Microsoft Corp. will open a new chapter of its tools strategy this week when it announces a team-oriented version of its application development platform. At its Tech Ed conference in San Diego, Microsoft plans to unveil Burton, the code name for its Microsoft Visual Studio Team System, sources said. The system will feature improved support for distributed, team-oriented enterprise application development, they said.
With the release of Burton, the Redmond, Wash., company will move into direct competition with IBM"s Rational division and Borland Software Corp., among others, in providing tools for the overall software development life cycle, from requirements management to design, modeling, development, testing and maintenance. Visual Studio Team System is part of the new Microsoft Solutions System, which is an extensible life-cycle tools platform to help development teams deliver service-oriented solutions.