New Update of 'Roslyn' CTP Available

An update of the "Roslyn" Community Technology Preview (CTP) has been released, Microsoft announced.

The September CTP features a host of new language features and a number of API changes. Microsoft warns that there are "known issues" with the CTP, and that only a subset of the C# and VB languages are included. The APIs that have been updated include the Compiler, Services and Editor Services APIs.

Posted by Keith Ward on 09/19/20120 comments

Microsoft Developer Division Loses Another Chief

So, Jason Zander is following Scott Guthrie over to Azure. Zander, formerly Corporate Vice President of the Visual Studio engineering team, is moving from DevDiv to partner up with the cool new kid on the block, Windows Azure (as the estimable Mary Jo Foley reports).

Foley received an emailed statement from Microsoft, laying out the changes. It read, in part:

Posted by Keith Ward on 09/18/20123 comments

The Microsoft Logo Makeover

Microsoft has unveiled its first new logo in a quarter-century. It looks like this:

Posted by Keith Ward on 08/23/20124 comments

Join GitHub, Get a Job

There's a fascinating story on CNET about how software developers are getting hired based on their work on GitHub, the open-source code repository, and how it's replacing LinkedIn as the go-to site for hiring managers.

I'd never considered it, but it makes sense: If you've put a lot of stuff on GitHub, that's real work that potential employers can see. It's one thing to have a great resume, but another entirely to have great software already built (or forked, if you haven't built it yourself.) "A common view is that a developer who has a profile there has an advantage over those who don't," writes Daniel Terdiman.

Posted by Keith Ward on 08/17/20120 comments

Microsoft's Branding Nightmare

Metro? Modern? Windows 8? What's going on here?

First, word comes that Metro's out as a designation meaning "applications built for the version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM processors". Apparently, there was a partner conflict that Microsoft didn't want to turn ugly. But here's the thing: Metro's been used for years now to refer to the new UI. My question: why didn't anyone discover this potential conflict before? Big, huge, Jupiter-sized epic fail by marketing or someone else at Microsoft. My prediction: heads, more than one, are going to roll over this -- in fact, they may have already.

Posted by Keith Ward on 08/10/201210 comments

Build Conference Goes from Zero to Sold Out in an Hour

If you blinked, you missed it. If you were on the phone, or out on a run, at the store or in a meeting, and you didn't sign up for Microsoft's upcoming Build conference, you're out of luck.

It appears that the show sold out in an hour. That's One. Single. Hour. Sixty little minutes.

Wow. Fortunately for us press types, things don't work quite the same way. I was in the middle of a press briefing -- with Microsoft, ironically enough -- when Build registration came and went in the time it takes to watch a Star Trek episode. So I'm set for Build, but many, many others aren't.

Posted by Keith Ward on 08/08/20123 comments

5 Surface Questions for Microsoft

Well, it's certainly a new day for Microsoft, isn't it? Yesterday's announcement of the Surface tablets signals a major shift. Microsoft has decided that being more like Apple isn't a bad thing: making its own hardware to go along with software means complete control of the pipeline.

That also means, of course, additional risk: Microsoft doesn't have a history of rolling its own, so there will undoubtedly be hiccups along the way, as the hard lessons will have to be learned -- lessons Apple has long ago internalized.

Posted by Keith Ward on 06/19/20122 comments

Microsoft's Bold Choice of Lumia Invisibility

I've seen that commercial for the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone a few times now, and noticed something interesting about it: Nowhere in the ad are the names "Microsoft" or "Windows" mentioned. That's odd, of course, since the Lumia runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS.

This lack of identification differentiates it from the Top Dogs, Android and iPhone. Their commercials explicitly promote the OS, in Android's case, and Apple, in iPhone's case. Not so for the Lumia. It's a bold choice by both companies -- Nokia and Microsoft -- and says a lot about the smartphone market.

Posted by Keith Ward on 05/07/20126 comments

A Windows Phone Sea Change?

Things appear to be changing with Windows Phone at the most important current level: sales awareness (I say current level because the most important factor, of course, is building a great product. That mission has been accomplished.) This is great news for Microsoft.

Here's the background: I live in a rural area of Maryland, the kind of slow-pace-of-life backwater that takes time for technology to filter down to. I buy my phones from a local AT&T dealer, so it's a store I know well. I've been checking on the store's Windows Phone collection ever since the first one was released. What I've found in the past is the same kind of thing you read about in other reports: almost no Windows Phones; relegated to a corner in the back; salespeople with little knowledge, who look at you strangely when you ask about Windows Phones. In other words, nothing to interest a potential customer.

Posted by Keith Ward on 05/01/201216 comments

Microsoft Coding Languages Continue to be Popular

Working in Microsoft programming languages puts you in good company, according to an organization that tracks such things.

In the last year, C# overtook C++ as the third-most popular language in use right now, says the TIOBE Programming Community Index, and other Microsoft-created languages are either holding steady or gaining in popularity. The index, which is generated monthly, shows Java and C holding steady in the top two spots, as they have for years. Tiobe calls itself a company that specializes in assessing and tracking software.

Posted by Keith Ward on 03/16/20127 comments

Learning Resource: Codecademy

Promoting software development education is something I'm keenly interested in; it seems in some ways that young people are getting less, rather than more, interested in learning how to program. It's a shame, because opportunies are exploding, and it's hard to think of a more recession-proof career.

The good news is that it's getting easier all the time to learn how to code. The resources available are getting better than ever, and I love to highlight them and recommend to others that they do the same.

Posted by Keith Ward on 03/15/20121 comments

The .NET Framework 4.5 Beta is Exciting, Too

We're all excited, and rightly so, over the release of the Visual Studio 11 beta. (See our March cover story for more on VS11's powerful new features). But that's really only part of the story. The next-generation .NET Framework -- version 4.5 -- is out in beta, too. I think in all the hype and hoopla over VS11 and the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the news about .NET has been mostly lost. That's a shame.

Posted by Keith Ward on 03/01/20120 comments