What is '.NET' anyway?
ZDNet | at | by Mike
As what passes for the resident Microsoft zealot here at Builder.com, I had quite a few people drop by my office or e-mail to let me know about Bill Gates' admission in late July that his company may have "made a misstep" with Microsoft .NET. Those visitors typically got the same pat response from me: "Which .NET was he talking about?" I'm still not sure who was surprised and who was annoyed by my unconcerned response.
I think that Gates was referring to .NET-as-marketing-initiative, but I'm by no means certain. Frankly, I'm not sure that even he knew which .NET he was talking about. Such confusion is understandable, given that the Redmond camp seems to have taken to referring to everything under the sun as .NET. The zaniness at present includes several development platforms, a development tool, a marketing strategy, a server operating system (and I think everyone stopped trying to figure out the rationale behind Windows version monikers a decade ago), a method of identifying Internet users, and an Internet information storage platform. A slick but technically insubstantial "one degree of separation" advertising campaign hasn't helped anyone keep things straight.