The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) said it will add two seats to its board of directors, a move that may help heal a rift between the group and Sun Microsystems Inc.
The group of more than 150 companies, formed in February to foster interoperability of Web services software from different companies, announced it will elect two new board members next March. The member companies will be elected by the full membership and will have the same rights and responsibilities as the current nine board members, but they will serve limited terms. The nine current board members, including Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp., are permanent.
.Net and Java getting equal time
The battle for Web services supremacy between the Java and Microsoft .Net camps is far from over, according to a recent survey.
Evans Data Corp.’s North American Developer survey found that the battle for Web services technical standards is undecided at this point. The more than 600 developers surveyed virtually split on development plans for Java and .Net. The survey, completed in September, found that 40 per cent are developing applications for .Net now but 63 per cent will target .Net in a year, while 51 per cent develop for Java today and 61 per cent plan to do so next year. Web services adoption, meanwhile, will jump from 57 per cent now to 87 per cent in 2003, according to the survey findings. Some 43 per cent of developers are either currently deploying Web services applications or expect to in the next six months. Internal Web services applications are the focus for developers in the initial phase.
Borland acquires BoldSoft assets for .Net apps boost
Looking to bolster its Delphi tool with design-driven development for Microsoft Corp. .Net applications, Borland Software Corp. recently announced it has acquired the assets of BoldSoft MDE AB, a a provider of software development process technology.
With the acquisition, Borland intends to cement what the company says is its status as the only independent path for developers to .Net. By linking BoldSoft’s Bold suite of products to a Delphi application, developers can create .Net applications using the .Net Framework, according to Borland. The integration between Delphi and Bold for .Net applications is planned for 2003.