PDC Gets DQ'd -- Visual Studio Magazine

Desmond File

PDC Gets DQ'd

Late last week, Microsoft let slip via MSDN that the 2007 Professional Developer's Conference, scheduled for Oct. 2 to 5 in Los Angeles, would not be taking place. Microsoft called it a case of bad timing, with testable versions of upcoming products like Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio "Orcas" and the "Katmai" update of SQL Server all due in programmers' hands ahead of the forward-looking event.

But frequent RDN contributor Mary Jo Foley thinks the sudden cancellation could be related to an information lockdown around Windows client OS development -- something she noted in a May 15 blog post ahead of the WinHEC conference.

Wrote Foley at the time: "Execs are not talking at all about Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 or 'Fiji,' the Media Center update expected later this year. And don't even think about hearing/seeing anything on Windows Seven, aka Windows 2009."

With PDC off the docket, where should developers look for guidance? How about Barcelona, Spain? The TechEd Developers 2007 conference takes place in Barcelona during Nov. 5 to 9 and should provide a venue for covering at least some of the ground vacated by PDC in October. You can find more information at the Web site here.

How valuable has Microsoft's PDC been for you in the past? Give us your opinion about Microsoft's premier developer conference and shoot us some ideas on what Microsoft might do better going forward. E-mail me at [email protected]. If we publish your response in our print magazine, you'll receive a free RDN T-shirt!

Posted by Michael Desmond on 05/30/2007

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