Rick et al,

Since this thread is really not going away, I'm going to shift gears
and try to put it in perspective. Rick, it is simply not clear to me
just what you're trying to accomplish.

- Raising our consciousness about Microsoft's importance in the world?

  I doubt anyone in this group was unaware of it before you wrote.

- Trying to get more of us to write Ada applications against
  Windows interfaces?

  Lots of us are already doing that, and I doubt this discussion
  has served to recruit many more.

- Convincing us that Microsoft "standards" are standards?

  We've beaten it to death - different people define the term
  differently?

- Accomplishing any significant shift of priorities in the Ada
  community?

  I doubt it, because Ithink you're talking to the wrong people
  here. See below.

[snip]
>
> This is definitely a platform on which Ada should have a presence.
>
> Enjoy the report(s),
> Rick

Well, if you think so, you - as a person who seems to be trying to
bridge the gap between the Ada community and Microsoft - seem to be
in a good position to establish some contacts on both sides. An
endless thread on Team-Ada seems to me to be one of the _least_
effective ways to get this done. A more effective way by far is
to work behind the scenes as a "marriage broker". I have a good
bit of experience trying to make "marriages" between Ada vendors
and the academic community. Not all my efforts succeeded, but not
all my efforts failed either.

Rick, have you tried working behind the scenes to make connections
between the relevant Microsoft folks and the Ada vendor companies?
The decision-makers on both sides are - we can be pretty sure - not
likely to be readers of Team-Ada!

Mike Feldman