asp:Feature

The People Have Spoken

asp.netPRO Readers?Choice Awards 2005

By David Riggs

We often take for granted many of the devices we use everyday; those tools of convenience that make our lives more comfortable and/orproductive. This is especially true in the development world, where everyutility or component can add productivity and/or profitability.

For several weeks in March and April I asked you to take afew minutes to participate in our annual Readers? Choice Awards balloting. Itwas your chance to vote for the products and services that make your ASP.NETdevelopment easier, more efficient, and more profitable ? maybe even more fun. Thereare many exceptionally talented people in this industry; this was your opportunityto show them your appreciation and recognition for a job well done.

You considered all the candidates thoughtfully andthoroughly, and you have spoken. But enough preamble. Here are the results ofthe 2005 asp.netPRO Readers? Choice Awards.

Best Add-in

CodeRushfor Visual Studio .NET from Developer Express kicks off this year?s resultswith a repeat performance of last year. Although not as definitive a win,CodeRush?s 23% still provided a healthy margin over this year?s runner-up,CodeSMART 2005 for VS.NET from AxTools, which got 12% of your votes. DevPartnerStudio Professional (10%) and DeKlarit (9%) followed closely in third andfourth place, respectively.

Best Charting & Graphics Tool

Repeating as your choice for best charting and graphicstool, DundasChart for .NET from Dundas Software improved its margin of victory (from 5%last year to 19% this year). Chart FX for .NET from Software FX again placedsecond, but must share the podium with .netCHARTING from WebAvail Productions;both received 16% of your vote. ComponentOne WebChart for ASP.NET (11%) andNevron Chart for .NET (10%) also had solid support at the polls.

Best Chat Application

In the first category to host a new winner, Cute Chat fromCutesoft received 32% of your votes, which was enough to dethrone theincumbent. Akiva?s ChatSpace matched last year?s placement and remained solid asrunner-up (21%). With 18% of your votes, Absolute Live Support .NET slips from lastyear?s first-place finish and must share third place with Active DataOnlineWebChat.

Best Code Editor

What are the chances? Not only repeating last year?s win,but garnering the exact percentage of votes (36%), TextPad from Helios Software Solutions isagain your choice for best code editor. Repeating as runner-up is HomeSite fromMacromedia, although the gap has grown. Last year HomeSite was a close secondwith 32% of the votes; this year?s 25% is solid, but slipping. Grabbing thirdplace for the second year in a row, ASP Express remained steady with 14% of thevotes.

Best Communications Tool

In another repeat performance of last year?s results, IP*Works! .NET Editionfrom /n software is your choice for best communications tool. With 36% of thevotes it beat out this year?s runner-up, TransPort from ComponentScience.Earning 27% of this year?s ballots, TransPort made the incredible leap fromfourth place last year, when it collected but 8% of the votes. Also with arespectable showing, aspNetTraceRoute?s 21% took third.

Best Community Resource

The Code Projectis your choice for best community resource. In second place, and only 6% behindthe leader, is newcomer DotNetBips.com. Rounding out a well-contested category,Microsoft?s ASP.NET Site and 4GuysFromRolla tied for third.

Best Component Set

Usurping perennial powerhouse Developer Express,Infragistics? NetAdvantage2005 Vol. 1 received 23% of your votes to win this year?s title as bestcomponent set. Also moving up was this year?s runner-up, r.a.d.controls fromtelerik, with 17% of the votes. ComponentOne Studio Enterprise returned inthird place, getting 14% of your votes.

Best Content Management System

With a sizable increase over last year?s second-placefinish, and a sizable lead in the voting, telerik?s r.a.d.designergrabbed first place with 36% of your votes. The rest of the pack bunched up;Dozing Dogs CMS took second with 14%, and ComponentArt Rotator for ASP.NET and MonoxPortalEngine each got 12% to tie for third.

Best e-Commerce Package

In a close race to the finish, 21% of your votes for BV Commercefrom BV Software edged out the 18% garnered by IP*Works! CC ICharge .NETEdition from /n software and StoreFront 6-.NET Cart from LaGarde. And with 16%,.netCART Shopping Cart wasn?t far out of the running.

Best E-mail Control

In a three-peat of last year?s results for this category, withalmost identical numbers, aspNet Emailfrom Advanced Intellect took first with 49% of your votes, EasyMail .NETEdition from Quicksoft took second with 12%, and PowerTCP Mail for .NET took aclose third with 10%.

Best Forum Application

Relegating last year?s winner to second place, this year?swinner with 42% of your votes is CommunityServer from Telligent Systems. dotNetBB Forums from dotNetBB.com dropped tosecond place with 24%. Taking third, and also dropping one spot from last year,is Instant Forum .NET, with 16%.

Best Grid

Another category, another new winner: 26% of you chose Spread for WebForms from FarPoint Technologies. Taking second with 20% of your votes islast year?s winner, ASPxGrid from Developer Express. And with 17%, last year?srunner-up, ComponentOne WebGrid for ASP.NET, takes a close third.

