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by Scott Delap.
Original Post: .NET vs Java: The War Moves To The Desktop
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There is a thread going on at JavaLobby about .NET on the desktop asking why hasn't it taken off. Of course Java gets thrown into the mix. One comment I particularly agree with is:
"In my opinion, most companies could care less about what Java or .NET can do as long as it can do what they need. That being said, I am seeing a lot of companies sticking to what they already know or have expertise in. If they are already a M$ shop then they are quietly upgrading to .NET like good boys and girls. The same is true of the Java shops, they are sticking with Java. What I haven't seen lately, which you did see when Java first came on the scene, are the large migrations away from VB or C to Java."
I would summarize the deciding factors as:
1. Easy Deployment, Upgrades, and Support
2. Native Integration: Look & Feel, Printing, SysTray, etc.
3. Development Time
Windows/VB/.NET will always satisfy 1 and 2. I don't see something amazing happening with Java winning on 1 and 2. Heck I'd be happy to just become adequate in such categories. So that leaves us with 3. If I'm an IT manager, and I know that deployment and integration are easier with Windows the only selling point I can use for Java is development. In some situations I'm a Java shop totally so the decision is already made. In other cases my server application is written in Java so the client piece might be easier to write in the same language. The other possiblity would be that writing a new client application in Java is just plain easier than the Windows alternatives. Would anyone dare to say that is the case today? I would not. I'm not a .NET developer however. Comments welcome =).
So to sum things up projects like WebStart and JDIC need to get things right and get them right soon. At the same time hopefully development frameworks like Eclipse RCP and Spring Rich will make ease of development a fair fight. Otherwise I'm afraid .NET will win by default.
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