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What this means is that instead of having to download the .Net SDK (all 90Mb of it) or the .Net runtime (25Mb) the software will be available out of the box with subsequent Borland products.

Borland development environments such as Delphi (Object Pascal) and C++Builder (C++) already have support for .Net friendly programming (the .Net SDK stands at v1.0, but v1.1 is expected early

Microsoft and its Visual Studio tools may compete with Borland in the software development arena, but for the wider picture Microsoft is keen to establish its .Net framework. Obviously, increasing support for .Net development is a fundamental part of its strategy.

'As the first company to license the .Net Framework SDK, we are expanding our offering of enterprise solutions that accelerate software development for all major platforms,' said Frank Slootman, general manager of Borland software products. 'We are committed to providing the best independent, .Net Connected development solution that will help our customers speed the application development lifecycle.'

Expect an announcement shortly from Borland regarding exactly which versions of its products will carry the .Net kits. Jason Vokes, Borland's European product line manager for RAD products, also said to expect - later this year - a pure .Net development environment from Borland.