Snowball - The Blog

Fellow Regional Director Sondre Bjellas took his camera the PDC in Los Angeles and created a great looking video report that you can watch below.

Microsoft Belux did an interview with the Belgian Regional Directors on their opinions of PDC2008. You can see the video here:

(Note: this video is in Dutch!)

On PDC 2008, Microsoft announced a ton of new technologies we'll be working with in the not-so-distant future. It's vital that you get up to speed with these technologies.
My friend, fellow Regional Director and travel companion Grégory "Rédo" Renard found some interesting e-books and white papers on Microsoft.com regarding these new technologies.

1. Introducing the Azure™ Services Platform

Using computers in the cloud can make lots of sense. Rather than buying and maintaining your own machines, why not exploit the acres of Internet-accessible servers on offer today? Get an early look into the Azure Services Platform in this White Paper by David Chappell.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/4/3/e43bb484-3b52-4fa8-a9f9-ec60a32954bc/Azure_Services_Platform.docx

2. Getting Started with Microsoft SQL Data Services – A Developer’s Focus

Microsoft® SQL Data Services (SDS) offers highly scalable, Internet-facing, enterprise-class database and advanced query processing for customers who want to build new applications or extend existing investments into the cloud. This paper explains the key features and architecture of SDS, and describes how you can start programming with SDS in your own applications.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/b/4/8b4aa374-cbee-4e6b-9f01-c9177204b6e1/Microsoft%20SQL%20Data%20Services%20-%20Developer%20Focus.pdf

3. Microsoft SQL Data Services – Under the Hood

Microsoft SQL Data Services (SDS) is a cloud-deployed database service from Microsoft. SDS provides a web-facing database, retrieval, and manipulation features in a hosted, Web-facing solution. Cloud-deployed database solutions such as SDS can provide many benefits to the enterprise, including rapid provisioning, cost-effective scalability, high availability, and reduced management overhead. This paper provides an architectural overview of SDS, and describes how you can use SDS to augment your existing on-premises data infrastructure.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/b/4/8b4aa374-cbee-4e6b-9f01-c9177204b6e1/Microsoft%20SQL%20Data%20Services%20-%20Under%20the%20Hood.pdf

I have to say that the PDC event was great: great keynotes, great speakers, great announcements. In short, one of, if not the best event I ever attended.

While the entire atmosphere of the event is something special, the technical content at an event of this size is hard to imagine. Microsoft realized the same thing and has again for this event decided that all session recordings are available for free for everyone (not only for attendees).

You can get them all via this link or Channel 9.

Yes, you read it right. While the PDC is normally an event that is organized every 2-3 years (the previous editions were in 2003 and 2005). This time, Microsoft decided that in 2009, a new edition of the event will take place.

So, mark the date in your agenda: November 17 - 20 2009, again in Los Angeles!

A few weeks ago, Microsoft released the news that all PDC attendees where getting a 160GB hard drive, especially designed for the PDC conference. On this disk, all the "goods" as Microsoft calls them, can be found. Included is, among much more, Windows 7 ISO's (pre-beta), a Visual Studio 2010 VPC, a WCF/WF/Oslo VPC, WCF Starter kit... and much more.

I'm currently creating my first VPC with Windows 7. I ran into a problem trying to create the image from the disks we got. I hope I have more luck trying from the ISO file.

Here's an overview of what can be found on the drive.

The Windows 7 Hard Disk.vhd was created by me however :)

Windows 7

PDC 2008 not only was the event on which Microsoft first announced Windows Azure, it was also the first time Microsoft showed Windows 7, the next version of the desktop operating system. The code shown is pre-beta, so not complete, but it's a stable version, that according to some people I spoke with, is ready to be used in production environments. I know I will be installing it in the next day on my Dell XPS. The upgrade path to beta (and after) should also not give you any problems.

I was on an interview with the Belgian press in Los Angeles, and the most important question of course was: "How is this an improvement on Windows Vista?". I read the online versions of the Belgian papers on beforehand, in which Windows 7 is presented as Windows Vista with a new user interface. While Windows 7 has a greatly improved UI, it contains many more improvements over Windows Vista. Let's start by taking a look at what is changing in the new version!

