of Web services and will include new communication and collaboration features.

News source: ZDNet