>didn't make a statement one way or the other about which is the market leader. I asked you to back up your statements with evidence.

>IMO, .Net is the future for Windows programming. Java is the leader for non-Windows platforms.

>.Net is very much cross platform. You can create Web apps that run on multiple browsers. Have you seen Silverlight? Have you seen the Mono Project?

>Cross platform is not all it's cracked up to be. It has very real issues that are hard to solve. Many business owners don't understand this.

I had a lot more to say but a dialog kept popping up suggesting that I was using obscenities every time I tried to send. I'm not sure where that came from but there wasn't a single word that I would consider obscene.

Mono is not doing very well. It seems that the project is losing steam. The open source community has not taken to it very much. There are plenty of reasons. But IMO they are just Microsoft haters.

Yes I've taken a good look at Silverlight. But it still lacks what most are looking for - a complete desktop app in the browser. Just because you call it RIA does not mean it is. Have you reviewed Air/flex2?

Cross platform does have issues. But Java seems to found the way. But I have to say I hate the GUI. But it works well. GTK seem to have also solved the issues. And I guess QT is also claiming to have solved the issue. In fact KDE now runs under XP. Which I guess pretty good test of QT. That said you still need to consider the special cases like accessing hardware (signature pad etc).

As far as Microsoft being a market leader. I need someone to provide something to change my mind - that they are. Every week I see Microsoft getting some group angry. Last the MP3 guys losing the DRM license. The xbox guys losing hd-dvd a couple weeks ago.

I see microsoft leadership eroding weekly. Two years ago I would not have considered using anything but MS Exchange for a mail server. Today I don't even consider it. I install linux mail servers. I can't see paying for MsSQL when I can't see any advantage over Postgres. I can't see paying for office when Open Office can do 95% of what users need. I keep seeing Microsoft losing ground.

I see a void as far as a clear leader. Microsoft is falling. I'm not sure if they'll come back - but at the moment they are not leading. But is SUN the leader. I hope not. They haven't done much either. Then it must be Apple. Again I hope not. Everything in Apple is do it Steve's way or go somewhere else. But it's true Apple has doubled it market share in the last year.

John