Borland Licenses Windows .NET Framework SDK

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Hoping to get its fingers deeper into Microsoft’s touted .NET platform, Borland Software
Monday became the first to license the Windows .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK).

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Widely regarded as the last major independent software development tools
vendor left after IBM moved to acquire
Rational last December, Scotts Valley, Calif.’s Borland said it made the
move to underscore its commitment to offering .NET Connected products.

The company, which pits its software development tools against similar Microsoft products, said it also plans to introduce a new development product
for Windows .NET later this year and promised to provide the 3 million-plus
Borland developers with more opportunities to build software applications on
the Windows .NET Framework.

Microsoft’s Eric Rudder, senior vice president for the Developer and
Platform Evangelism Division, positioned the move as yet another route to
help bring .NET technologies to enterprises.

Analysts believe the creation of an independent application lifecycle
solution will provide an attractive alternative for
developers who want to use the .NET Framework for some things, but do not
wish to get locked in to Microsoft programming tools and technologies.
Some developers fear that if they use Visual Studio, they may ultimately be
locked into using such Microsoft products as SQL Server database and
Exchange Server.

Meta Group Senior Program Director Thomas Murphy said he sees the move as a
good one for Borland, and one that demonstrates the competitive cooperation
the firm has enjoyed with Microsoft. Borland offers Delphi Studio, which
supports such Microsoft scripts as Visual Basic and C#, as a competing
product to Microsoft’s Visual Studio software tools development portfolio.
Because of this, Murphy said Monday’s announcement means developers will
have more options.

“This shows the growing support for .NET,” Murphy told
internetnews.com. “Borland recognized this as a market opportunity
and said ‘we can make money here.’ A large number of people that use Delphi
will be able to move Delphi into the .NET world.”

Borland, widely viewed as an acquisition target for Microsoft as the
response to Big Blue’s aggressive purchase of Rational, first announced its
support for .NET in February 2002.