Best Hosting Service

With a little more than half the votes, last year?s runner-up,DiscountASP.NET, posted acommanding win in this category. Coming in second with 25% of the votes wasORCS Web. CrystalTech Web Hosting took third with 10%.

Best IDE

There are certainly no surprises with the winner of thiscategory: Getting 72% of your votes, Microsoft Visual Studio.NETcontinues to dominate. Borland?s Delphi and Macromedia?sStudio MX share a distant second place finish.

Best Navigation Control

Sharing top honors in this category are ComponentArt?s ComponentArt Menu forASP.NET and telerik?s r.a.d.menu; eachreceived 24% of your votes. ComponentOne WebMenus and WebBars for ASP.NET isthird, with 15%.

Best Online Editor

In another tight race, reigning champion RichTextBox for ASP.NETfrom Richer Components edged out telerik?s r.a.d.editor, 31% to 28%.r.a.d.editor should be pleased with their runner-up status, though; theyimproved from last year?s fourth-place finish. Last year?s runner-up,CuteEditor for .NET, dropped to third.

Best Polling Tool

With only two contestants in this category, each had a50-50 chance to win. And that?s exactly how the votes came in: Online Voting/Survey Web-Appfrom Comrie Software Solutions and PeterBlum.com?s Peter?sPolling Package each received 50% of your votes. Check back next year forthe rematch.

Best Printing/Reporting Tool

It?s d?j? vu all over again: Replicating last year?sresults, perennial favorites CrystalReports (from Business Objects), ActiveReports for .NET (from DataDynamics), and XtraReports (from Developer Express) finished one, two, andthree.

Best Project Management/Defect Tracking

Defending champion AQdevTeam dropped to fourth, givinglast year?s runner-up the chance to grab first place. With 30% of your votes,Fog Creek Software?s FogBUGZis your choice for top project management/defect tracking tool. SeapineSoftware?s TestTrack Pro came in a solid second with 25%, and OnTime 2005Software Project Management System finished third with 16%.

Best Scheduling/Calendar Tool

Peter?sDate Package remains triumphant in this category, but the margin of victoryhas decreased over this year?s runner-up, Basic Date Picker. Dropping from 40%to 21%, Peter?s Date Package is still your scheduling/calendar tool of choice,but at 19% and 17%, respectively, Basic Date Picker and last year?s runner-up,WebPlanner, are closing in.

Best Security Tool

Is there safety in numbers? Absolutely; especially if thatnumber is 42% of the votes. Not content with last year?s tie for first with n/software?s IP*Works! SSL, PreEmptive Solutions? Dotfuscatortook an early and large lead in this year?s voting. With 16%, IP*Works! SSLcame in a distant second.

Best Testing/QA Tool

Taking the challenge of only receiving 6% of the vote lastyear, ANTS Profilerfrom Red Gate Software made an amazing turnaround to win this year?s ballotingwith an impressive 42% of the votes, beating out last year?s winner,AutomatedQA?s TestComplete, which got 21%. Last year?s runner-up, QuickTestProfessional, dropped to third.

Best Training

Trading places from last year?s results, developmentor and Transcender finished firstand second in this hotly contested category, with 24% and 21% of your votes,respectively. Wintellect, with 19%, and AppDev Training, with 17%, were closeon the leaders? heels.

BestUtility

Placing first and second in this wide open catch-allcategory for the second year running was Altova?s XMLSpy 2005 and AutomatedQA?sAQtime .NET, with 28% and 12% of your votes, respectively. Also with 12%, telerik?sr.a.d.spell shares second place.

Product of the Year

With a variety of products and services from which tochoose, it takes quite a following to take top honors in this category.Emerging as your favorite from all the contestants listed on this year?s asp.netPRO Readers? Choice Awards ballotis DiscountASP.NET. Theyeasily won the Hosting Service category, and obviously have a strong and loyalcustomer base. Honorary mention goes to runner-up DotNetBips.com and third-placefinisher, Dundas Chart for .NET.

Congratulations and Thanks

I?d like to thank all the third-party vendors who createthe products and services included in our survey. The products they create andthe risks they take to bring them to the market are what these awards are allabout. Their efforts make our ASP.NET development efforts more efficient, moreproductive, and, hopefully, more profitable. Congratulations to every companyon the ballot; without these entrepreneurs who are willing to risk their timeand effort each year, there would be no ASP.NET community.

And I?d be remiss if I didn?t extend my thanks to all ofyou in the ASP.NET community for taking your time to vote (as well as those whotook time to provide valuable feedback). The asp.netPRO Readers? Choice Awards really do belong to you ? wesimply tabulate the votes and report the results. By selecting the winners, youhave recognized those who excel at their craft ? and issued a challenge to allthe others.

Here?s to another year of great development tools!

David Riggs iseditor-in-chief of asp.netPRO and itscompanion e-newsletter, asp.netNOW.Reach him at mailto:driggs@informant.com.