来源：(http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49f6679f010004ls.html) - What's .NET?_西边雨_新浪博客

What's .NET?

.NET is both a business strategy from Microsoft and its collection of programming support for what are known as Web services, the ability to use the Web rather than your own computer for various services. Microsoft's goal is to provide individual and business users with a seamlessly interoperable and Web-enabled interface for applications and computing devices and to make computing activities increasingly Web browser-oriented. The .NET platform includes servers; building-block services, such as Web-based data storage; and device software. It also includes Passport, Microsoft's fill-in-the-form-only-once identity verification service.

The .NET platform is expected to provide:

* The ability to make the entire range of computing devices work together and to have user information automatically updated and synchronized on all of them

* Increased interactive capability for Web sites, enabled by greater use of XML (Extensible Markup Language) rather than HTML

* A premium online subscription service, that will feature customized access and delivery of products and services to the user from a central starting point for the management of various applications, such as e-mail, for example, or software, such as Office .NET

* Centralized data storage, which will increase efficiency and ease of access to information, as well as synchronization of information among users and devices

* The ability to integrate various communications media, such as e-mail, faxes, and telephones

* For developers, the ability to create reusable modules, which should increase productivity and reduce the number of programming errors

According to Bill Gates, Microsoft expects that .NET will have as significant an effect on the computing world as the introduction of Windows. One concern being voiced is that although .NET's services will be accessible through any browser, they are likely to function more fully on products designed to work with.NET code.

The full release of .NET is expected to take several years to complete, with intermittent releases of products such as a personal security service and new versions of Windows and Office that implement the .NET strategy coming on the market separately. Visual Studio .NET is a development environment that is now available. Windows XP supports certain .NET capabilities.

何谓 .NET?

.NET既是微软公司的商业策略，也是对称作为Web Services的编程支持的集合，所谓Web Services是利用Web而不是你自己的计算机进行各种服务的能力。微软的目标是向个人和商业用户提供用于应用程序和计算设备的无缝互用和Web实现的界面，以及使计算活动更多地面向Web浏览器。.NET平台包括服务器和基本构件服务（如基于Web的数据存储和设备软件）。它也包括了微软的Passport一次性填表身份验证服务。

.NET平台可望提供：

● 一种能力，使得所有的计算设备能在一起工作，并使用户的信息自动更新和在所有设备上实现同步。

● 增加网站的交互能力，这是通过更广地使用XML（扩展标记语言）而不是HTML实现的。

● 额外的在线订阅服务，其特点是通过管理各种应用程序（如电子邮件或Office.NET软件）的中央起始点给用户定制访问和产品与服务的定制交付。

● 集中的数据存储，这将增加效率和方便信息的存取，以及信息在用户和设备上的同步。

● 整合各种通信媒体（如电子邮件、传真和电话）的能力。

● 对于开发者而言，生成可重复用模块的能力，此能力将能提高生产率和减少编程错误。

Bill Gates表示，微软希望.NET的推出会像Windows那样对计算世界产生重大的影响。但有一项关注已被提出，虽然通过任何浏览器可获得.NET服务，但在那些设计与.NET程序一起工作的产品上，这些服务更可能得到充分的发挥。

.NET的全部推出可能要花几年的时间，其间断断续续会有产品推出，如实施.NET策略的个人安全服务、Windows新版本，以及Office会陆续上市。提供开发环境的Visual Studio.NET现在已能买到，Windows XP也支持某些.NET的功能。