My, how Microsoft�s tools garden has grown! Not long ago, the only choice facing development teams was, �Which language do I use with Visual Studio?� Now, it can be daunting simply deciding among Visual Studio versions, never mind auxiliary tools such as Expression or Popfly.

The key to navigating Microsoft�s tool chains is to remember always that the overarching goal of Microsoft�s developer division is to increase the percentage of worldwide development being done for Microsoft platforms. Profit would be nice, but it is definitely a secondary concern. Microsoft has an imperative to provide tools for every kind of programmer, from C developers targeting Windows Mobile to newcomers mashing up �hello� and �world.� Making the problem of focus even harder, everyone has an opinion but no one truly knows how software development is going to evolve in the coming decade�with devices proliferating, the Internet becoming ever more accessible, and chips moving into the multicore era. The result of that uncertainty is a plethora of new programming languages and �Windows X Foundation� APIs whose ultimate success is not yet known.