“And if you don’t know where you’re going…
…Any road will take you there” — George Harrison
When we last left off, I was about to embark on an investigation into the Windows Vista user experience. Because I was unable to get the preview to install, I have had to work from Microsoft’s documentation and screenshots. As I have been working through it, I have been horrified. With each operating system release, Microsoft describes it as a “bet the company” release. If that’s true then, on face value, Microsoft is in danger of losing that bet with Vista.
To market any product, the vendor needs to find and promote a unique selling proposition. Apple makes its USP clear: “Let the Mac be the centre of your digital lifestyle.” If my sister is anything to go by, Apple is delivering on its promise. My sis is in the process of getting rid of her stereo and her TV because her Apple equipment has made them unnecessary. She uses an iMac, iBook, and iPod, and she can get stuff done that I could not hope to do on my Windows XP machine.
What is the unique selling proposition for Windows Vista? “Bring clarity to your world.” What the hell does that mean? This lack of focus seems to be reflected in the product itself. There seems to be no rhyme or rhythm, logic or art, to any part of the Vista user experience. My concern about Windows Vista follows my concern about ASP.NET version 2.0.
I am starting to worry that Windows XP and .NET version 1.1 represent the pinnacle of Microsoft, and Windows Vista and .NET version 2.0 represent the first fall on the slippery slide to obsolescence.
Because of my concern, I have been contemplating switching to Mono. Projects like Castle and Cuyahoga demonstrate the true thought and sheer intelligence that Mono developers bring to the platform. What do we get over here on the .NET side? Crappy, useless stuff like the provider pattern (which is not even a pattern anyhow). Over on Mono they have complete implementations for Model View Controller, for Inversion of Control, for Aspect Oriented Programming, and for so much more. I know we can use these components in a .NET application, but I have a concern with stradding Mono 1.0 and .NET 2.0 that is beyond the scope of a weblog entry.
There are only two reasons why I have not yet jumped ship. (I’ve downloaded Mono and starting coming to grips with Castle and its goals, so I’m ready to jump.)
The first thing that holds me back from Mono is the Wilson WebPortal. The initial release is very awkward to use, but it shows great potential. Most importantly, for me, is that Paul Wilson never ceases to find simple and direct solutions. If ASP.NET version 2.0 is good enough for this clever cucumber, then it should be good enough for me, too. I’ll come back to the WilsonWebPortal in my next weblog entry.
The second thing that holds me back is that while it makes ideological sense for me to switch to Mono, I don’t think it makes much business sense to switch. If I stay with .NET, I can earn money from writing articles and selling components; if I switch to Mono, the opportunities are limited. If I stay with .NET, I can benefit from the truly awesome support provided by Microsoft and its developer community; if I switch to Mono, the support is limited. If I stay with .NET, I can use a greater number of free and commercial components; if I switch to Mono, the components are limited.
By the way, if you are not already aware, this is a flow of consciousness—I am resolving my indecision as I write this. My heart wants me to switch to Mono. My head tells me to stay with .NET. I started writing this blog entry immediately upon returning from a ride on my motorbike, where I was thinking through the arguments for and against moving to Mono, and whether I might make use of the Wilson WebPortal. My non-committal thought at the end of the ride was that I should stick with .NET rather than switch to Mono, and this weblog entry has sealed the deal. In the next weblog entry, I’ll address the question of whether I should make use of the Wilson WebPortal.
by Alister Jones | Next up: Evaluating the Wilson Web Portal →
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Hi Alister,
I think you're getting Mono confused... the jist of your blog is that if you want to go to Mono, you need to abandon your core business.
But this isn't entirely true. Mono will still let you run your .net applications.
In fact, you could expand your business, because Mono lets you market your .net skills to a new crowd - linux users.
FYI, I am a .net developer. I develop applications that can run on Windows and Linux, and I do that using Mono.
I'm only a recent convert to Mono, and have just been going through the whole steep learning curve, but I'm now getting on top of things, and Mono is good.
Just remember - Mono won't reduce your client base - but it may increase it.
Hi Brendan. Thanks for your feedback. You have raised some very good points. So good, in fact, that I'm going to address them in my next weblog entry. Please feel free to respond.
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