Monday, June 12, 2006
WinFX to become .Net 3.0
In a move destined to rival that of the decision to release Microsoft Bob, MS Marketing has decided to rebrand WinFX as .Net 3.0. Yes, the components Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), along with the newly named Windows CardSpace (WCS, formerly known as InfoCard) have all been lumped into the .Net Framework.
To help with the confusion, the Common Language Runtime (CLR) will continue to be 2.0, although it will be included in the framework, as will VB.Net 2.0 and C# 2.0. This brings all sorts of questions about version numbering when the 3.0 versions of CLR/C#/VB are ready to ship, questions which Microsoft is not yet ready to answer.
Don't get me wrong, I love the new toys being shipped in the Framework Formerly Known as FX. I really do. But I just don't think they need to be included in the CORE Framework. Now if I need to create a widely distributed .Net app that simply does not require the new FX features, my users are still going to incur a huge download. Even with broadband 22 meg (todays current framework distribution) is a hefty hunk to download.
I would have greatly preferred MS to have stuck with their original plan and created a .Net Framework Extensions library we could choose to use or not, and kept it all seperate. Frankly it would have made even better sense to have broken the Framework Formerly Known as FX into it's component libraries and let us install or not. I can sort of buy WPF needing to be everywhere, but how many average users are going to need WF or WCF installed on their boxes?
But then again, I could be wrong. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Oh, and remember Shakespear's line about shooting all the lawyers? Let's put the marketing folks in line next.
To help with the confusion, the Common Language Runtime (CLR) will continue to be 2.0, although it will be included in the framework, as will VB.Net 2.0 and C# 2.0. This brings all sorts of questions about version numbering when the 3.0 versions of CLR/C#/VB are ready to ship, questions which Microsoft is not yet ready to answer.
Don't get me wrong, I love the new toys being shipped in the Framework Formerly Known as FX. I really do. But I just don't think they need to be included in the CORE Framework. Now if I need to create a widely distributed .Net app that simply does not require the new FX features, my users are still going to incur a huge download. Even with broadband 22 meg (todays current framework distribution) is a hefty hunk to download.
I would have greatly preferred MS to have stuck with their original plan and created a .Net Framework Extensions library we could choose to use or not, and kept it all seperate. Frankly it would have made even better sense to have broken the Framework Formerly Known as FX into it's component libraries and let us install or not. I can sort of buy WPF needing to be everywhere, but how many average users are going to need WF or WCF installed on their boxes?
But then again, I could be wrong. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Oh, and remember Shakespear's line about shooting all the lawyers? Let's put the marketing folks in line next.
