They're bastards, but they're attentive bastards.

How long have the users of languages that don't look like C++ said to Sun "Hey, we like the idea of a VM that runs everywhere but your VM is too specific to the Java language. Howabout extending the VM to be capable of hosting several languages?"

Sun, in their arrogance, didn't listen. A few languages have been retargeted to run on the JVM, but its always something of a bad fit.

Microsoft heard this and set out to provide a runtime that supports lots of languages. Sounds crazy but MS is promoting diversity in programming models while Sun is looking like the monopolist actively hindering advancement.

I don't think the .NET runtime is rich enough either. Its got some issues. But it at least acknowledges the potential for diversity in programming languages.