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Microsoft developers take note: Build 2017 will be in Seattle May 10 to 12

Microsoft is combining some of its previously separate large-format conferences for 2017, and it's pushing back its Build developers conference to May of next year.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Microsoft is bringing its Build developers conference back to the Pacific Northwest next year, after hosting it for the past several years in San Francisco, Calif.

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Credit: Microsoft

The company is also pushing back the Build 2017 event to May instead of its usual March/April timeframe, officials announced on Dec. 7. Microsoft's Build 2017 will be held from May 10 to May 12, 2017 in Seattle, Wash. More information on topics and registration will be coming at a later date on http://build.microsoft.com. (The last and only time Microsoft held Build in its backyard was in November 2012.)

Microsoft is also combining two of its previously separate conferences into a single event. The Microsoft Envision conference -- which was slated to happen in February 2017 in Los Angeles, Calif., -- is now being combined with the Microsoft Ignite conference in September in Orlando, Fla. Envision is the show that evolved from the Microsoft Convergence conference, which used to be focused exclusively on the company's Dynamics business, partners, and customers.

The company's Worldwide Partner Conference is being renamed to "Microsoft Inspire," and it will be held from July 9 to July13 in Washington, DC. Registration for the partner show is open already.

In the name of "One Microsoft," Microsoft is also combining some of its internally focused events. Microsoft's MGX sales conference, TechReady, and the Solution Specialist Sales Summit (S4) will be a single event happening in Las Vegas, Nev., the week of July 17, 2017, I've heard from my contacts.

Back to Build 2017: I know some will be wondering if we tea-leaf readers are reading anything into Build happening in May.

Some of us have been hearing Microsoft is planning a late spring 2017 hardware launch. Recently, Microsoft has held separate hardware-launch events for its new devices, rather than combining them with other Microsoft events, so I wouldn't necessarily link the two. And, as I've been noting for a while, the rumored RTM (release to mainstream) timeframe for Windows 10 Creators Update is March 2017, so I'm doubtful there's any link there either.

It's worth remembering that Build is primarily, but not exclusively, an event that revolves around Windows.

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