Posts by Andrew Booth

Comparisons to other technologies perhaps wrong

Why are you comparing Apollo to desktop widgets? Apollo is intended to build rich client applications, not just dashboard widgets. And the Microsoft technologies to compare it with are surely Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Extensions and WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere). Further, you suggest that Microsoft limits UI design. Flex/Apollo are similar, with standard UI controls. This is hardly the case now with WPF based interfaces in Vista, with funky UI designs built in the Expression products. I feel this article missed out discussion of some key new technologies.

"Microsoft will need to do more"... odd take

Blogs like Ajaxian are less read by ASP.NET developers, more by the Ruby Rails and PHP crowd. So I wouldn't read too much into their 4% usage figure. And the reason some ASP.NET developers may have held off was the Beta status of Atlas. Now with the AJAX Extensions baked into ASP.NET I believe the uptake will be significant. Microsoft are moving very quickly with these frameworks, whilst I honestly believe that - following the leaps and bounds Prototype and Ruby Rails may have made during 2005/2006, they could easily stumble in 2007 - I think many developers will come to realise the innovative end-to-end developer environment that Microsoft has built.

I feel this article was rushed and took an obviously negative line. Especially with "APS.NET" (sic) being mentioned!