.Net Jonesie - MVP's, MVP's, MVP's

Friday, September 30, 2005

Well, here I am, schluming it in Seattle for the MVP Global Summit with 1499 other MVP's from around the globe, including a few from NZ. Yesterday was registration and the regional dinners. Today was the first real day of stuff, which started with the executive presentations by Steve Balmer (CEO), Jim Alchin (VP of Platforms) and others.

I hadn't seen Steve Balmer present (in person) before so it was a treat for me. He lived up to my expectations. There was a good Q&A session at the end of his usual lively speech, and he fielded a few tough questions and gave good answers. There was also the obligatory funny video featuring a couple of dweebs - I found it embarrassing because I think Bill G can dance better than me. Oh well, better stick to my day job.

Jim Alchin provided a great demo of Vista, which I also hadn't seen since the 1st preview. It was awesome. I may try installing it on a spare PC I have at home (Nic - found a use for it!).

In the afternoon we split into our product groups and I saw YABPOTS (Yet another bloody demonstration of Team System) plus another funny video. And then Don Box and Dharma Shukla re-presented their PDC session on WinFx, including the W*F stuff - Windows Presentation/Communication/Workflow Foundations. Don Box is hilarious and it was a great session.

Prediction: WinFx (and the Workflow Foundation in particular) is going to fundamentally change the way you write applications. But, you don't need to worry about it for a little while yet.

There was a few announcements of new services and products, but NDA prevents me giving any details. However, I think it's ok to say that Microsoft are listening very closely to feedback from the community - via things like the Product Feedback site and MVP's - and you will soon see some great innovations that will improve your life as a developer. If you have a message for Microsoft, use your MVP's to get it through - that's what we are here for!

My hotel is great, the people are great, Seattle is lovely (although weather looks like its going to pack up) and being in the company of so many "famous" people is slightly daunting.

Overall, I'd say the 1st day and a half has been pretty good. Tomorrow also looks interesting, with a couple more sessions and another party. It's tough, but I'll struggle through :}

Friday, September 30, 2005 4:13:28 PM (New Zealand Standard Time, UTC+12:00)

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