What Happened to WinHEC?
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The delay of Microsoft's hardware developer conference probably means there will be no Professional Developers Conference in 2008. |
WinHEC's delay, from spring to autumn, is much bigger than the one event. It is actually two events, which I suspect might even be combined in 2008.
Microsoft broke the news about the delay, with little fanfare, or remorse, on the Official WinHEC Web site.
"We are pleased to announce that WinHEC 2008 will be held in the fall of 2008 on the West Coast (location to be determined). We have re-scheduled WinHEC for the fall in response to industry feedback...Throughout 2008, we will hold a series of technology-specific events that are designed to keep hardware engineers and Windows driver developers up-to-date."
"Industry feedback" is just an excuse. The postponement means something else. From a purely logistical perspective, autumn of a presidential election year is more problematic than spring.
The venue change to the West Coast and the autumn timing raises questions about Microsoft holding a single event for hardware and software developers. Microsoft has held its last couple of professional developer conferences in Los Angeles in October.
No PDC (Professional Developers Conference) would be worse, and Microsoft certainly could hold separate PDC and WinHEC events around the same time. Surely there would be "industry feedback" around such planning. Microsoft had planned to hold PDC last month, but mysteriously canceled the event in May.
Whatever the reasons for WinHEC's delay, its occurrence should raise the specter of PDC and questions: When is it? What happened to it?
Microsoft generally holds a PDC in preparation for new operating system launch(es). WinHEC in autumn would make some sense in preparation for Windows 7, which is very tentatively expected in 2009. But no PDC would forebode a later, rather than a sooner, release.
Related Posts:
- Why Wait for Eight?, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 8, 2007
- PDC R.I.P. Means What?, Microsoft Watch, May 25, 2007
Comments (12)
Steven Sinofsky is changing the windows public face. You can thanks Steve Jobs. Technologies will be more fully backed and won't be able to be changed once they are unvieled right before they ship.
From what I'm hearing, PDC 2008 is in the process of becoming PDC 2009 February.
Posted by Ian | November 16, 2007 3:51 PM
I believe its really based on Industry feedback. Whatever Microsoft presents at WinHEC is near future based. The industry is still getting their heads around the recent torrents of innovation Microsoft released this year and the coming year.
Windows Vista is still top priority, Windows Home Server, Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008, Office 2007. There is so much to cover in these products. Also another factor why they pushed out WinHEC is the numerous releases they have to launch and market for 2008, SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, Essential Business Server 2008. Thats a lot of stuff to engage in.
The next version of Windows is also a factor, Microsoft is simply not ready 'just yet' to reveal any information since the main focus is Vista which is only a year old today.
Posted by Andre Da Costa | November 17, 2007 9:40 AM
I'm ebarashed of my computers wich being blocked of Enternet using of our software.I'm not reproducing our product, infact i'm just only small knoledge and still learning.About mallicious pages it's not affecting on me, its only an plainly entertianment as movie.
Posted by JESUS RIAS BENIGRA | November 17, 2007 10:54 AM
Thank you for clearing that up Jesus.
Posted by Henry D. | November 17, 2007 11:28 AM
will the last person leaving MS Watch please turn off the lights?
Posted by Repugnant | November 17, 2007 8:50 PM
Microsoft is rejected on patents case
(This sounds all to familiar to us VCSY shareholders)
For all the FUD dealers; right back at ya', boys and girls.
"Substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict" that Microsoft infringed two valid patents owned by closely held z4 Technologies Inc., the appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/3...
Microsoft is rejected on patents case
By SUSAN DECKER
BLOOMBERG NEWS
An appeals court on Friday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s challenge to a $142 million trial loss over patents on a way to prevent software piracy.
"Substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict" that Microsoft infringed two valid patents owned by closely held z4 Technologies Inc., the appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled.
The dispute is over a method for using product-activation codes to prevent the use of software by multiple users. Microsoft argued that the patents obtained by closely held z4's founder, David Colvin of Commerce Township, Mich., are invalid and weren't infringed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the trial judge in Tyler, Texas, erred in his definition of some terms within Colvin's patents. The court often sends cases back to trial courts if it alters the definition of what a patent covers. In this case, it said a reasonable juror could have found infringement using the right definition.
"There's something about it that strikes us as, 'How'd that happen?' " said Andrew Culbert, chief Microsoft patent counsel. He said Microsoft probably will ask the court to reconsider.
Microsoft also sought to have the dollar award cut in half, saying the calculation was based on overseas sales, not just those in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court, in another Microsoft case, said patent suit damages can't be based on software installed and sold outside the country.
The Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent law, said Microsoft never raised the issue at the lower court so it can't argue it on appeal. Culbert said the company also is reviewing that aspect of the ruling.
The full award probably wouldn't affect earnings, he said. The company reported $4.29 billion in first-quarter profit on $13.8 billion in sales.
Z4 sued Microsoft and Autodesk Inc., the largest maker of design software used in construction and engineering, in 2004. Autodesk settled the case after the April 2006 verdict.
"My client is happy, and we're happy for the client," said z4 lawyer Frank Angileri of Brooks Kushman in Southfield, Mich. "We think it's the right result."
Colvin, a draftsman who makes drawings of inventions for patent applications, in a statement called the decision "gratifying to all small entrepreneurs and independent inventors."
Microsoft is facing 59 patent-infringement lawsuits, including 29 in eastern Texas where the z4 case was heard. Other than suits by Symantec Corp. and Alcatel-Lucent, most were filed by small companies and individuals, Culbert said.
"We'll fight cases if that seems like the right thing to do, and we'll settle cases like any other company," Culbert said. "The sheer number in Texas is amazing."
The district is the second-most favorable for patent owners who sued from 1995 to 2006, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP study. Congress is considering changing U.S. patent law to make it more difficult to file lawsuits in districts where companies don't have a physical presence.
The latest suit against Microsoft was filed Friday in Chicago by a Massachusetts company, Cambridge Technology Development Inc. It claims Microsoft is infringing a patent for computer mouse trackballs.
Posted by I-Man | November 17, 2007 9:16 PM
Do you people want the truth?
(more at url)
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_M/threadview?m=ts&bn=12004&tid=1316072&mid=1316072&tof=1&frt=1
Microsoft can't deliver because they can't infringe against VCSY out in the open. Their lawyers won't let them. So management wants marketing to tell you they're sending you all the stuff you should have gotten. Nope. Not quite. Not the stuff that you should be getting in (VCSY)patent 6826744. Sorry small fry. You people got skunked.
Will Microsoft's Orcas Make a Splash?
By Justin Vandegrift
November 2, 2007
Review: Visual Studio 2008 promises to be a powerful, robust IDE. However, considering that "Orcas" has been in development for over three years, its new features are ultimately disappointing.
The reality is that Visual Studio 2008 introduces features that only a subset of its users can really appreciate, and, generally speaking, those features are targeted at developers that work within the .Net Framework. Except for users writing in C# or Visual Basic, or Web developers who use Active Server Pages (ASP.Net), there really isn't much reason to upgrade.
------------------------------------------
Visual Studio 2008 Is Imminent
By Darryl K. Taft
November 17, 2007
Microsoft will ship its latest developer tool set as soon as Nov. 19 and by the end of November at the latest.
Earlier this month Microsoft committed to ship Visual Studio 2008, formerly code-named Orcas, by the end of November.
Posted by I-Man | November 18, 2007 3:58 PM
Andre Da Costa wrote: The industry is still getting their heads around the recent torrents of innovation Microsoft released this year and the coming year.
This is hilarious. Can things be so desperate at Redmond that they need to get their fanboys to make such obviously ridiculous claims! Innovation? Uh, yeah, it took five years to get that "innovation" out. And it turned out to be a joke. But the bigger joke is on the fanboys who try to make a virus-ridden trainwreck OS produced by a litigate-rather-than-innovate company look like a rosy theme park.
That's as nutty as it gets. Some people have lost touch with reality. COMPLETELY.
Posted by Maddog | November 19, 2007 3:08 AM
Windows Vista took 2 years to develop. May 2005 to November 2006.
Posted by Andre Da Costa | November 20, 2007 10:41 PM
Colvin, a draftsman who makes drawings of inventions for patent applications, in a statement called the decision "gratifying to all small entrepreneurs and independent inventors."
Microsoft is facing 59 patent-infringement lawsuits, including 29 in eastern Texas where the z4 case was heard. Other than suits by Symantec Corp. and Alcatel-Lucent, most were filed by small companies and individuals, Culbert said.
Posted by indir | March 15, 2008 12:16 PM
Andre Da Costa wrote: The industry is still getting their heads around the recent torrents of innovation Microsoft released this year and the coming year.
This is hilarious. Can things be so desperate at Redmond that they need to get their fanboys to make such obviously ridiculous claims! Innovation? Uh, yeah, it took five years to get that "innovation" out.
Posted by yemek tarifi | March 17, 2008 5:43 AM
knows what Gordon Bell and Jim Gemmell have been up to and if they are going to talk again anytime soon in the Bay Area.
Posted by travesti | March 25, 2008 9:40 PM