Though Mono's early use was mostly on Linux desktop applications, over time it has evolved into a cross-platform environment for software developers, noted Miguel de Icaza, cofounder of the GNOME project.

"We originally started to work on Mono because we wanted to make developers happier and more productive on Linux," de Icaza said. "As the project matured, developers started taking advantage of Mono's open-source nature" to essentially gain access to .NET on their own terms via "a platform that could be adapted, morphed, ported and modified to suit many different uses."

A Working Debugger

Mono 2.0 enables software developers to build applications for desktops, servers and other computing devices while employing Microsoft-based environments. The resulting applications can then be deployed across multiple operating-system platforms, including Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, Windows, Nintendo's Wii, and even the iPhone and iPod touch, de Icaza said.

Previous iterations of Mono have already been deployed to run code on large clusters of servers for Linden Labs' SecondLife. De Icaza also noted that Mono is currently being embedded in portable MP3 players and powers Unity3D's game engine on the Apple iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.

However, there was an area where the Mono project had underdelivered in the past, which de Icaza characterized as a constant source of pain. "Up until now, we did not have a working debugger," de Icaza said. "This has finally changed, and Mono 2.0 includes one for the first time."

Analyzing the Code