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What will Microsoft share about Windows futures in 2008?

By | November 16, 2007, 8:10am PST

Summary: Microsoft’s 2008 conference dance card is starting to fill in. Here’s a list of what’s on my Microsoft-conference radar screen so far. My question, going into 2008, is how, when and if Microsoft will share more about its Windows futures plans with developers, partners and customers.

Microsoft’s 2008 conference dance card is starting to fill in. It’s looking like a very busy February and March for the conference-going set. And, as usual with Microsoft, mid-summer will be full of Microsoft industry and insider events.

What will Microsoft share about Windows futures in 2008?The biggest questions going into 2008 is how, when and if Microsoft will share more about its Windows futures plans with developers, partners and customers.

Microsoft has postponed its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) to some time in the fall of 2008. Usually, WinHEC is a May event. And there’s still no word on when and if the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) will take place in 2008. Microsoft “postponed” the PDC, which was slated for the fall of 2007, and so far has not rescheduled it.

WinHEC and PDC are Microsoft’s biggest Windows-roadmap events of the year. But given that Microsoft will be in a ramp-up period in 2008 — with no new Windows 7 or Windows Server 7 bits ready to share — it’s going to be tough to come up with show content that looks ahead instead of back. (TechEd conferences, which usually are more focused on shipping products, not futures, are the primary venues for that.)

Windows 7 isn’t expected to ship until 2010. Windows Server 7, if Microsoft sticks to schedule, could hit around 2010, as well. Both products will be in the early milestone phase, at best, by next year. Given Microsoft’s reticence to talk about unannounced Windows products, I’m wondering what the Softies will have to say at WinHEC 2008 and, if it happens, PDC 2008. Stay tuned….

Meanwhile, here is a list of Microsoft events for 2008 that is on my radar screen so far:

* Consumer Electronics Show 2008, January 7-10, Las Vegas
(Bill Gates keynote January 6)

* Office System Developers Conference, February 10-13, San Jose, Calif.

* Game Developers Conference, February 18-22, San Francisco

* Windows Server 2008/SQL Server 2008/Visual Studio 2008 launch, February 27, Los Angeles

* SharePoint Conference 2008, March 3-6, Seattle, Wash.

* Mix ‘08, March 5-7, Las Vegas

* Convergence 2008, March 11-14, Orlando, Fla.
(conference for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM partners and users)

* MVP Global Summit, April 13-17, Seattle, Wash.
(for Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals only)

* TechEd U.S. 2008 Developers - June 3-6, Orlando, Fla.

* TechEd U.S. 2008 IT Professionals - June 10-13, Orlando, Fla.

* Worldwide Partner Conference, July 7-10, Houston, Texas

* Microsoft Global Sales Meeting (MGX), mid-July, location TBD
(For Microsoft employees, sales and partners only)

* Windows Hardware Engineering Conference 2008, Fall 2008, Los Angeles (my guess; local still TBD)

* Professional Developers Conference 2008 — still no word if/when it is happening.

Any other Microsoft-related events that you’re planning on attending in the new year?

(mothers’ day calendars at the cdc. Image by Liz Henry. CC 2.0)

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Topics

Partnership, Microsoft Corp., Conference, WinHEC, Microsoft Windows, Business Structures, Operating Systems, Software, Finance, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.

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RE: What will Microsoft share about Windows futures in 2008?
makrekdw73-24353635615163652143356448933213 12th Nov
crnhga,good post!
View in thread
0 Votes
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More Bloat, More Crap, Even More Hardware Requirements
itanalyst 16th Nov 2007
Prove me wrong please.
0 Votes
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Anything But Vista
chessmen 17th Nov 2007
I believe most companies are going to give Vista a pass. Lets hope Microsoft learns from this mistake and brings a much better product to the table the next time around.
0 Votes
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RE: Anything But Vista
Intellihence 18th Nov 2007
Well Windows 7 will be on the horizon soon , I'm betting that lil minwin kernel they
have been working on all along is nothing but a LINUX kernel . I know for a fact that
the men/women at FOSS will be looking into this minwin very closely to see if
Microsoft is still infringing on others intellectual property . And before any
zealot/shill/loser goes on and on about BS , MS was caught many times infringing on
others IP .
0 Votes
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MS Lawyers
THEE WOLF 18th Nov 2007
I think that MS knows a few things about IP since they Patent more than just about any other company every year, and because they have gone through more legal issues than just about any other current-generation company.

