Microsoft Pledges UML Support for Burton

The company says its Visual Studio 2005 Team System will in fact support the Unified Modeling Language because of people's investment in the modeling standard.

SAN DIEGO—While Microsoft Corp. this week introduced its new team-oriented, lifecycle-focused development platform that covers the entire application development lifecycle, some standards aficionados are wondering whether the software giant will support key specifications. The new Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System, code-named Burton, will cover all facets of the application development lifecycle, including modeling, but some wonder whether the technology will support the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which has become a de facto standard for modeling. Microsoft officials said they designed the new system for "ease of use" and that UML did not seem like the best solution for an easy-to-use tool. "Were designing for ease of use, and we didnt think UML was the way to go," said Marie Huwe, general manager for Microsofts Developer and Platform Evangelism Division, in an interview at the Microsoft TechEd 2004 show here. "However, we will support UML, and we are already working with people on that," she said. "Some key UML diagrams will ship in the box, and Borland [Software Corp.] and Unisys are working with us. Folks have invested in UML, and we want to make sure they can take advantage of that. We want to make sure people can use UML effectively." Grady Booch, an IBM fellow and chief scientist at IBMs Rational division, took exception to Microsofts claim that UML is too complex. Click here to read what Booch had to say about Microsofts application lifecycle moves. In a statement, Microsoft said: "For Visual Studio 2005 Team System Microsoft will build designers for the more common UML diagrams, and will build diagrams for a lot more than strictly UML. Microsoft will also work with partners to provide a more full UML solution. In version 1, the only UML diagram offered will be the class designer." Meanwhile, Microsoft is partnering with application lifecycle management companies such as Borland, of Scotts Valley, Calif., to do things like deliver a road map for systems integrators, including patterns and best practices on how to best use the new Microsoft technology. In addition, Borland announced the release of a new edition of Borland Together Edition for Microsoft Visual Studio .Net, a design and modeling tool. Borland also is promoting integration between its CaliberRM requirements management tool and the new Microsoft system. Other announcements included the following:

Compuware Corp. launched its DevPartner 7.2 Professional Edition, a development tool that features source code analysis and other features. The Detroit-based company also showed its QACenter and Vantage products working with Visual Studio;

Serena Software Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., pledged the support of its change management solution with Microsofts new platform;

Telelogic AB, of Malmo, Sweden, announced that its Synergy/CM configuration management tool will support the new Microsoft offering as well;

Osellus Inc., of Cupertino, Calif., said its IrisMSF process automation tool will provide process modeling and customization capabilities to Visual Studio 2005 Team System; and

Avicode Inc., of Hartford, Conn., said its fault management solution, Intercept Studio 2.0, is now integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. The company delivered a beta version of the integration at the TechEd show. Check out eWEEK.coms Windows Center at http://windows.eweek.com for Microsoft and Windows news, views and analysis.

Be sure to add our eWEEK.c om developer and Web services news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page