Microsoft Extensions

MicrosoftCorporation has often taken the "initiative" of providing technology users "additional" functionalities to standard implementations already in place. This page serve as a starting point for some of the more important technologies where extensions have been made available.

In BillGates own words, taken from TrustworthyComputing initiative of Jan02, ...made our software and services more compelling for users by adding new features and functionality

Note: Changes to existing Microsoft own products are excluded, so VbDotNet is not an extension of VbClassic, WindowsXp is not an extension of WindowsTwoThousand, etc

MicrosoftPatterns

Has anyone done a comparison of architecture and design patterns between Microsoft sources and those that are Java based? Are there significant conceptual variances?

ServiceOrientedArchitecture

An article on integrating applications at the Business Logic layer can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpag/html/archserviceorientedintegration.asp

WebServices

Introductory handson example (converting DistributedCom to DotNet WebServices) at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndotnet/html/webservicesdcom.asp

But that is only the beginning of WebServices

There is a WSE 2.0 (WebServicesExtensions) that is supported and is becoming a necessary addon to DotNet. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices/building/wse/

Note WSE2.0 is said to be incompatible with its predecessor of WSE1.0, and is said to have included numerous emerging industry standards.

JavaInMicrosoftWindows, or Microsoft own JavaVirtualMachine and JavaLanguage

Until early 2003, most copies of MicrosoftWindows have an extended version of JavaVirtualMachine called Jview (installed via ?msjavx86). Unless a person has sufficient configuration experience its use could interfere with SunCorporation javaw. An agreement was subsequently made with SunMicrosystems for a transition of the MicrosoftJavaVirtualMachine to using the industry standard (see http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/).

JRE (JavaRuntimeEnvironment?) are treated like ActivexTechnology ComComponents? (see p22 of http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/7/f/a7f0d96d-c40a-4ce7-863a-139f5af69305/msjvm_itpro.pdf).

Java equivalent functionality are available in CeeSharpLanguage and a JavaLanguageConversionAssistant is available for reimplementation of MSJavaLanguage code to DotNet.

see WindowsXp for additional information pertaining to that environment.

MicrosoftCorporation also has JaySharpLanguage? for MicrosoftDotNet that is similar to JavaLanguage

MicrosoftXml

Lots of extensions in many of Microsoft offerings. Latest being XAML (quote "a new XML-based markup language for smart Windows applications") for WindowsLonghorn

Using XML for something new is not extending XML. You're supposed to write DTDs and schemas

RemoteProcedureCall

There is something quite new (2003) called "RPC over HTTP" that seems to be designed for remote outlook to hook into Exchange via the net (setup article at http://mcpmag.com/downloads/2004/0804mcp_rpchttp.pdf). Apparently it allowed DistributedCom to be used via Tunnelling TCP as well. One result is a security alert and fix issued Apr2004.

Anyone to comment how is this differ from XmlRpc and what non outlook related benefits it made possible? -- dl

MicrosoftCorporation PatternsAndFrameworks

Real big topic. Any contributions on how similar / different to those being discussed and adopted by EveryoneButMicrosoftConsortium?

For Microsoft's own resources on patterns see http://www.microsoft.com/resources/practices/default.mspx

There is a set of IntegrationPatterns? at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpag/html/intpatt.asp

SoftwareFactory? and DSL

Since when did Microsoft people start to use these term? As "technology preview" product downloads are becoming available in VisualStudio 2005, the prospect of automating system development will get the attention of senior IT management.

Note ModelDrivenArchitecture is the non MS OMG initiative that uses UnifiedModellingLanguage as its UI

Microsoft OpenSource participation

FlexWiki and FlexWikiPad

It requires DotNet. And what happens to the other CsharpLanguage based SushiWiki that was started at Microsoft? What does FlexWiki buy in terms of ability to help promote a collaborative environment?

ActiveDirectory is LDAP and Kerberos with proprietary extentions. Using the fields in the spec which were specifically designed for proprietary extensions...

InternetExplorer is famous for the non-standard HTML and non-standard DOM.

Microsoft's CeePlusPlus compiler, VisualCeePlusPlus, was laughably inconsistent with the ANSI standard until the recently released version 7, whose standards compliance is very much improved. They did this by buying a 3rd party standard library. And by drastically improving the compiler itself.

[The STL shipped with VisualStudio has never been written by MS. The woefully inadequate and poor one shiped with VS 6.0 was the Dinkum STL. The improvements to the compiler that make using a compliant STL possible are all from MS.]

CategoryMicrosoft