Visual Studio .NET enables developers to rapidly build next-generation Internet applications that target any device and integrate with any platform. By providing the most modern and feature-rich development environment, Visual Studio .NET gives developers the tools for integrating solutions across operating systems and languages. With Visual Studio .NET, developers can easily convert existing business logic into reusable XML Web services, encapsulating processes and making them available to applications on any platform. Developers can easily incorporate any number of XML Web services that are cataloged and available in many independent Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) directories, providing a strong foundation of services and business logic for applications.
Using XML, an industry-standard technology for describing data, Visual Studio .NET developers can build high-performance, data-driven applications. Developers can also use built-in ADO.NET tools that target a variety of databases, including Microsoft SQL Server?, Oracle, or any other XML-based source. With intrinsic support for XML, ADO.NET enables developers to share data across disparate computing platforms. Additionally, Visual Studio .NET Professional includes the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000), which is 100 percent compatible with a SQL Server 2000 database. 
Visual Studio .NET allows programmers to create and deploy critical server-based business logic. Historically, server-based programming has been tedious to code, prone to error, and difficult to test. With Visual Studio .NET, developers can visually compose middle-tier components using the Visual Component Designer, which enables developers to drag nonvisual objects¡ªsuch as message queues, timers, and event logs-to a design surface from the Server Explorer, a new tool window that automatically discovers all necessary server-based resources. 
With its powerful WYSIWYG designer for Web pages, IntelliSense HTML editing features, and Style Sheet Editor, Visual Studio .NET helps developers feel comfortable authoring complex Web-based solutions. Developers can also leverage Visual XML designers and IntelliSense XML tag completion for drag-and-drop creation and manipulation of data. By using automatically generated client-side validation code, Web developers can reduce the amount of client-side JavaScript and ensure that their application will work in both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers. 
Windows developers will find the new Windows Forms to be intuitive and efficient. Windows Forms are also compatible with any .NET-connected language-including Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual  .NET. With visual inheritance, developers can greatly simplify the creation of Windows-based applications by centralizing in parent forms the common logic and user interface for their entire solution. Using control anchoring and docking, programmers can build resizable forms automatically, while the in-place menu editor enables developers to visually author menus directly from within the Forms Designer.
For the broadest possible reach to Internet-enabled devices, Visual Studio .NET provides Mobile Internet features that enable developers to build a single mobile Web interface to support a broad range of devices¡ªincluding WML 1.1 for WAP cell phones, compact HTML (cHTML) for i-mode phones, and HTML for Pocket PCs, Palm devices, and pagers. Server-side mobile controls intelligently generate the appropriate rendering and pagination for the target Web device, providing a rich and consistent user experience while preserving developer flexibility.

