The .NET Web Roadmap and NetAdvantage

A couple of weeks ago ScottGu posted on his blog the roadmap for the the .NET Web platform.  The highlights from the roadmap were:

• The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions.  These extensions consist of the new ASP.NET MVC framework, improvements to the ASP.NET AJAX framework, a new dynamic data scaffolding framework, additional Silverlight support via ASP.NET controls and the ADO.NET Entity Framework.  A preview of the extensions was released on December 9, and you can downloaded them here.
• The renaming of Silverlight 1.1 to Silverlight 2.0 and an expected release of a Beta (with go-live license) in Q1 of next year.  This is the platform that Microsoft has been talking about since MIX 2007 and adds a huge amount of functionality to Silverlight, including a managed code framework, UI framework including layout management, data binding and control templates.  We will also see controls in the 2.0 release including a DataGrid
• IIS7 is due with Windows Server 2008 sometime next year and is a huge step forward for the web server.

So what does all of this mean for Infragistics?  Well, first of all, we are hugely excited by the announcements and see great opportunities for developers and designers to take a significant step forward with the new ASP.NET development tools and the additions to the Silverlight platform.  We partner with Microsoft very closely to ensure that as they release new technologies, we are right there supporting the latest and greatest Microsoft has to offer, and allowing you to continue to create great User Experiences that leverage the very latest in Microsoft technology.

ASP.NET Extensions

We have been working with the ASP.NET Extensions for a while and we are really excited by the new features they are bring to the platform.  Personally, I am really excited about the new MVC framework and the new Dynamic Data scaffolding framework.  Both of these new features are going to open up a whole new way of creating ASP.NET applications and of course we are also working with both frameworks in order to make sure we can continue to offer you the best tools for creating your ASP.NET applications UI.

Silverlight 2.0

This is a major announcement and one which we have been anticipating for some time.  As with the ASP.NET Extensions, we have been working with Microsoft on the next version of Silverlight and cannot wait to be able to show what we are creating.  Silverlight offers web developers a revolutionary new platform for creating rich, interactive web applications and we feel that it will open up the opportunity to really let developers and designers create a new breed of applications, ones that offer the end user a truly innovative and immersive experience.  The additions in Silverlight 2.0 will give developers the power they need to easily create those applications using the same familiar tools and technologies they have been using for years, managed code, web services and Visual Studio, plus the latest in development tools and technologies like XAML, JSON and Expression Blend.

The next several months are going to be an exciting time for all of us as we get our hands on the new bits and begin to explore how they can be leveraged to create a new generation of web apps.  Its exciting for me personally to be involved with such great groups of people, our team here at Infragistics, our partners at Microsoft and our customers who push us to create the best products possible.  Keep your eye on my blog for more information on where we are going with all of this new stuff!