Don't ask me why but I felt compelled to post this entry… We’ve come a long way with .NET and I feel tremendous reward knowing that I was right there at the very beginning of it all… evangelizing .NET Beta…

Today we have the most robust software framework in the industry… and it is getting even better… I look forward to the consolidation/unification we are about to unleash with .NET 4.0.

Check it out:

.NET Framework 1.0 (wow! it has been 8 years now!)

  • First public beta at PDC 2000
  • RTM    Early 2002
  • Introduced the world to “managed code”
    • GC, JIT
    • C#
    • Coherent Framework
    • XSP….ASP+…ASP.NET!
    • WinForms

.NET Framework 1.1

  • RTM Early 2003
  • “managed code” mainstream
    • Ships in Windows Server 2003
    • Rounds out features

.NET Framework 2.0

  • RTM Late 2005
  • ASP.NET for the Masses
    • Application Building Blocks
      • Parts, Authentication, Role Management, etc
    • Visual Web Developer
  • Client Development
  • ClickOnce!

.NET Framework 3.0

  • RTM end of 2006
  • Windows Presentation Foundation
    • Vector Graphics, Media
      and UI
    • Enters the age of UX
  • Windows Communication Foundation
    • Unified messaging model
  • Windows Workflow Foundation
    • Coordinating work with durable applications

.NET Framework 3.5

  • RTM End of 2007
  • Linq
  • ASP.NET AJAX
  • WCF/WF
    • REST Services
    • Workflow Services
  • Client
    • Sync
    • Client app services

.NET Framework 3.5 “SP1”

  • RTM Mid 2008
  • ASP.NET Dynamic Data
  • ADO.NET
    • Entity Framework
    • Data Services (Astoria)
  • WCF
    • AtomPub ServiceDocuments
  • Client
    • Client Profile
    • Performance
      • Working set and startup time
  • Silverlight 2
    • RTM end of 2008
    • Brings power of .NET to the web client
    • Media and RIA .NET platform

.NET Framework 4.0

  • Base Class Library Improvements
    • Managed Extensibility Framework
    • More Core Data Structures
    • I/O Improvements
  • Parallel Computing
    • Task Parallel Library
    • Parallel Linq (PLINQ)
    • Coordination Data Structures (CDS)
  • Client
    • WPF
      • Client Profile
      • Business Focused Controls
      • Win7 Advances (Multi-touch, etc)
    • ADO.NET
      • Entity Framework v2
        • Code-First Development
        • TDD Support
        • Foreign-Key Support
    • ASP.NET
      • ASP.NET Dynamic Data Improvements
      • ASP.NET MVC
      • ASP.NET Dynamic Data for MVC
      • Extensible Caching Framework
    • WF & WCF
      • Fully Declarative Services
      • Workflow Enhancements
        • New flowchart modeling
        • Workflow Rules Integration
        • … much more…
      • WCF Enhancements
        • Durable Duplex
        • WS-Discovery & UDP Channel
        • In-Process Channel
      • RIA (Silverlight)
        • Simplified N-tier development
        • Business-focused framework

Kudos to the teams responsible for developing and evolving this fantastic set of capabilities unlike anything found in any other framework… keep the good work… The Windows Development Platform provides, by far, the most integrated and productive set of technologies for developers in the history of computing…

Joel Reyes