[vukmir]

I know, but it missed an opportunity to go big.

In early 2000s, Microsoft basically told Win32 API developers to either migrate to .NET or to go fuck themselves. There was a lot of FUD flying around. At one point, people were wondering will the new Visual Studio ship with C/C++ compiler.

In it's quest to promote .NET, Microsoft even got Borland to kill itself by jumping on the .NET train. The days of native Windows development were over and the best alternative to MS stack, Borland with its Delphi, decided to commit suicide.

That was the chance for D to shine. I was among the developers looking for non-MS solution for native Windows development and D was my favorite, but the Tango vs. Phobos thing killed it for me.

Like many developers at that time, I left Windows for the Web development. If D was then what is now, I would stay with Windows a bit longer than I did.