Windows 7 improvements

User interface
As said in the intro, the UI dramatically changed. Changes that in my opinion are a great evolution on the UI we currently have. Windows 7's UI builds upon Windows Vista's Aero Glass, but improves in some areas where users expressed concerns over the past years.

• The new taskbar: Microsoft vastly improved the taskbar: you can now drag items to the place you want them. You can also switch how items are shown (with text, large icon, small icon...). The tray icons also received a facelift: the ones from Microsoft are grouped, as well as all others from third party applications. This way, you won't be losing any more space to those nasty icons. Note that the Quick Launch bar also has disappeared: the reasoning behind this is that Microsoft wants to make the difference between a running and a non-running app as small as possible.
  Also, there won't be an option to change back to a classic view of the taskbar, so start getting used to it!
• Jump lists: this entirely new feature that enables you to right-click on any item in the taskbar and it will show you some options. These options can be changed by the developer as well as the user and for example give you access to the recently opened files and most used commands. A great little new feature if you ask me!
• Sidebar is gone: as you take a look at the new UI, you'll see that the sidebar is gone. However, gadgets are still there and they can be dropped anywhere you want on the desktop.
• Snapping to sides: If you drag a window to the top, it will be automatically maximized. The same goes for dragging a window to the left or right hand side of the desktop: it will take up exactly 50% of screen real estate.
• Ribbon is king: The ribbon is all over the place in Windows 7 and is now also used in Paint, Wordpad... Note that Wordpad also supports the Office 2007 formats, so no more mails of people that don't have Office 2007 installed and can't open that file you sent them!

Virtual folders
Announced originally for Windows Vista, the Virtual Folders option will make it in Windows 7. Documents, Music... all become Virtual Folders, but it's possible to create your own by linking files to a Virtual Folder.

Improved networking HomeGroup
While networking improved an awful lot in Vista, in Windows 7 a lot of small nifty features will make (home) networking even easier. File sharing will become easier, you can search in the network for a file and based on the network you are connected to, you will get for example a different default printer selected. I like!

Media Player 12
Media Player 12 is included in the new version of Windows as well. Big changes include the missing "Now Playing button" as well as the inclusion of new codecs like Divx and h264.

UAC, you gone also?
Probably one of the most criticized features of Vista was UAC (User Access Control). While the feature made Windows much more secure, it was way to verbose and it's the first setting I change when doing a fresh install of Windows (I know it's not OK, but I do it anyway). In Windows 7, Microsoft gives you the option to change how verbose UAC really is, thus making it more configurable using the Action Center. The Security Center will be gone also.

Multitouch
The mouse and the keyboard are SO 1990's! The future is Touch! (I might have invented a nice quote there? ;) ). Windows 7 is completely touch enabled, meaning that every mouse movement can be translated to a touch movement. What this means, is that it's possible to get Touch even in non-Touch enabled applications like Word.
Read also my post on the Day 3 Keynote where Rick Rashid showed a Surface "with another surface" on top, giving you even more Touch options.

Feedback
Windows 7 is built based on experience with previous versions of the Windows platform. However, Microsoft is also integrating customer feedback much more within the system. As a result, the operating system will appeal even more to customers, giving them the features they want and expect from Microsoft. How great is that?!

DeviceStage
With previous versions, getting the correct drivers for your hardware may sometimes have given you some problems. For Windows 7, Microsoft created DeviceStage, which offers a unified and consistent way to set up and use nearly any device, while also dramatically simplifying the Bluetooth device experience.

 First OS for enabling Software and Services
Fitting right into the Software and Services strategy, Windows 7 will be the first OS making use of the vision of Microsoft regarding S+S. For many years now, Windows connected thousands of peripherals and partners to the PC ecosystem.  With Windows 7, more and more of the Windows experiences will become service enabled or will be powered by services. The platform has been designed to interact with services and some experiences are even completely delivered by services.

Windows Live services are another important part of this vision. The Windows Live are a set of services that are designed to work with the Windows platform. 

I want to try it
Great. However, here's the bad news. Unless you came to PDC/are going to WinHEC next week, you'll have to wait. Microsoft released a pre-beta version on these conferences, but a general-public preview is only coming with the first beta. No word yet on the release of this one, I'm sorry...

