Over the last 4 to 6 ish years that Microsoft computing has been relatively stagnant, I've invested a lot of time in "branch solutions". For example, I don't use ASP.NET Webforms – I use MonoRail. As a result I've had an equivalent of master pages for years now. While this was a great solution at the time I made the decision, it now means I've strayed a bit too far from the pack to really know what's going on. Sure, I know the marketing pitches for all these new technologies almost backwards (I even present on some of them), however I don't use these new technologies. Well, it's time to see what's out there and spend a few weeks in "official land".
| What I was offered | What I used instead | What I'm installing now |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | Windows XP | Windows Vista |
| Office 2003 | Office 2003 + lots of addons | Office 2007 |
| ASP.NET 1.1 WebForms | MonoRail | ASP.NET 2.0 + Atlas |
| ADO.NET 1.1 | ActiveRecord | other options? |
| MSN Messenger | Trillian + Skype | Windows Live Messenger |
| MSIE6 | Flock + Firefox | Flock + MSIE7 |
I've also decided that it's time to start seriously kicking around with WPF, WF, WCF, WCS and all the other cool bits that are starting to fall from the heavens.
technorati tags:.net, wcf, wcs, wf, wpf, microsoft, office, windows, vista, monorail, activerecord, castleproject, asp.net
Tatham Oddie 
So Tatham, have you stuck with ASP.NET 2.0 + Atlas? If so, I’d love to see follow-up entry which talks more about the things that you miss from MonoRail.