Microsoft Corp’s party line is that its alternative to Java, code-named Cool, refers to a bunch of technologies being considered for extending Visual C++ to make COM+ development (the Windows 2000 version of Component Object Model) easier. Microsoft says it has nothing to do with Java, contrary to published reports which suggest Cool is being considered by some factions within Microsoft as a candidate for the basis of a Java-killer. People are falling into the trap of believing the world will converge to a single programming language, it says, suggesting this is unlikely. From our perspective, VC++ moves forward. VB moves forward. VJ moves forward. They all have different uses. Cool is described as a ‘white board’ technology. It has not been written and nothing’s been coded in it. Microsoft declined to tell us anything about its 1996 Colusa Software Inc acquisition which brought with it a potential universal virtual machine called Omniware. At the time, Microsoft said it would incorporate the Colusa technologies in future versions of its internet and development tools products. We haven’t seen any evidence of it thus far.
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