Live Mesh

Ok, on to Mesh. Today, Microsoft released Live Mesh in beta format. Up until now, it has been in CTP. One of the most important changes now is that it also available in Europe (up until now it was only available in the US).
Now, what exactly is Mesh? Using Mesh, you can access your data, access your applications from the cloud through a web browser or you can have it running locally offline running off the local hard drive.

This open beta includes added new features and stability and performance enhancements to improve the overall Live Mesh experience.

A question that might arise is how Mesh fits into the S+S strategy. Live Mesh is a consumer offering that is natively integrated with Live Services – it makes the core functionality of Live Services available to users.

Go try Mesh, it's a really cool and handy application.

Live Services Framework

The Live Framework is the uniform way for programming Live Services within the Azure Services platform from a variety of platforms, programming languages, applications and devices. The Live Framework can be used for handling user data and application resources. Consume and combine Live Services to build applications that span across digital devices and the web. Live Services includes Mesh technologies for synchronizing user’s data and extending web applications across multiple devices.

The SDK and documentation are available at http://dev.live.com/liveframework/ .

On the first day of the PDC 2008, Microsoft announced Windows Azure, the new operating system for the cloud. Still unclear what this is all about? No worries, in this post, I'll try to explain everything you need to know. After reading, you'll be able to take part in any conversation on Windows Azure!

So what is Windows Azure actually? Is it the new version of Windows that you'll be installing on your PC in some time? Is it a codename? Well, in fact, it's none of the above!
The Azure Services Platform is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together.

Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

So, in short, it's a platform to host (part of) your applications on, giving you unparalleled options when it comes to scalability, reliability and performance.

Azure Services Platform is built on the Windows Azure foundational layer and consists out of some components, including:

• SQL Services for relational data storage and querying
• .NET Services for service-connectivity, workflow, and messaging
• Live Services for application extension of the Windows Live platform
• SharePoint Services which provide extensibility for SharePoint Server 
• Dynamics CRM Services which provide extensibility for Dynamics CRM

Is Azure something for me?
You might be wondering, what's in it for me? Am I going to be able to benefit from this move? There's something in Azure for most of us. If you are developing applications for large enterprises, you'll want to take advantage of the options to move part of your applications off-premise, while keeping parts on-premise. All while taking advantage of the high availability and versatility.

If you are a smaller organization or ISV or even a startup, and you are unsure about the needed infrastructure for your project, you can use Azure services as well.

Even students and hobbyists will be able to take advantage of the platform. I know I will be moving some of my blogs to Azure when it's ready!

And... When can I start using Azure?
Well, it depends. If you attended PDC, you'll get an account really quickly. It is however only a CTP (Community Technology Preview) so it only contains some of the functions the final platform will contain. If you didn't attend PDC, you'll be able to get an account in the following weeks.
No word on final release date, Microsoft reckons it will be based on the feedback they are getting from testers. Also, no word yet on final pricing.

OK, we got Silverlight already... What's in the name Azure?
Well for starters, the sky is azure colored. The sky is open and limitless. Windows Azure supports the concept of vast capacity and flexibility. Azure is a vibrant and dynamic color. It’s uplifting. Azure is also linked to the image of the blue sky and, by extension, ‘the cloud.’ 

Developers, developers... We know the story. How will they be developing for Azure?
Well, to start with, I did some hands-on labs with the new tools installed in Visual Studio 2008. I must say that working and developing for Azure is really transparent from a developer's perspective.

In addition, The Azure Service Platform is designed to work with both Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies. The Azure Services Platform supports the REST, SOAP and XML protocols. In addition to that, Azure will also in the future work with PHP and other tools like Eclipse.

Just released are the Windows Azure Tools, a toolset for Visual Studio 2008 currently in CTP and available for anyone from this link. These tool enable developers to build ASP.NET Web applications and services that are hosted in the Windows Azure™ cloud services operating system.

You don't have to learn anything new: just use your existing skills, and easily develop, debug, test, and deploy Web applications for Windows Azure from within Visual Studio. Developers can build ASP.NET applications using the same tools and techniques they use today. Included in the Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio is the Windows Azure SDK environment, which includes a simulated cloud environment that runs on the developer’s machine, so developers can test and debug their applications locally, called the Development Fabric.

