[TChris]

Hopefully they leave .NET junk as an external feature.

DotNET is just marketing splash for a collection of common technologies. From what development I've done, and documentation I've seen, .NET = HTTP + XML + SOAP + WSDL + Common Language Runtime (C#, VB.NET, etc). Very similar things are also possible with Borland products and Java.

It's kinda like what Intel has done with "Centrino". You take technologies everybody else has too, package them together and give it a whiz-bang name. Presto! Consumers think you have something new and unique.

[LittleAlex]

Yup. We are forced to run some .NET junk, so we chose Tomcat/Linux as the platform. The framework for .NET is likely going to be tied closer and closer to the OS in the future (as was done with IE) until the two are indistinguishable. Longhorn was supposed to be fully .NET driven, but everyone complained and that changed.

We use IBM tools, anyway. Java, VisualAge, and Websphere. THAT'S where it's at in application services. I love the whole architecture.

-Alex