Dave links to a google search for Microsoft CLR and suggests that we

read these articles about Microsoft's CLR, and think and read between the lines. I hadn't understood how pervasive the CLR was going to be. My surprise is not based on anything new, MS has been talking about the CLR since last summer, I just wasn't fully tuning in.

The most pertinent articles appear to be:

Introducing ADO+: Data Access Services for the Microsoft .NET Framework -- MSDN Magazine, November 2000

The Microsoft.NET Strategy: Risky, Brilliant, or Both?

Handling Language Interoperability with the Microsoft .NET Framework

The following is a bit OT but interesting nevertheless: The BYTEmark and C-versus-Java