Am I a biased writer?
This comment detected a "bias" in my writing. This is my response:
"Bias" is a tricky word. If you mean "predisposition towards favoring," I think I can honestly assert that I've never cared whether programming innovations come from Microsoft, Sun, or two guys in a garage in Bangalore. Over the years, I've written whitepapers for both Sun and Microsoft: Sun pays better. I was the first non-Sun employee to write a technical article on Java; I used to be the Servlets Solution columnist for Java Pro.
What's come to be known as J2SE is a great programming language and system. I quit my 32-hour-work-week position as an Editorial Director at a company with 80% market share of the software development magazine market in order to program network applications in Java -- I was that impressed by the language.
I developed network game infrastructure in Java; I architected J2EE systems to run school districts; I was a VP in charge of deploying XML-over-HTTP Java applications before there were W3C Schemas or SOAP. Over the years, I've made lots of money from Java, to date I've made about $1,500 from .NET. So, if nothing else, I've put my money where my mouth is.
Why have I decided to jump to .NET? Because despite more than half-a-decade of successes with Java, I've concluded that the .NET Framework is equal to or better than J2EE on virtually all technical levels. There are lots of other issues that might make J2EE a better choice: one that is particularly near and dear to me is that the training available for Java enterprise development is light-years ahead of what .NET has available. That's a huge advantage for J2EE!
But in general, over the past sixteen months or so, I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has, essentially, better strategies and better execution than Sun. Looking forward, I see nothing that makes me doubt that .NET is going to gain momentum while innovation on the Java platform is, in my opinion, mired down (although the JCP would have compelling advantages if only it could be streamlined). So when I write I tend to say good things about .NET because, well, I think .NET is good. If you want to see a similar tendency to say good things about Java, read any of the dozens of articles I wrote between 1995 and 2002!
Ironically, the way I feel towards .NET vs. J2EE is analogous to what is projected in the Macintosh "switch" ad campaign. When you discover that the annoyances you've grown used to are not inherent, you want to advocate, not on the basis of checklists, but at an emotional level. So do I write objectively about the differences between .NET and J2EE? Perhaps not. But I think I write honestly, and I think that's more important.
1:06:18 PM 
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