This is not a benchmark of .NET.

This is not a benchmark of .NET. I want to make that clear at the outset, because I can not afford a legal defense against Microsoft.

The latest (Dec 2002) EULAs (End User License Agreements) that Microsoft has forced me to agree to prohibit me from publishing benchmarks of .NET. What is .NET? I went to the Microsoft site to find out at http://www.microsoft.com/net/basics/whatis.asp :

Defining the Basic Elements of .NET
April 4, 2002

Microsoft® .NET is a set of Microsoft software technologies for connecting your world of information, people, systems, and devices. It enables an unprecedented level of software integration through the use of XML Web services: small, discrete, building-block applications that connect to each other - as well as to other, larger applications - via the Internet.

[...] The Components of Microsoft .NET-Connected Software

.NET is infused into the products that make up the Microsoft platform, providing the ability to quickly and reliably build, host, deploy, and utilize connected solutions using XML Web services, all with the protection of industry-standard security technologies.

In other words, .NET is associated with all Microsoft software. Microsoft doesn't want me to run performance tests on any of their recent products, or at least to make the results known. I wonder what Microsoft is worried about? Is it worried that I would demonstrate that competing technologies such as Java J2EE are superior? (this clearly is, in my opinion as a programmer).

These EULAs are for XP 'service packs' that I must apply so as to avoid being cracked when connected to the net using Microsoft software. I need to have them. The EULAs are dryly worded legal agreements running several pages with the familiar detailed copyright notices, and the disclaimers of responsibility IN VERBOSE UPPERCASE. The benchmark prohibition is a short paragraph sandwiched in the middle, and you could easily scroll past without noticing it.

I will comply on principle, and also because I really have better things to do with my time.

P.S. Here is a good overview of .NET.

P.P.S. Here is a discussion of .NET benchmarks.