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After the nearly complete disappointment of Launch 2010 Boston, I had given serious thought to not going to the MSDN Northeast Roadshow stop in Augusta, ME on Tuesday, May 11. I figured it would be little more than a regurgitation of what happened at last month’s event.

I’m glad I decided to go. What a huge difference.

In  half the time, Jim O’Neil and Chris Bowen provided immeasurably more valuable and interesting information about Visual Studio 2010 and changes to Silverlight, multithreading, ASP.NET and an overview of Windows Phone 7. Here’s a recap.

Jim O'Neil describes Silverlight 4's new video / webcam support features.

Silverlight 4: Lately, listening to Microsoft describe a new Web technology brings to mind the phrase “a day late and a dollar short.” That’s certainly the case with Silverlight 4.

Admittedly, Microsoft has shifted the emphasis behind Silverlight to be less a clone of Flash and more an extension to the Web of Windows Presentation Foundation. But the “new features” O’Neil described on Tuesday were very much old technologies for Flash, and pretty much obsolete tech given HTML5.

Specifically, Silverlight 4 supports Web cams and microphones; TCP/UDP; printing; and a multiple-trust-level model that includes access to the file system, cross-domain requests and COM integration. Additionally, the XAML one writes to render Silverlight, while still different from WPF XAML, is a lot more like WPF.

Silverlight is, therefore, weaker than Flash and stronger than it at the same time. But it seems mostly moot, given that Flash itself is falling out of favor in response to the HTML5 specification’s API support for audio, video and other complex objects. Admittedly, there are things one can do in Silverlight — namely, presenting stored data and integrating existing COM components, such as text-to-speech or an interface to a proprietary business object / program — that one cannot do directly in HTML5.

That seems to me more likely to matter when making a corporate intranet or the like. I didn’t see much hope for Silverlight when it was introduced in 2007, and I still don’t see a future for it.

Continue reading: MSDN Northeast Roadshow, Augusta, ME, May 11, 2010 Recap »

Now that I’m a day or so removed from the Visual Studio “Launch 2010″ event in Boston, have plenty of sleep under my belt, and the benefit of hindsight, I’d like to recap my impressions.

I still consider Launch 2010 a significant disappointment, especially compared to the “Heroes Happen Here” launch of Visual Studio 2008 / SQL Server 2008 / Windows Server 2008 that was held in Manchester, NH, two years ago. But I should explain why, and maybe at least put in context, if not rephrase, my criticisms of Thursday.

Attendance: I need to clarify my attendance estimates from Thursday.

I’m guessing there were about 1,000 people in attendance at Launch 2010, which had three tracks: two all-day tracks for developers and IT professionals, and a half-day track for managers / decision makers. Of the total number of attendees, well over half  — at least 500 — were in the developer track. I don’t have an exact count because I don’t know who to ask for one, and I doubt there is an accurate count in any event, because Microsoft was allowing walk-ins throughout the event.

However many people were there, it was too many, at least for the developer track. They ran out of seats by 9:30 AM and it only got worse until 3:30 PM, after the ASP.NET session, after which a large number of people left. I did pop in on the IT pro track, after I couldn’t regain my seat following lunch; there were a few empty seats available there.

Allowing such a significant overflow is a huge kick in the balls. I took the time to register ahead of time. I took great pains to ensure I would arrive on time. If you’re letting people filter in six hours after they were supposed to show up, you’re not being fair to me — especially if I can’t fully enjoy the event.

Continue reading: The Visual Studio Launch 2010 Boston Event, Reconsidered »

Quite a bit has been made recently of the changes to Facebook’s default settings, an extensive expansion of how Facebook shares data with other Web sites, and how all that works within the traditional expectation — if not the fundamental understanding — most people have about privacy.

Facebook’s recent change to, by default, share public user information with partner Web sites — namely, Microsoft’s Docs.com, Internet radio provider Pandora and city-based business review site Yelp — is “building a largely closed, alternative version of the Internet,” or, in plainer language, “a power grab.”

This argument is further (and ironically) strengthened by Facebook’s announcement at the recent f8 developer conference that it is switching from its proprietary Facebook Connect login system to OAuth, the soon-to-be-a-standard, open Web site authentication protocol. In so doing, the fabled idea of the “single sign-on” for all Web sites becomes less pipe dream and more within reach — with Facebook the linchpin, and by inference, the one link that can’t be removed from the chain.

In other words, Facebook is a 1998-vintage AOL that doesn’t suck.

That’s not a bad thing. Actually, it’s a great thing.
Continue reading: On Facebook’s New Features, Privacy And The Near Future Of The Web »

On Monday, Microsoft set its Internet volume knob to 11, announcing the official release of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET 4 framework. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at Scott Hanselman’s comprehensive rundown of where to get the tools (including free Express editions) and what those new tools have waiting for you. (Oh, and some guy named Scott Guthrie mentioned it in passing, too. {lulz})

Of course, no major Microsoft product release is complete without scads of in-person events to show them off, a trade show / seminar / reception for Partners to upsell you goods or services, and a little swag. In the case of Maine, we get two bites of the apple, as it were — that is, if you consider a day trip to Boston something that’s local to Maine (and trust me, you should.)

These events are free but do require registration.

On April 29, Microsoft conducts a day-long launch event at the Westin Copley Place hotel in Boston. (As of this writing, registration was still open for the Boston event. However, I would recommend acting yesterday if you want to attend; once word spreads, these events fill up quickly).

Labeled “Launch 2010 Technical Readiness Series,” the developer track of this event (there are IT professional and manager tracks, too) is actually more an overview of the new technologies. SharePoint / Office programming; Windows; ASP.NET (Web); Azure (cloud); and Windows 7 Phone (mobile) platforms development each get a one-hour overview, and Microsoft kicks in a free continental breakfast and box lunch.

While Microsoft is coy about the “giveaways” being offered at the end of the event, when I went to the Visual Studio 2008 / Windows Vista launch back in 2007, I received free, fully functional copies of VS 2008 Standard and Vista Ultimate, plus copies of the developer editions of Windows Server 2008 and and SQL Server 2008. I can’t be sure that such high-class swag will be offered this time around, but even if Microsoft sends me home empty-handed, I can’t miss this opportunity to shake hands and kiss babies.

Continue reading: Visual Studio 2010 / .NET 4 Events For Maine-Based Developers »