When the 1999 report was published, COM+ was just a promise. XML was more than a promise, but tools helping the developer create XML-based solutions were scarce.
Our decision at that time was to postpone discussions of COM+ and XML to a later occasion. That occasion presented itself when Microsoft Press made a contract with us to write the book you are now reading.
The question was, should we continue to support the "old" environment with MTS and ADO, or should we focus entirely on new things like COM+ and XML? Discussing it with Microsoft Press, we came to the following decisions:
So the decision was easy. We should keep the focus mainly on development for Windows 2000 and COM+ without deserting any developers for Windows NT 4.0 and MTS. We should give examples of data transport using disconnected ADO recordsets as well as examples using XML. So we would give early as well as late adopters of Windows 2000 architectural guidance.