What's Old Is New Again

Readers share their thoughts on Microsoft's SDS change of heart, and VSM's redesign.

Each month, Andrew Brust writes the Redmond Review column for the back page of Visual Studio Magazine. His first column since arriving from the pages of Redmond Developer News focused on the late change of heart Microsoft had regarding its SQL Data Services cloud-based data storage scheme. Longtime VSM contributor Roger Jennings responds to Brust's column in a blog posting.

Andrew Brust's "What's Old Is New Again" column for Visual Studio Magazine's April 2009 issue recounts the history of Visual Basic 3.0's adoption of the Jet (Access) 1.1 relational database and the parallel with the SDS team's course reversal from the Entity-Attribute-Value data model to a full-featured relational database. Andrew concludes:

So Redmond listened to its customers, and the bizarre obsession with copying Amazon's SimpleDB Web service is over. Microsoft has given us a truly simple offering: the SQL Server technology that most Microsoft developers have been using for a decade and some have been using since even before my first column was published.

I couldn't agree more.

P.S. Andrew and I started writing for Visual Studio Magazine's predecessor about 15 years ago when it had just been re-named from BASIC Pro to Visual Basic Programmers Journal.

Roger Jennings
Principal, OakLeaf Systems
Oakland, Calif.

On the New Redesign

VSM redesigned its cover and pages with the April 2009 issue. A reader shares his thoughts.

I want you to know that I'm totally offended by April's front cover.

Having both the female sexual computer model and the evolution icon is the last straw. Your magazine has bleak content anyway. I threw it in the trash. Evolution is nothing but a false faith in garbage science. I want to terminate my subscription immediately.

Dennis Parks
Beaverton, Ore.

Visual Studio Magazine wants to hear from you! Send us your thoughts about recent stories, technology updates or whatever's on your mind. E-mail us at [email protected] and be sure to include your first and last name, city and state. Please note that letters may be edited for form, fit and style. They express the views of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the VSM editors or 1105 Media Inc.

About the Author

This story was written or compiled based on feedback from the readers of Visual Studio Magazine.

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