This TechRepublic article seems to be missing a couple of important points and is comparing apples to oranges:
- Microsoft has never been an Enterprise software solutions company. BizTalk Server, Commerce Server, Sharepoint and other new server products are Microsoft's attempted entry into markets dominated by companies such as Oracle, CommerceOne, SAP and Peoplesoft. Microsoft can't be expected to already be a dominant player in business-class enterprise software solutions. In fact, BizTalk Server and Commerce Server are technically more elegant than CommerceOne or SAP's solutions. There just hasn't been enough time for them to gain widespread acceptance.
- .NET is a technology framework and not a business solution. The reasons Microsoft thinks it will become widespread have more to do with its inherent elegance, extensibility, versatility, security and powerful development toolsets. Marketing focus and positioning may work for selling clunky and expensive Enterprise-class products to CIOs. But it is the power and cost-effectiveness of the underlying technologies that will cause .NET to succeed by gaining acceptance among developers.