Microsoft Corp. on has released the final version of its tools for building and deploying Web services based on its .Net initiative, paving the way for developers to move beyond the testing stage and put the technology to use.
Members of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), the company’s subscription-based developer program, can now download Visual Studio .Net and the .Net Framework, Microsoft’s key tools for building and deploying applications and services based on standards such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Microsoft plans to make the tools available to the broader developer community on Feb. 13, both online and through retail outlets, the company said.
FreeBSD back in familiar hands
The popular FreeBSD open-source version of the Unix operating system is back under the control of one of its original developers after long-time sponsor Wind River Systems Inc. recently announced that it will divest itself of all its assets related to the freely distributed code.
Wind River has transferred its FreeBSD development team and all its operations related to the operating system to open-source software maker FreeBSD Mall Inc., a newly named company led by Bob Bruce, who first distributed FreeBSD commercially in 1993. Bruce is the founder of Walnut Creek CDROM, which changed its name to FreeBSD Mall. The best way to ensure the continuity and vitality of FreeBSD is to return it to its roots, said Larry Macfarlane, senior director of Wind River’s application platforms product division, in a statement. Under terms of the deal, FreeBSD Mall will assume responsibility for all service and support contracts with customers who licensed the free version of the operating system from Wind River. It will also be responsible for funding and marketing the work done by FreeBSD developer community, as well as distributing FreeBSD software.
Borland to kick off C++ for Linux strategy
Borland Software Corp. was to further its open-source strategy by detailing its plans for C++ on Linux at the LinuxWorld Conference which was to be held recently in New York.
“We are taking our C++ development solution to the Linux platform. We have seen a lot of Linux developers who used to be Unix developers,” said Alison Deane, a senior director of product marketing at Borland, in Scotts Valley, Calif. Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp., said that the leap from Unix to Linux carries a minimal learning curve
