Future Of Microsoft .NET

One Microsoft platform era is ending, and another is beginning. The .NET era as we’ve known it is winding down. .NET doesn’t go away — it becomes Microsoft’s preferred server environment for a broader platform that also includes Windows 8 clients, the Windows Runtime (WinRT) application programming interface (API), and the Windows Azure cloud environment. This collection of technologies will define the new platform era — Forrester calls the set the new Windows platform. Why is Microsoft making a big change now? The answer is simple: Mobile devices from Apple and based on Google’s Android threaten Microsoft’s “Wintel” client franchise. Microsoft must introduce major change to its platform to keep up with advances in client hardware and device acquisition as well as an evolution in the very nature of software applications.

Microsoft has endeavored to make introduction of its new platform technologies evolutionary, and application development and delivery (AD&D) pros won’t face a forced march to the new technologies. But few AD&D leaders yet see the big picture of the new Windows platform, much less understand its implications for their .NET strategies. Our research report advises clients on how Windows 8, WinRT, Windows Azure, and .NET Framework 4.5 can help them develop and support mobile and cloud applications, create new styles of web and desktop applications, and deliver solutions faster, all while minimizing the disruptions to their current .NET activities.

Key research findings:

• AD&D leaders must assess many new platform services from Microsoft. The many AD&D pros that see .NET as a homogeneous client and server web platform now have a more diverse future to consider. Determine how and when Microsoft’s new support for mobile devices, new user experience designs, new development languages, new APIs, and new cloud deployment options fit into your .NET strategy.
• Enterprise timelines clash with Microsoft’s need for mobile relevance. Enterprises focus on mostly ASP.NET, but Microsoft needs to reach the new generation of developers fleeing Windows/Intel desktops for HTML5 and mobile development on ARM devices. Microsoft has managed platform transitions pretty well in the past, but AD&D leaders who plan now will face greater opportunity and less dislocation in the future.
• New platform choices may reduce developer productivity. AD&D pros laud Microsoft for the ease of development that its prescriptive and integrated .NET platform and Visual Studio promote. Microsoft’s more expansive platform offers more client and server-side development choices, and deployment may for some customers result in greater complexity compared with today’s typical environment, reducing productivity.

With Windows 8, Windows RT, .NET Framework 4.5, and Windows Azure, Microsoft has reached its latest existential moment. Can Microsoft make another big platform leap? Yes, but the odds are long. So much of Microsoft’s future growth and profitability is tied to the success of this platform, and the obstacles to success with Windows 8 and WinRT, and to some degree Windows Azure, are great. This is a shift that Microsoft must get right or face serious constraints on its growth in future years.

Our basic advice: Realign your Microsoft platform strategy. For AD&D leaders with big commitments to .NET, Microsoft’s platform shift raises two general questions: What does the new Windows platform mean to your organization going forward, and what should you do about your current .NET investments? Evaluate the platform as a whole, not just its individual pieces. At this early stage, this exercise will equip you either to shift the emphasis of your platform strategy to a different technology set or vendor or decide to stick with Microsoft and begin tracking the new platform’s progress.

What to expect in Sharepoint 15

It's no surprise that Microsoft SharePoint is among the most widely deployed platforms for enterprise collaboration, with more than 125 million licenses sold to more than 65,000 enterprise customers. Right now, though, the mystery is all about what to expect from the next major release -- and that's rapidly starting to unravel. Microsoft recently released the first technology preview of the forthcoming upgrade, code-named "SharePoint 15," to selected testers, and the company is gunning for a general beta release this summer. And while Microsoft isn't saying, observers are betting on a commercial release by year's end or in early 2013.

The current product, SharePoint 2010, is now 2 years old. Microsoft says 65 million users, or more than half of the installed base, are on SharePoint 2010. It represents an improvement over the previous SharePoint 2007 product, yet the 2010 version is already showing its age. Among its shortcomings, critics complain that SharePoint 2010 has only rudimentary social-networking features, weak support for mobile clients such as smartphones and tablets, and requires substantial development for custom apps. Moreover, despite having significant advances in business intelligence (BI), SharePoint 2010 can still use improved integration with back-end systems.

