Two key parts of Microsoft's

Two key parts of Microsoft's .Net, the C# (C-sharp) language and CLI (Common Language Infrastructure) are now standards, having been ratified by ECMA. This puts Microsoft ahead of Sun Microsystems, which pulled out of standardising its proprietary Java technology, though it does have a Java Community Process. ("Java isn't platform independent; it is a platform. Like Windows, it is a proprietary commercial platform" says Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of the C++ programming language.) C# was developed by Anders Hejlsberg, who also developed Turbo Pascal and Delphi.