Microsoft Primes Developers for Next Generation Web

Microsoft Corp. Tuesday showed
developers a glimpse of the future of enterprise Web applications at the
Visual Basic Insiders Technical Summit.

The much-hyped suite includes the Windows 2000 operating system as the
cornerstone of Windows DNA 2000 and the Visual Studio 7.0 development
system, which will simplify the development of enterprise Web applications.
These enhancements will build on the existing skill set of over 3.2 million
developers using Visual Basic.

Microsoft (MSFT)
demonstrated features in Visual Studio that let developers create Web
services to link applications, services and devices with one another over
the Internet using HTTP, XML and SOAP, an XML-based standard for
cross-platform object invocation. Web services are created the same way that
developers using Visual Basic build business objects today, so developers
will be able to use their existing knowledge and skills to build
next-generation enterprise Web applications. Developers on any platform can
reuse Web Services in their Web applications regardless of the hardware and
software running the Web Service.

Building on the concept of the programmable Web, Microsoft also Tuesday
announced ASP+ Web Forms. With this tool, developers will be able to build
HTML-based forms that are rendered on the Web server in the same way that
they build an application for Windows with Visual Basic today. ASP+ Web
Forms work with any Visual Studio language and run on any browser and any
platform.

The software giant also introduced key features in Visual Studio 7.0 that
will provide developers with the tools needed to build Next Generation
Windows Services. The Microsoft Visual Studio development system includes a
complete suite of award-winning tools for
building scalable enterprise solutions. These tools provide comprehensive
support for building all aspects of a multitier solution based on the
Windows DNA platform. This includes building cross-platform Web
applications, as well as client/server applications based on the Windows
operating system.

“Microsoft is focused on arming the millions of developers using Visual
Basic with a comprehensive Web development tool featuring deep XML support
and complete object-oriented programming capabilities,” said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft president and
chief executive officer.