[snip]
>Well, I remember that particular scuffle as a case of both sides having not totally clean hands -
>while MS had not implemented everything Sun had declared "current" at that time, Sun made a bigger thing out of the activeX extensions build into J++. J++ at the time was IMHO superior to Sun's offering (Anders first complex project at MS) and Sun forbidding other implementations to enhance their own current definition of "java" IMHO forced MS to develop C#. Only lately java has switched over into public domain - I have not followed it detailed enough to formultate an opinion of the reasons.
>my 0.02 EUR
>thomas

Desirous of matching your .02 EUR, here's my 5 cents.
I suspect the MS strategy was to extend Java with neat features that only worked with Windows. I think J++ was superior but that isn't the main point with a supposedly "portable" language. I suppose if MS had gone the extra mile (10,000 miles probably) to make activeX work on Unix, Linux, AS400, etc. Sun would have had no objections.
I chuckle at the prospect of MS being "forced" to develop C#. That's sort of like IBM forced them to continue with Windows because things weren't working out with OS/2. The force driving MS is profits.
Oops, sorry, the dollar dropped some more. Here's my 6 cents.
Scott