From DailyTech: Microsoft has announced that it will be open sourcing most of its software development libraries and will be releasing .NET libraries and tools for Linux and OS X. This bold move brings one of the world's most used development environments to new homes, although success is far from guaranteed.
If you program for Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) ubiquitous Windows operating system, you're intimately familiar with the .NET Framework of software development libraries and the companion integrated development environment (IDE) tool, Visual Studio. While the past decade and a half have been a turbulent time for Microsoft with the advent of the mobile market and Microsoft's struggles to gain relevance in it, this time has also been a golden age for .NET.
Back in 1990s, developers had to deal with finicky third-party tools. When .NET and Visual Studio -- originally in-house tools at Microsoft -- were released to developers in beta form around 2000, there was much hope. Initially the tools had their ups and downs, at times appearing as unpolished as third party IDEs or worse. But with time Visual Studio improved and its usage grew. A study by Reuters suggests that by 2007 .NET was the sole or primary development target for nearly two-thirds of enterprise targets (61%).
But the struggles in mobility have dampened Microsoft's success. Many enterprises are today as much or more focused on mobile-minded IDEs like Eclipse for Java or XCode, Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) OX and iOS IDE. And some like Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) have put forth popular tools amongst developers looking to capitalize on the lack of cross-platform portability, releasing tools that allow developers to quickly port a single app to multiple mobile and traditional platforms.
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