Borland gets TogetherSoft for \$185 million. The software maker says acquiring TogetherSoft will help Borland bolster its programming tools lineup. [CNET News.com]
Well, this is interesting. TogetherSoft has never been the best CASE tool, while JBuilder has traditionally been the best Java-based IDE. Will TogetherSoft bring down the quality of JBuilder or will JBuilder bring up the quality of TogetherJ?
Borland's strategy re .NET is not yet clear. Borland has the tricky job of straddling what are now four platforms: native Linux apps with Kylix, Java applications with JBuilder / TogetherJ, native Intel with C++ Builder, and .NET. Mind you, each of these platforms involves a different library. If it were just code generation, I could see the company going down the "platform neutral" path, but the effort involved in going forward with library compatibility in so many disparate areas while still allocating sufficient resources to the primary task of improving the IDE and programming experience seems impossible.
Ramifications: Will Rational cede the integrated Java CASE market and move into an even tighter emphasis on .NET?