Is the future of .Net in danger?

Installing Windows 2003 Server (also called Windows .Net 2003) you find the .Net framework already installed.

.Net Framework Logo“Obvious” you can think, because the .Net environment is the framework that should support all the MS development. But looking through the Windows Vista specification I wasn’t able to see the native .Net Framework. Mumble…

The first question that comes on my mind was: Why Microsoft should not natively support .Net on its new Operating System?

Good Question, isn’t it? Why should MS should avoid helping the .Net Framework development on Vista? Are there any problems on the .Net environment we are not aware of? As a .Net developer I am a little scared about it, mainly because my thought goes to the newly released development environment (Visual Studio 2005) and the version 2 of the framework.

My fear is that Gates & Co. are looking for a next stage thing we still don’t know, but the complete lack of information on the net is not supporting this idea. Personally I can’t think that Microsoft would replace the .Net Framework, but the strange lack of it in Windows Vista opens a lot of possible speculations.

I’m working with both .Net 1 & 2, mainly in C#, but too many times I’ve listened people arguing on the solidity of it…

I don’t think that Microsoft would dismiss it, but between “dismissing” a product line, “not supporting” it or “pushing hard” on it there is a BIG difference! And in this case the “not supporting so much” its own development environment could be a BIG issue on the future of it. The lack of an Open Source community capable of supporting the development of the framework means that Microsoft will be the only decision maker on its future. Mono is growing little by little, but it’s not good enough to play on the commercial side…

Toughts… to many thoughts…