There were two versions of Visual J++, Microsoft’s Java developer environment, Visual J++ 1.0, which shipped as part of Developer Studio in 1996, and Visual J++ 6.0, which shipped in Visual Studio in 1998. I don’t recall ever using those tools when they were current. But I’ve since used both, and am impressed with the quality of Microsoft’s work.

I’m even more impressed by the extent of Microsoft’s work to seamlessly integrate Java into its developer toolset and with its then-current platforms. Visual J++ 1.0 allowed developers to write Java applets that could access COM components via ActiveX. And Visual J++ 6.0 included a complete framework, called the Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), for using Java to create Windows applications.