In one of Monday's extraordinary announcements from Microsoft during its TechEd conference in Houston, program managers both announced and demonstrated the ability to build applications for multiple computing platforms, including iOS, using the .NET Framework once heralded as the crown jewel of Windows--specifically, to build and deploy applications that compile to those platforms' native code, without requiring plug-ins or interpreters. "One of the most exciting aspects of .NET going forward is that we are truly embracing openness," declared Habib Heydarian, a program manager for Microsoft's .NET team, during a demonstration Monday. "You can leverage your existing assets, your existing skills,...