By Greg DeMichillie [bio]
Posted: Nov. 6, 2006

• Sidebar: What's Wrong with Win32?
• Illustration: The .NET Framework Architecture

The following an excerpt of a Research Report published by Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm focused exclusively on Microsoft strategy & technology. More samples of our content, as well as a list of upcoming articles and reports are also available.

The .NET Framework 3.0 is the latest version of Microsoft's application development platform. It includes the Common Language Runtime (CLR), which is a software component for running and loading applications, and a set of class libraries—hierarchically organized collections of code that developers can use in their applications to present graphical UIs, access databases and files, and communicate over the Web.

The .NET Framework first shipped in early 2002 and was the most significant change in Microsoft's development platform in nearly 10 years. It offered developers markedly better productivity through a combination of improved programming languages, a runtime environment that prevents many common programming mistakes, and a set of libraries of prewritten functionality that allows developers to focus more time on writing the code unique to their application instead of the "plumbing" code common to virtually all applications. Application code that runs under the control of the CLR is often referred to as "managed" code and is contrasted to "native" or "unmanaged" code.

(For details on the advantages of the .NET Framework over the existing Win32 API, see the sidebar "What's Wrong with Win32?".)

With the .NET Framework 3.0 shipping as part of Windows Vista but also available for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1, Microsoft is expanding the Framework's libraries to include sophisticated graphics and better support for Web services, among other capabilities. However, another update to the .NET Framework, along with better support from Visual Studio, is due in 2007. Some IT organizations, therefore, may choose to wait until then to begin serious evaluation.

Even though the .NET Framework 3.0 ships with Vista, the OS also includes a number of new or improved native APIs. For example, Vista's peer-to-peer networking features are exposed as a set of unmanaged APIs.

WinFX Becomes .NET Framework 3.0

Although the change in version number from 2.0 to 3.0 might lead developers to expect an entirely new version of the .NET Framework, the newest version consists of the same basic pieces that shipped in .NET Framework 2.0 plus the components formerly known as WinFX. These components are as follows:

• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)—a new graphics engine, code-named Avalon, that brings high-end capabilities, such as 3D, to mainstream applications instead of being restricted to game developers
• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)—a library, previously code-named Indigo, for using Web services to integrate applications and service over the Internet
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)—a library for automating the interactions, events, and flow of information that make up business processes
• Windows CardSpace—a UI, previously code-named InfoCard, for managing a user's identity credentials and securely submitting them to Web sites and services.

In fact, the core components of the framework, such as the CLR and base class libraries, are unchanged since version 2.0. Installing the .NET Framework 3.0 leaves those components, if already present, untouched and adds only the new libraries. Furthermore, because so many of the core components are unchanged, organizations that want to update their applications to take advantage of the new capabilities should be able to recompile their application for the new version with no difficulty. (For a diagram of the .NET Framework, including the new components in 3.0, see "The .NET Framework Architecture".)

Opportunities and Risks

The new version of the .NET Framework presents new opportunities and risks for partners and customers.

For partners, the platform means an opportunity to create or strengthen a relationship with Microsoft. The company needs early wins to develop momentum for the platform, and partners who can deliver such wins have an opportunity to establish and nurture a strong ongoing relationship with Microsoft. This is similar to the way Visio's adoption of Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and COM cemented a strong partnership that resulted in Microsoft's acquisition of Visio.

However, companies adopting the latest version of the Framework face a choice: accept the platform limitations imposed by the Framework (e.g., not being able to run on Windows 2000 or older OSs) or maintain two versions of their source code—one that's based on the .NET Framework 3.0 and one that's not. Further, if they choose to rely on the Framework, they must either redistribute and install the Framework with their applications or require customers to download and install the Framework on their own (one prerelease version was approximately 50MB).

The new platform could benefit corporate IT departments by enabling their developers to create applications that have more sophisticated UIs and that can communicate using the latest Web services protocols. However, the Framework is missing several key pieces that are important to many IT departments:

Manageability. For many IT departments, the problems associated with developing software are taking a back seat to problems associated with managing software once it's deployed. Microsoft is taking steps to address this through its Dynamic System Initiative and by working with other vendors to develop a Service Modeling Language for describing how applications and systems interact, but the .NET Framework 3.0 provides little to no support for those initiatives. In some cases, third parties are developing management extensions to the .NET Framework. AVIcode, for example, produces a management pack for the .NET Framework 3.0 that allows IT to monitor an application in production.

Tools support. Past releases of the .NET Framework have been synchronized with updates to Visual Studio—Microsoft's strategic developer tool. This time around, however, Visual Studio and the .NET Framework are on separate schedules. Microsoft has not announced a ship date, but the next version is expected sometime in 2007. Until then, although some pieces of the Framework—such as the Workflow Foundation—include tools that work with Visual Studio 2005, in other cases, developers will have to make do with the existing Visual Studio 2005 tools, which work with the .NET Framework 3.0 but lack specific tools for the new libraries, or use prerelease tools that will be available in the interim.

What's in This Report

Subsequent chapters of this report examine the new components of the .NET Framework—the Presentation Foundation, Communication Foundation, Workflow Foundation, and CardSpace—the capabilities and opportunities they provide developers, and their prospects for widespread adoption.

The .NET development platform includes editions of the .NET Framework not covered in this report and which target non-PC devices. For example, the .NET Compact Framework is a subset of the .NET Framework specifically designed for devices that use Microsoft's Windows CE OS, including devices built on the Windows Mobile platform, such as the Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms. Similarly, the .NET Micro Framework aims at even smaller embedded devices. The overall platform also includes a set of tools to help developers build applications on top of the Framework. Those topics are covered in other reports published by Directions on Microsoft.