> they wanted to create a walled garden, more similar to an app store
Clearly this didnt happen - you can still run native executables on Windows, here 25 years later. Indeed this is why Windows was and remains popular - the amount of software you can run on it, including decades old native binaries.
.net was a reaction against Java which was considered an existential threat to Microsoft because it promised platform-indepentent software. (Turned out it was the web and javascript MS should have been worried about, but they realized that to late.)
Delphi was never a threat to Microsoft. Microsoft was just happy when people developed windows native software. Selling windows was strategically much more important than selling dev tools, so they probably wanted delphi to be succesful.
No, there's a Windows app store that nobody wants to use, obviously.
Delphi was never a threat to Microsoft.
Microsoft clearly saw Delphi as a threat: they proceeded to hire as much talent from Borland as they could and only relented because the suit.
Java and the web is what killed Borland.
That's difficult to believe. There are other companies that succeeded selling dev tools that didn't come close to Delphi. They just shot themselves in their foot.
Clearly this didnt happen - you can still run native executables on Windows, here 25 years later. Indeed this is why Windows was and remains popular - the amount of software you can run on it, including decades old native binaries.
.net was a reaction against Java which was considered an existential threat to Microsoft because it promised platform-indepentent software. (Turned out it was the web and javascript MS should have been worried about, but they realized that to late.)
Delphi was never a threat to Microsoft. Microsoft was just happy when people developed windows native software. Selling windows was strategically much more important than selling dev tools, so they probably wanted delphi to be succesful.
Java and the web is what killed Borland.