By the end of the year, two platforms--J2EE and .Net--will essentially control the programming languages market. J2EE already commands large market share, while Microsoft has moved all of its languages over to .Net. However, unlike five years ago, the differences between platforms is no longer that they are language-specific, as .Net and J2EE each represent more than one language. Interestingly enough, most people think that being language-specific is at issue. This is because Microsoft introduced the concept of the CLR, or common language runtime. What that means is two of the languages offered by Microsoft, VB.Net and C#, both share the same runtime.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-842922.html
