I presented on BizTalk 2004, code-named 'Jupiter,' and .Net last night. I think I may have scared people away from BizTalk 2004 with my warnings about the documentation and the tutorials. While the support material certainly is lacking and there are errors/oversights in the tutorials, this is common to working with product betas in general; I call this the "bitter beta kool-aid." In defense of the product, they note in their materials that this is a beta and it does look like there are some very cool features/enhancements to BZ2004; after all, they aren't claiming to serve the finest kool-aid in the land!
When BizTalk 2004 is officially released (early 2004 from my understanding), and the documentation/community support matures, this third iteration of the messaging/orchestration platform may be the one that pushes BizTalk to be adopted more widely; the flexibility in port configuration and .Net integration will make it very attractive. It is pricey, however . . .
I know, kool-aid snobs shouldn't go looking for the good stuff from a beta release, but I sure had my hopes up. I didn't have the time to wade through all the obstacles the BizTalk 2004 beta stood in my way, so I brewed a home-grown integration engine instead, small and simple -- and more importantly on time.
I should add that my friend Jianming Li from UniSys rounded out the presentation very nicely. He presented his success story with an earlier version of BizTalk and the creation of a local government product. My favorite quote from his portion was about the complexity of some of the XML standards: "I don't know how anyone can take the time to understand all that stuff." I know how he feels!
So, for the record, BizTalk 2004 is a vast product that does a lot of very cool things, taking previous versions of BizTalk to new levels. Most people wont have the time to persevere with the Beta, relying on a single BZ2004 newsgroup for support, unless they're doing R&D and have the luxury of time. Keep it in mind, however, once the release hits the market as community support should not be underestimated!
Happy .Netting!