.NET Services
One of the most important parts in my opinion, being a .NET developer, are the .NET services of course.

These .NET Services are a set of Microsoft-hosted, highly scalable, developer-oriented services that provide key building blocks required by many cloud-based and cloud-aware applications. Much like the .NET Framework provides higher-level class libraries that make developers more productive, .NET Services can help developers focus on their application logic rather than building and deploying their own cloud-based infrastructure services.

The .NET Service Bus makes it easy to connect applications together over the Internet. Services that register on the Bus can easily be discovered and accessed, across any network topology. The Service Bus provides the familiar Enterprise Service Bus application pattern, while helping to solve some of the hard issues that arise when implementing this pattern across network, security, and organizational boundaries, at Internet-scale.

The Microsoft .NET Access Control Service provides an easy way to control web applications and services while integrating with standards-based identity providers, including enterprise directories and web identity systems such as Windows Live ID. Authorization decisions can be pulled out of the application and into a set of declarative rules that can transform incoming security claims into claims that applications understand.

The Microsoft .NET Workflow Service is a high-scale host for running workflows in the cloud. It provides a set of activities optimized for sending, receiving, and manipulating HTTP and Service Bus messages; a set of hosted tools to deploy, manage and track the execution of workflow instances; and a set of management API’s. Workflows can be constructed using the familiar Visual Studio 2008 Workflow Designer.

You can read more on the blog of .NET Services here.

I hope this info will get you up to speed with Windows Azure!

The third keynote at PDC 2008 is covering Microsoft Research and how their work influences the products that Microsoft creates. Almost all the technologies we use daily from Microsoft contain in some way a technology from Microsoft Research.

The team of over 850 PHDs is located all over the world in 5 research centers, of which the largest is located in Redmond. Also, some collaborative institutions work closely together with MSR.

Some of the most known technologies coming from MSR are DirectX, Windows Media Audio and Video, SQLServer, Robotics Studio... MSR also does hardware research, of which the tablet PC is a good example. The first conception of a tablet PC occured in the research center in the UK.

Some of the technologies that are now being worked on:

• PEX: a technology to figure out what you need to unit-test.
• DryadLINQ: creates a plan for the execution of large LINQ queries in the cloud
  

Microsoft Research not only works directly on technologies, they also try to make efforts in the environment. MSR is investing stongly in Energy Efficient Computing. They developed a sensor containing a small 16bit processor that measures the heat in a certain spot. In the past few days, the entire keynote room was equiped with over 80 sensors. During the convention, the sensors recorded the temperatures and sent that data to the cloud. Using this information, more efficient cooling schema's can be created.

Now, this technique can also be used for data centers and that's exactly what Microsoft is doing. Since they are building a lot of data centers to get ready for Azure, it's vital that the energy is sed efficiently in these data centers.

Using this technology, it's much easier to follow the evolving climate. Therefore, a number of sensors are already being used in the Swiss Alps.

On a different front, MSR also has a vast effect on health care. One of the focus areas is the creation of Personlized Medicine. What this means, is that it is the goal of heathcare to tailor medicine to a particular person. The current expectation is that in the 2-3 following years, using special techniques, this will be possible in the not-so-far feature.
The battle against HIV is being helped also from technologies from MSR.

One of the most known, and in my opinion most impressive things coming out of Microsoft Research, is the WorldWide Telescope (http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/). The demo shown here at PDC is really impressive and I encourage you to check out the technology, it's free. It's one of projects MSR is working on for education.

The final demo is SecondLight. This is really amazing: it allows you to project a image on a secondary surface above a surface platform. This allows you to see more info on a piece of plastic that you hold above the surface. Hard to explain, great to see!

In this keynote, we got a glimpse of the future of computing. A very interesting morning!

I must admit, I got really lucky this time. I was selected for a front row seat at the PDC keynotes. And it gets even better if I tell you that these aren't your normal seats... No, they're real barcalouger recliners. I can enjoy the keynotes with all comfort possible.

The keynote of Ray Ozzie will be starting in a few minutes, expect regular updates on some of the most important strategies for Microsoft (including the Windows Strata's new, official name).

Update: keynote started by Ray Ozzie