Microsoft Releases Visual J# .NET Beta 1

 As reported Monday in WinInfo Daily UPDATE, Microsoft has released its first public beta of Visual J# .NET, an add-on for the Visual Studio .NET Beta that adds Java language compatibility for developers who want to build applications and services on the Microsoft .NET Framework. The product was under development this year at Microsoft under the code name Visual Java.

"With Visual J# .NET, Java-language developers can target XML Web services through the .NET Framework," says Tom Button, vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division. "Integration is a fundamental principle of Microsoft .NET. Visual J# .NET underscores Microsoft's commitment to creating interoperability and choice of programming language for building XML Web services."

Using Visual J# .NET, developers can migrate Java applications to .NET and integrate them with existing .NET technologies such as ADO.NET, ASP.NET, and Windows Forms. The product includes upgrade tools for applications written in Visual J++, the previous Microsoft Java development tool. For more information and the free download, visit the Microsoft Web site.