Somehow I knew you'd bring up web matrix. I won't argue that PHP is often easier than .NET. But I wouldn't exactly call releasing a tool that's easier to use as back-pedaling on .NET. Web matrix fully embraces .NET.

>http://www.west-wind.com/weblog/posts/744845.aspx

>Can you show me where COM has serious security problems and doesn't scale to meet the demands of most desktop and web applications today?? No excuses, please!

Simple. Cloud computing. If you have to scale up to that point, COM just won't cut it. And try using COM across the web. COM was not designed in any way to be cross-platform. It's a Windows-only technology and the world is more than Windows.

>Mind you, PHP is running some of the busiest and most popular sites on the web and 9 times out of 10 developers choose it over .NET. Yet PHP on windows doesn't even support multi-threading or have an isapi module. why, why, why >> because .NET is too complicated and not inviting as a programming environment. Apart from cheerleaders and Microsoft lock-step followers, the marketplace has spoken in favor of open source tools not being locked into .NET...

Ummm, so Microsoft making .NET complicated is responsible for PHP not supporting multi-threading on Windows? I don't buy that. PHP has nothing to do with .NET.