Why did Microsoft release C#?

It may be tempting to write off the .NET strategy as merely a ploy to increase dependency on Microsoft’s platform, and indeed that may be a correct assessment. Given that Microsoft holds such dominance on the maturing desktop market, the folks in Redmond must be aiming to expand in the lucrative server sector. It appears that C# is a way to have more developers build software for Windows, and thus generate greater customer demand. In a way, this mirrors MS’s push into technical computing. The Linux / Unix community should take this as an incentive to create better programming tools.