Building on its January promise to release a new Microsoft .NET (define) development product this year, software tool developer Borland Software (Quote, Company Info) unveiled C#Builder for the .NET Framework Monday.
Borland also announced that it has expanded its relationship with Microsoft (Quote, Company Info) to allow it to ship Microsoft"s SQL Server 2000 Developer Edition with the product. That rounds out its offering, which also includes full developer editions and developer licenses for Borland InterBase, Oracle and IBM DB2.
Widely regarded as the last major independent software development tools vendor left after IBM moved to acquire Rational last December, Scotts Valley, Calif."s Borland has long pitted its developer tools against similar offerings from Microsoft, while also catering to developers on other platforms like J2EE.
But the move to include the SQL Server developer product with C#Builder is just one of several signs that the two companies are now ready to work closely together. As part of the agreement, Microsoft has agreed to create a Borland page where developers can get information about C#Builder, and which can be reached from the SQL Server Web site. The two companies also said they are planning to jointly host a series of seminars designed to show customers the benefits of the two products.