Sources tell Foley that the "textual modeling language" is being worked on by some of Microsoft's best programmers, and will be a big part of the company's service-oriented architecture (SOA) move, centered around Oslo.

"In addition to D, sources said, Microsoft also is readying a complementary editing tool, code-named 'Intellipad,' that will allow developers to create content for the Oslo repository," Foley wrote.

No word yet on whether the name D is expected to stick: There is another D programming language, written by Walter Bright, that was released last year and is now in version 2.0.

Foley predicts that Microsoft will preview D in October at the Microsoft Professional Developers conference.

Microsoft has yet to comment on the report.

You can contact the editors about New Microsoft Programming Language: 'D'? at editor@reddevnews.com.