The .NET Compact Framework forms a key component of the Visual Studio .NET 2003 development environment, which is due to launch on April 24, providing a single development environment and programming model across Microsoft’s various platforms.

Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates told delegates at Microsoft’s Mobility Developer Conference in New Orleans that he expects the launch of .NET Compact Framework and Visual Studio .NET 2003 to provide a major catalyst for mobile applications development.

We want to make it easy for the seven million Windows developers to build applications and services for the emerging wireless data market by providing familiar, yet customized tools… there are incredible opportunities, he said.

Microsoft needs developers to take up the challenge of creating applications for devices using its mobile operating systems if it is to continue to take the fight to the rival Palm OS or fend off the emerging Symbian OS.

Palm OS remains the best supported mobile platform, with a claimed 16,000 available applications. That compares with about 10,500, mainly enterprise, applications for Pocket PC, according to Annemarie Duffy, mobility marketing manager, Microsoft EMEA, while the more recently launched Windows Smartphone platform currently counts only about 50 applications.

.NET Compact Framework is currently available for Pocket PC 2000 and above as well as Windows CE .NET 4.1 and its descendents. However, Windows Powered Smartphone is not currently supported, although a version is in development for a future release of the platform.

Duffy downplayed suggestions that Microsoft would seek to prevent .NET services from working with mobile devices based on rival operating systems, although they will not benefit from the development synergies achieved using Visual Studio .NET for Microsoft platforms.

All the specifications for non-Microsoft devices are in the .NET framework, which can be used without paying royalties or anything like that, she said. Sometimes you can appear to be competing against yourself [but the industry has] a common goal.

As an incentive to adopt the Compact Framework, Microsoft is giving away 25,000 V37 Pocket PC device from ViewSonic Corp to Visual Basic .NET developers.

Source: Computerwire