Standardization and the Windows Lock-In

In an effort to make the .NET Framework a standard for application development, Microsoft has worked with the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), an international standards group, to produce a standardized set of specifications for the C# language and the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), which is based on the .NET Framework. In principle, these specifications enable developers to write applications on the .NET development platform that run on any OS and hardware. A deeper analysis of the specifications, however, reveals problems that will limit most .NET development to Windows for the foreseeable future.

ECMA Standard-334-C# Language Specification was approved by ECMA in Dec. 2001 and later approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a larger and more influential standards body. This standard specifies the form and establishes the interpretation of programs written in C#. It specifies among other things:

• The syntax and constraints of the