Every now and again I like to tinker and write some software. It is pretty easy to write code in .net, php, Flash, objective C or any other popular language.

The problem ends up becoming what your target platform is. Mac is Objective C. Windows is .net or C++ and Linux has a host of languages as well.

I am not a programmer but I have tried all the major software development ide’s and have to say they are all pretty good.

That said, I think Microsoft still leads the pack in functionality, language targeting and the sheer breadth of online help and non-reliance on command line interfaces.

I also truly believe the .net platform with workflow, Linq, WPF and the like offers a really unique story. The adobe flash products also seem to offer a very similar and robust platform but their products are all over the map in choices. It would seem you need to purchase large numbers of bundled products to get an end to end design and development solution.

Recently I was thinking about why Microsoft wouldn’t just do Silverlight but a wholesale port of .net to the Mac, Linux or any other operating system.

Now I know they are concerned about open source and ip and I know mac is a competitor but look at the great work Novell is doing to move .net to the other operating systems. I believe this to be a real opportunity for Microsoft to widen their platform above and beyond the Windows-centric framework they have today.

Now if Microsoft goes and writes .net for the Mac or Linux you could imagine the worried faces that think this will make the Windows PC extinct. That will not be the case so long as Microsoft can keep focusing on writing the best OS they can (and yes I think they — and all the others — can do better).

Here is what I propose:

1) Make .net a platform independent framework.
2) Make the IDE available on every operating system they support.
3) Monetize the platform by way of Microsoft’s foes and open an App store that handles the purchase, licensing and distribution of online software.

Microsoft may lose Windows customers but they gain a base of customers they potentially never had.

Is this a crazy thought? I can’t see why it couldn’t work but again, I am not a software developer…

-Bill
Note… This article was recently posted with an incorrect title/link so it has been re-posted accordingly.