If the future of computing really is a world where virtually every device has a connection to a global network, it only stands to reason that Microsoft would want to assume the same dominant position it has held in the world of desktop computing for the last decade or so. As the provider of the operating system that powers the vast majority of every computer sold, Microsoft collects revenue on every sale.

What if that revenue stream was expanded to include other devices that connect to the Internet using some form of a Microsoft operating system to make it happen? What if that was also expanded to include a fee on a major portion of the business transactions that happen over the Internet? Now things begin to get interesting.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's ... .NET
To understand what .NET really is you have to step back a take a look at where Microsoft wants to be in the connected universe. To achieve the same position it has with Windows in its different forms requires it to be a provider of products and services that facilitate business transactions over the Internet. The strategy is essentially the same one they employed when Windows was first introduced: Announce a platform, deliver some applications with it and then deliver the tools and information necessary for other independent software vendors (ISVs) to build and deliver applications quickly and efficiently.

In its own words, .NET is "Microsoft's platform for XML Web services." The key questions then are what makes up this platform and what is a Web service? One key piece of the platform is the .NET framework. Microsoft introduced the .NET framework at last year's developer's conference along with a host of supporting tools and products. The .NET framework is essentially a common foundation that supports a multitude of different programming languages in an interoperable fashion.

Another key piece of the .NET platform is its lineup of .NET enterprise servers. These include products like Microsoft SQL Server 2000, BizTalk Server 2000, Commerce Server 2000, Application Center 2000, Host Integration Server 2000, Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000 and Exchange 2000 Server. All of these products will work together and function as building blocks, allowing ISVs to build their solutions entirely on Microsoft products.

XML Marks the Spot
Extensible Markup Language (XML) has become the de facto standard way to describe and exchange data across the Internet. Most of the major database vendors including IBM, Oracle and Microsoft have incorporated XML features directly into their products.

Microsoft considers their database product, SQL Server 2000, a key part of the .NET platform, and they have made XML a natively supported feature of the product. BizTalk Server 2000 also uses XML as its primary language for communication.

A Visual Vision
One of the smartest things Microsoft did in the early days of Windows was to deliver a set of developer tools to attract ISVs to create new products. Visual Basic was one of the earliest rapid application development (RAD) tools delivered specifically for developing Windows-based applications. It has grown to be one of the most widely used programming languages in corporate America. Microsoft knew a good thing when it saw it and decided to make Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This subset of the full-blown Visual Basic product is the standard language for extending their popular Office line of productivity tools.

Microsoft has not forgotten where the developer community has taken it and has demonstrated that sensitivity in the latest version of its developer tools appropriately named Visual Studio (VS) .NET.

If you expect a platform to gain wide acceptance, you better provide the tools necessary for widespread developer support. Microsoft has a diverse and loyal following among developers as evidenced by the attendance at their developer conferences. With this latest version of its developer tools Microsoft continues to deliver enhancements and features that make the task of delivering new applications easier. The new focus with VS .NET is creating and using Web services to build applications that use the Internet to the fullest extent.

Inside Web Services
Web services are, to some extent, analogous with operating system services as we know them today. When an application programmer sets out to create a Windows-based program, it's not necessary to write a lot of code to read a file from disk, for example. The needed functions are provided by the operating system and accessed through a few simple lines of code. Web services are unique components accessed through a Web site that deliver a specific type of functionality. An example would be a shipping company that could offer programmatic access to specific services like scheduling a package for shipment, tracking that package, and processing billing information right from its Web site. A second company could then build an application that needed to ship merchandise and complete the transaction by integrating the shipping company's Web services right into its application.

"We see the market for Web services as one where companies provide not only specialized components but also act as integrators to piece together with their own offerings a whole host of broad-based solutions. We believe that the .NET platform offers the best implementation of the basic building blocks including XML, SOAP [Simple Object Access Protocol] and UDDI [Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration] in a richer, more integrated environment," said Dwight Krossa, director of emerging technologies, Windows Server Product Management at Microsoft.

Visual Studio for Applications (VSA) is designed to bring the same level of customization to Web-based apps that VBA brought to desktop productivity apps. A number of large ISVs including Great Plains Software (now a subsidiary of Microsoft) have announced support for VSA across its product line. "VSA provides a competitive advantage and delivers customization that will allow our customers to fully tailor their solutions," said Vern Strong, senior vice president, emerging platform services, at Great Plains. "VSA harnesses the power of the Microsoft.NET platform, that, when combined with our deep expertise in business applications, will help bring next generation solutions to small and medium businesses worldwide," Strong told ASPnews.

UpShot is an ASP focusing on sales force automation (SFA). The company launched in early 1997 using an almost exclusive Microsoft technology base. Don Griffin, vice president of engineering at UpShot told ASPnews, "We saw our choice of Microsoft products as our lowest barrier to entry. Our focus was to bring a particular service offering to market in the shortest amount of time, and standardizing on Microsoft made that possible," Griffin said. They see .NET as a strategic opportunity for them to expose their capabilities as a set of Web services that other companies can integrate with. "Microsoft's .NET platform will open up a whole new set of possibilities for us to integrate with other ASPs to deliver true best-of-breed services to our customers," Griffin said.

Not every current Microsoft customer started out that way. Workforce management service provider eLabor is a recent convert. "We started out as a Java shop back in the '96 to '98 timeframe. In 1999, we made a decision to shift our development efforts over to the Microsoft camp and associated products like SQL Server, Internet Information Server, and Windows," Mike Toma, chief technical officer for eLabor told ASPnews. The next version of its product will use the latest technologies like XML, SOAP and UDDI to handle application integration.

Having It All
Microsoft's vision of the future is an Internet enabled by its products and services. If you buy into its vision you pretty much have to adopt the whole thing. Many of the .NET pieces are interrelated and depend on another Microsoft product to function properly. Others will work by themselves, but are "optimized" to work in a Microsoft environment. In order to get the most out of .NET, companies will have to decide whether or not they want to put all their eggs in the Microsoft basket.