- The PDF numbers compared to the XPS numbers are expected. My guess is that the XPS numbers are reflective of the adoption rate of Office 2007, which is low. Even when Office 2007 obtains higher adoption rate, I can’t imagine that XPS will improve in this area.

- Java will always do well, because of a current installed user base, and it’s not surprizing to me to see ads for Java-based products/solutions in MSDN. I expect I would see MS-based products/solutions in Java-based publications. It’s like seeing ads on tv now for shows on other channels. Just part of marketing.

- In the Flex/WPF arena, I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out. The advantage that Adobe has with Flex is cross-platform development (much better than Java ever had, IMO, just look at Flash, and now Flex). The advantage that MS has with WPF is the tight integration into the developer tools, as well as the ability to do more when cross-platform targeting is not a requirement. It should be said that you should not lump the .NET 3.0 and WPF numbers together. WPF is a subset of .NET 3.0, and while I am sure that all of the ads are for WPF stuff, there are other aspects of WPF (Windows Communications Foundation, for example) which don’t really factor into the WPF space. Your numbers will have a greater “oomph” factor (since the number will be lower for WPF) if you separate it out this way.

- WPF development compared to AJAX development is definitely more complex. The designers aren’t there yet, but they will be. With AJAX (and ASP.NET) there is already an established market with players in it. I don’t expect WPF to overtake AJAX/ASP.NET, as I see them servicing different needs. For me, WPF is a way of enabling rich client-applications (which can be web-enabled), but I would never make the decision to host WPF in a browser window in an XBAP (I more partial to the smart client kind of development which WPF and Flex are competing for, and which in some way, the WinForms components contribute to, because you don’t need WPF to do smart client development).

Overall, I’d say it’s a good look at the numbers.

[Andrew says] I could quibble with details here and there, but I more or less agree with everything you said. I will comment on WPF being separate from .NET 3.0: the training ads were for all of .NET 3.0, not just WPF. I suspect that if and when a component market does develop for .NET 3.0, the vast majority of the components will be for WPF. Given that Xceed is the only one with a shipping WPF component, and its free, it is far too early to tell whether or not this market will ever mature.

[Andrew says] Yep, that was the one. Looks nice! You should do Flex components instead of wasting your time on that WPF stuff