How Microsoft Lost the API War

Joel on Software - How Microsoft Lost the API War Now I read this and immediately had to read a few sections again. I enjoy Joel's writing and his view on the world. And also that he writes about a place where he worked and is not now in the cult mentality. I was really floored by the statement, "And if you're developing a Windows GUI app today using Microsoft's "official" latest-and-greatest Windows programming environment, WinForms, you're going to have to start over again in two years to support Longhorn and Avalon.". I did not believe this so I looked at Avalon and found that XAML will be a radical change in traditional UI design and development. Makes me think twice about doing any Winforms development. Now I know that Longhorn and Avalon will be out later than the 2006 that Microsoft had stated but still I want an app that I am selling and supporting to be around for a while. I also enjoyed reading about his view on the rich UI versus the web UI. His view that apps for the Windows desktop are nothing more than marketing for Microsoft did make me laugh. I think that it may be true on some levels. Where does Delphi live in the Longhorn and Avalon world? One has to wonder.