Experts say Microsoft will address many of those concerns with SharePoint 15. Anything can change between the technology preview and the final release, but the planned improvements are already getting some air. SharePoint 15 is expected to be better suited for cloud environments, coinciding with a major upgrade to the SharePoint component of the cloud-based Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft is said to be planning a new SharePoint app marketplace and spruced-up interfaces suited for social networking. Improved mobile support and simplified development and integration reportedly are part of the planning process. Microsoft released the technology preview in late January, with the select evaluators bound by nondisclosure agreements. Still, some details are starting to emerge.

Redmond talked to various SharePoint experts who described what they're expecting to see in SharePoint 15, as well as what they'd like to see based on the current product.

Surrounding the technology preview, Microsoft released two key documents: the SharePoint 2013 Technical Preview Software Development Kit (SDK) and the Office 15 Technical Preview Open Specification Update. Both provide rich technical documentation on what's new in SharePoint 15, notes Bjørn Furuknap, a senior SharePoint solutions architect, founder of training organization USPJ Academy and author of a series of ongoing detailed technical reports on the new SharePoint release.

Among some findings Furuknap has recently revealed, the next SharePoint will:

Include an overhauled Client Object Model (COM), "making it easier for UI designers and front-end developers to build compelling visual interfaces."

Support a new app marketplace that will create an ecosystem for multitenant apps.

Feature a version for education and training called SharePoint Education.

Enable workflow looping in SharePoint Designer, eliminating the need for the Visual Studio development environment for that function.

Provide authentication via OAuth 2.0, an open standard that provides cross-platform authentication.

Offer added information rights management in SharePoint Foundation.

One thing Microsoft is officially saying: SharePoint 15 will tie closely with the release of the next version of Office, code-named "Office 15," and with a planned upgrade to Office 365. The cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 service offers online versions of SharePoint, Exchange and Lync, but the Office Professional Plus option is strictly installed on-premises at this time.

Microsoft appears to have larger plans in mind, though.

Making SharePoint More Social

Microsoft introduced social networking to SharePoint in the 2010 release, with a new homepage in the My Site portal that lets users discover information from others with matching interests and projects in play. Users can bookmark, tag and rate content, making it accessible to those on a team. Activity feeds allow consolidated views of what a user is tracking as well as content published. Wikis also made their debut in SharePoint 2010.

Nevertheless, those wanting to use advanced social-networking features typically turn to the likes of NewsGator Technologies Inc., Jive Software Inc. and Yammer, to name a few. Even rival platforms such as Chatter from Salesforce.com Inc. and Connections from IBM Corp. are said to offer richer enterprise social networking than the base social-networking features in SharePoint 2010. "Some of these things were haphazardly implemented [in SharePoint 2010], like the status updates," says Richard Harbridge, an analyst at Allin Consulting, a Pittsburgh-based SharePoint advisory firm.

"SharePoint has some social capabilities with the My Sites and Team Sites, but there's no true social-networking platform where it's close to being a Facebook for the enterprise," says Eric Winton, a managing director and technology consultant at Slalom Consulting. "We're hearing a lot of companies asking for that; they want that social experience inside the four walls of their companies. When new employees walk into a company they expect to be able to have that. They need to be able to come in and do true social networking and microblogging. A lot of it is the way they communicate."

By Jeffrey Schwartz

Visual Studio 11 Beta & NetFramework 4.5

Designing software, creating code and then bringing a product to market is an incredibly complex affair — and it’s becoming more complex by the minute as software users demand greater integration between applications, across devices and among services. To help integrate cross-functional teams and help developers accomplish goals more efficiently, Microsoft will release code-named “Visual Studio 11” Beta and .NET Framework 4.5 Beta on Feb. 29.

“Visual Studio 11” is an integrated solution that helps individuals and development teams of any size to be productive and focused, to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues, and to turn their ideas into exceptional and compelling applications.

“We undertook building ‘Visual Studio 11’ with a focus on offering today’s software developer the very best environment for efficiently building applications — for both businesses and consumers,” said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president, Developer Division, Microsoft. “In addition, our work has been highly influenced by the proliferation of devices and a passion for enabling developers to focus on building high-quality, modern applications with data that seamlessly flows from one device to another, easily incorporating intuitive interfaces such as touch and voice. We want developers to be productive in building such applications, whether they’re using C++, JavaScript, Visual Basic or C#.”

