Welcome to the first issue of SYS-CON Media's new .NET Developers Journal. We've started this magazine because we're excited about .NET. We're excited about Visual Studio .NET's ability to bring the power of drag-and-drop, GUI-based development to even the most complicated kinds of development. We're excited about the .NET Framework's potential for radically decreasing the amount of custom code developers must write. Finally, perhaps most of all, we're excited about .NET's potential to become the industry's platform of choice for XML Web services development ­ not just on Windows, but on all manner of devices and operating systems.

As editor-in-chief, I want to make two promises to you regarding our content.

The first is that we'll always be a truly independent voice on .NET technologies. We'll give you the whole story: the good, the bad, and the ugly...regardless of the players involved. My second promise is that we'll always serve up technically in-depth content. Developers don't need another publication that's long on opinions and short on code. We aim to bring you the in-depth information you need to succeed as a .NET developer.

Meet the Team
To help us deliver on these promises, we've rounded up some of the best people in the industry for our editorial advisory board and to be our regular columnists. Industry leaders such as Gary Cornell from Apress, Peter Drayton from DevelopMentor, Dean Guida from Infragistics, and Keith Franklin from Empowered Software Solutions have already joined our editorial board. Meanwhile, for columnists, we've already gathered together such respected names as Christian Forsberg and Bob Beauchemin ­ with more of similar caliber soon to follow!

Love at First Sight
As for myself, I had the honor to be one of the first to see a sneak preview of .NET nearly three years ago at Microsoft's corporate headquarters ­ before they'd even decided to call it .NET. But even then, with flaky technical preview code, it was love at first sight! Even then it was easy to see how the tools that now make up the .NET platform were going to vastly improve developers' lives ­ particularly those of us who were wrestling with the difficulties of COM programming on a day-to-day basis.

When I'm not editing this journal, I work as CTE for Expand Beyond Corporation, makers of wireless enterprise management software products such as PocketDBA and PocketAdmin. For this reason, I have a particularly keen interest in the mobile aspects of .NET technology. Last year, I even wrote a book for Apress called Mobile .NET.

Getting Around
Whether you're doing mobile computing or more traditional desktop and Web-based development, you're sure to find plenty of interest in every new issue of .NET Developer's Journal. To this end, we've divided it into four main sections:

"Home" is where you'll find book reviews, news items, and editorials. In "Desktop," GDI+, Visual Studio .NET tips and tricks, and general language discussions are just some of the many topics. In our "Server" section, technologies such as ASP.NET, Serviced Components, and other enterprise-computing topics will be given the spotlight. Last, but not least, "Everywhere" covers such cutting-edge topics as mobile computing, .NET on other platforms, and Web services.

Finally, as you read this or future issues, please feel free to send whatever comments, complaints, or suggestions directly to me at derek@sys-con.com. Happy coding!

Author Bio
Derek Ferguson is editor-in-chief of .NET Developer's Journal and a renowned author, speaker, and developer. His list of books authored includes Mobile.NET, Debugging ASP, MCSD Solution Architectures, and Broadband Internet Access for Dummies. Derek serves as chief technology evangelist for Expand Beyond Corp., a leading provider of wireless enterprise management software. derek@sys-con.com