If it were an antiquated view it wouldn't be so popular!
Even as open source .NET is still a huge pain to get running under Linux and development of .NET anything is extremely difficult without Visual Studio (which doesn't run on Linux). Not only that but most of the .NET libraries one would use for any given purpose only work on Windows. So even if the core of .NET is open source and cross platform any software written using that platform can only effectively run on Windows.
When Microsoft puts out a version of Visual Studio for Linux desktops ("Minecraft modding edition"!) then I might start believing that they're serious about cross-platform software. It'll also signify their complete lack of relevance because to have gotten to that point would mean a level of desperation that would indicate a sinking ship.
It's just not in Microsoft's nature to make a product that's truly independent of its operating system and/or office software.
This argument is basically argumentum ad populum, and your concluding sentence is nothing more than the very same statement that I originally refuted.
> Even as open source .NET is still a huge pain to get running under Linux and development of .NET anything is extremely difficult without Visual Studio (which doesn't run on Linux). Not only that but most of the .NET libraries one would use for any given purpose only work on Windows. So even if the core of .NET is open source and cross platform any software written using that platform can only effectively run on Windows.
The open-sourcing and cross-platform development of .NET is an ongoing process that's still in its infancy. Yes, of course it's a pain in the ass right now. Installing git on Windows was also a pain in the ass, and even now it's still basically a prepackaged Linux emulation environment wrapper.
> If it were an antiquated view it wouldn't be so popular!
I don't know: there's more than enough ignorance around for completely absurd views to be popular. Look at Trump ;-)
Microsoft is actually more cross-platform than either Apple or Google. It has stuff on everything from memory sticks to mainframe class servers, and it has a cloud business (which supports Linux, as well as Windows). It has dozens of apps on iOS and Android, not just on Windows.
Office runs on Windows and Mac OS X, in browsers, and there are apps for Android and iOS.
Even as open source .NET is still a huge pain to get running under Linux and development of .NET anything is extremely difficult without Visual Studio (which doesn't run on Linux). Not only that but most of the .NET libraries one would use for any given purpose only work on Windows. So even if the core of .NET is open source and cross platform any software written using that platform can only effectively run on Windows.
When Microsoft puts out a version of Visual Studio for Linux desktops ("Minecraft modding edition"!) then I might start believing that they're serious about cross-platform software. It'll also signify their complete lack of relevance because to have gotten to that point would mean a level of desperation that would indicate a sinking ship.
It's just not in Microsoft's nature to make a product that's truly independent of its operating system and/or office software.