Does anyone know (or is willing to make a guess) when Microsoft will make .NET the "native" format for .exe files, and will provide a Win32 compatability layer instead of Win32 being native as it currently is? I'm sure I saw something about it on the Internet a few weeks ago, when reading about Longhorn and Windows Server 2003, but can't remember where is was. Is this actually going to happen? Do we think it's a good thing, or will it just cause problems? Personally, I like the sound of it from a desktop software point of view, but don't think its good for servers doing a lot of number crunching as software compiled to byte code isn't too fast in this area.

Because the .NET framework is backwards compatable with other archetectures, or languages, it will be relatively easy to make the ".NET switch". Yes, .NET empowerment comes in part with the family of Windows Server 2003, in LongHorn and later in BlackComb there will be total .NET empowerment in applications, is it good? yes, as mentioned -- .NET apps are compatable and scalable with other languages and frameworks.

There will also be a patch out for WindowsXP/Windows2000 to empower it with the ability to interact totally with .NET software, till now; we can only interact very basically with it through the .NET framework patchs released last november on techNET