Bill and I have already spoken, but I thought I'd answer this question for the benefit of those here on the board.

I've given this some careful thought. Here are the facts I'm faced with:

1. A stable version of the provider already exists for the 1.1 Framework.
2. The source code for that provider is available for public modification.
3. .NET 2.0 Framework is now shipping.
4. Several enhancements to ADO.NET 2.0 that make writing the new version of the provider under that Framework very appealling.

So, I've decided to punt and write this under the 2.0 .NET Framework. Bill is going to be helping me and our joint development effort starts after the New Year. Our plan is going to be to make a very solid, professional library.

Don't fret, work is already underway so I expect it won't be much longer than early 1Q 2006 before you see the first round of beta. Just to whet your appetite, here are some of the things that may be included:

1. Native compression. .NET 2.0 has compression classes to help with this.
2. Batch insert/update/delete !!! A new feature of ADO.NET 2.0.
3. Asynchronous processing. Another ADO.NET 2.0 feature.
4. Provider Independant Model. Using ADO.NET 2.0 DBProviderFactory and related classes, with native integration into .NET. The provider will now live in the GAC and be registered with the system so you can develop against Sforce like any other database.
5. Visual designer support. As demoed at DreamForce 05.

Please hang in there. It's coming, and it's going to be better than before.

Thanks,
Karl Houseknecht