RE: Why pay for VS.NET when JAVA is Free?

From: Performance Tuner (Tuner_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 12/19/04

  • Next message: Terry Maguire: "MS ACCESS and VB.NET question" 
    Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 10:21:01 -0800

    I think Java is a great development language....for the certain types of
    applications. Nor is .Net is the best choice for every application.

    But, when it comes to performance, Java simply can not beat .Net. That's my
    opinion based on my experiences in real world situations.

    Constantly, the argument for using Java is it's multi-platform capabilities.
    When this is truly a requirement, then Java is a valid choice. The fact is,
    seldom is it an issue. Personally, I'd rather have an application that is
    fast and responsive.

    As for cost, you can initially save some money by going with free tools.
    It'll cost you somewhere down the road.

    Whatever your choice, good luck in your endeavor.

    "Mike Cox" wrote:

    > I've been a long time Windows developer until recently. Why should any
    > company pay for developer tools when they could be had for free? My last
    > Visual Studio product was Visual Studio 6.0. I then moved over to linux
    > and GCC because web services were still in its infancy and no one was
    > really using it. Therefore GCC, CORBA(ACE/TAO) and Linux were good enough
    > compared to VC++ 7.0 and ATL 7.0.
    >
    > While Linux and GCC were good, Microsoft's IDE still rocked, and had a
    > value. Linux developers needed to be smart because Emacs LISP is tough to
    > wrap your head around in order to create the same functionality as MS VS.
    > Furthermore, Emacs is uglier, and debugging is similar although less
    > intuitive than VS. I was smart enough and a cheap enough to learn
    > Emacs, so that VS was irrelevant unless eye candy counted.
    >
    > But lately, Web Services have started to mature. I was faced with a choice,
    > go with .NET and VS.NET or move to JAVA. I looked at the costs associated
    > with Microsoft versus JAVA / SUN and found SUN to be the low cost leader.
    > StarOffice is cheaper than MS office. Solaris 10 will be completely free
    > and include DTrace and other goodies. When I visited SUN's website, I saw
    > free this and free that!
    >
    > But the best thing that was free IMHO was JAVA. Why should anyone pay $2500
    > USD for VS.NET Enterprise Edition when one can just click to SUN.com and
    > download J2EE and get exactly the same functionality for free!? Plus on
    > top of that you will soon get a free Solaris 10 with DTrace and a new
    > filesystem that can hold incredible amounts of data. When Solaris 10 comes
    > out, my Linux and Windows boxes will head to the trash can.
    >
    > Why am I posting this? Well, to say that Microsoft is losing its developer
    > base because competitively, they are more expensive than SUN now. SUN is
    > the low cost leader. If MS made VS.NET enterprise free I might consider
    > coming back, but only if they made MS Office more competitive with Open
    > Office and reduced prices on their Server products. If Sun Solaris 10 is
    > free robust and virus free, why pay through the nose for Windows then?
    > Microsoft made its fortune on being the high volume low cost provider, but
    > now it is more expensive than SUN. How ironic!
    >

  • Next message: Terry Maguire: "MS ACCESS and VB.NET question"

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