Get Into the Zone

“Visual Studio 11” offers an improved developer experience that includes a simplified user interface designed to keep developers focused on their work, with fewer distractions and easier access to the tools they need.

“We know that developers can lose a lot of their time just orienting themselves to a project and the tools they are working with,” said Jason Zander, corporate vice president, Visual Studio, Microsoft. “By refreshing the user interface, we’ve made much of the core functionality easier for a developer to find and use quickly, helping maintain concentration.”

A number of features were added and improvements made to “Visual Studio 11,” including the following:

•	Reduced toolbar commands. To help free up precious workspace, Microsoft has reduced the number of default commands that show on toolbars in the user interface. These commands can still be accessed through the drop-down menus or added back onto the toolbar if the user wants them, but now the default work area is significantly larger. For example, the cut, copy and paste toolbar commands were removed because research has shown that most developers use the keyboard shortcuts instead.
•	Simplified graphics. “Visual Studio 11” eliminates the use of color within tools except in cases where color is used for notification or status change purposes. Now, the user interface competes far less with the developer’s content. Other user interface graphics, such as line work and iconography, also have been simplified to be less distracting.
•	Comprehensive search. “Visual Studio 11” features a comprehensive search capability, allowing developers to quickly find what they are looking for within commands and configuration options, tool windows, and open files.
•	Workflow hubs. New workflow hubs combine common tasks into one simplified window. Rather than force developers to interact with two or more tool windows to get tasks done, ”Visual Studio 11” streamlines common tasks so that many can be accomplished from within a single window.
•	Preview Tabs. Developers can view the contents of documents using new Preview Tabs, which get reused as the developer works. As a result, developers no longer end up with large numbers of extraneous documents open as a byproduct of common tasks such as debugging or browsing results.

Software Development From Start to Finish

“Visual Studio 11” provides an integrated development experience that seamlessly spans the entire lifecycle of software creation — from architecture and user interface design to code creation, insight and analysis, deployment, testing, and validation. Visual Studio application lifecycle management (ALM) capabilities help project stakeholders work together at every step in the development cycle to deliver high-quality applications.

In addition, the Beta release of “Visual Studio 11” includes support for Windows 8 and Web development, which are supported by Visual Studio Express for Windows 8 and “Visual Studio 11” Express for Web, respectively.

“Visual Studio 11” Team Foundation Server (TFS) Beta provides the collaboration hub at the center of the Visual Studio ALM solution. From start to finish, teams can track projects through each stage of software development, from keeping tabs on version control to continually deploying software updates. The new ALM capabilities help ensure diverse team members integrate as one in the development cycle.

TFS automates the software delivery process and gives developers the tools they need to effectively manage software development projects throughout the IT lifecycle.

In addition to Beta, Microsoft is announcing Team Foundation Server Express, which is a great way to try out TFS. TFS Express includes core developer features, such as Source Code Control, Work Item Tracking, Build Automation and Agile Taskboard, and is available for free to individuals and teams of up to five members.

Building Efficient Managed Applications

With.NET Framework 4.5, Microsoft .NET has been enhanced significantly to enable developers to be as productive as possible while building rich, reliable and high-performance software in managed code. These enhancements were made across the Framework, including in the following:

•	Languages. To help developers deliver responsive clients and scalable servers, the C# and Visual Basic languages now have built-in support for writing asynchronous code almost as easily as if it were synchronous. And to help developers tackle data-complex problems, F# integrates Type Providers to make data access trivial in F# programs and components.
•	Performance. The Common Language Runtime has been overhauled to provide better performance, in particular for server applications and services. With additions such as background server garbage collection, multicore background JIT compilation and profile-guided optimization, managed applications can now start faster and run with better throughput and lower latency.
•	Networking. With the proliferation of devices and continuous services in the cloud, .NET Framework 4.5 builds upon the high-quality networking libraries already available in .NET to further enable the development of increasingly connected applications. New support spans from modern HTTP libraries to WebSockets to support for contract-first service development.

Beyond such areas, many additions have gone into improving the .NET Framework end to end. There are improvements from regular expression processing to better support for compression standards, enhanced support for HTML5, developer productivity enhancements in Entity Framework, optimized mobile experiences through ASP.NET, and more, ensuring .NET Framework 4.5 has something new for all developers building for the client and the cloud.

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 23, 2012

This is my first post