It should be an interesting fight, perhaps lawyers should don boxing gloves and "get-it-on."
0 Votes
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Oh Wait! What's This???
itanalyst 17th Nov 2007
"Vista in danger of being bypassed by businesses"

http://www.itworld.com/Comp/2218/071115vistaskip/

OH NO!! This can't be true can it?!?

Of course Bitty will discount the story as it doesn't come from ZDNet.....

Eat crow bitty boy...people are waking up and learning what a bloated rushed piece of crap Vista is.
0 Votes
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Oh wait!
itpro_z 17th Nov 2007
Strange, go back 5 years, substitute "XP" for "Vista" in that article, and no one would notice. Businesses also threatened to "wait for the next version" then, and again in 98 with the release of Win98, or at least that's what the press had to say. It seems to me that they don't even bother to write new articles anymore, they just roll out the same ones from the previous release of Windows, with a few word changes here and there, and head for the pub. In 2010, we will be reading the same thing all over again, except that it will be Vista that businesses will be staying with, and waiting for the next release.

You would think that an "itanalyst" would know that. Perhaps you haven't been around long enough to remember any of this?
0 Votes
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Bzzt! Wrong!
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
From an analytical perspective XP was great out the box...we didn't have the issues we are encountering with Vista, and we adopted XP fairly early. And 98? Tell me what business was using 98? We were using Windows 2000 until XP hit the market, and NT before that. If you were using 98 in your business something's really wrong with your business model.
0 Votes
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Sorry, I guess you don' t go back that far!
itpro_z 19th Nov 2007
I was talking about the days before Win2K, you know, the 90s? Most businesses were using 98, and 95 before that. NT was used, but only on a few machines, mostly workstations running Autocad, etc. We still have a few 98 machines in service today.

If you were an early adopter of XP, then surely you remember the issues with drivers, software compatibility, new (and different) user interface, networking issues, etc. All of these also applied with 95 and 98 as well. If your experience only goes back a few years, then I suppose to you the "issues" with Vista are all new. To those of us who have been around for awhile, we've seen it many times before. While the press is crucifying the new OS (currently Vista and Leopard), those of us in the trenches are quietly solving the problems and helping our users make the transition. In other words, doing our jobs.
0 Votes
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Software-licensing costs predicted to fall
Ole Man 19th Nov 2007
http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-9595-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=41171&messageID=761844&start=0

won't topple the likes of IBM and Microsoft
Maybe not, but it will be the end
of "life as they know it".

The pressure is on. It's obvious the
frog is in the other pot, and users
are now doing to "the likes" what has
been done unto them, slowly turning
up the heat. Soon the frog will be
boiling again.

A joy to behold. Rejoice, dear
hearts!
0 Votes
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Off topic, again!
itpro_z 19th Nov 2007
This has nothing to do with my post that you were replying to. What a surprise!

I am on record, for those who actually have read my posts, as saying that software is way overpriced, considering the volume of sales today. If a program only sells a few thousand copies, then a higher price is justified, in some cases. For a program like Windows, or Office, that sells hundreds of millions of copies, then a high price doesn't make sense, and only encourages piracy. If Office sold for $50, there would be no reason to pirate it, and the increased volume would make up for the lower price. Didn't movies go through this transition in price, dropping from $90 a copy to $15? Don't they make more money selling movies for $15 than they ever did trying to sell them for $90? The same marketing concept would work for software.

By the way, the reverse can also be true. Would Linux be taken more seriously if it was sold for a resonable price, rather than given away? Wouldn't that also generate funds to use to improve the product? Oh, wait, I forgot. To you, profit is evil. Sorry to offend your sensabilities!
0 Votes
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Falling into the cracks
Ole Man 19th Nov 2007
Evidently your topics are so full of cracks
there's no in between.

No matter where one goes, it's off topic.

In order to be "on topic", I will
say: "Microsoft is best..... they may not be
perfect, but they are best..... anyone else
is worse than Microsoft, because Microsoft
is best..... we should change everything to
suit Microsoft, because Microsoft is best...
no matter how bad they are, Microsoft is
best.... more suckers use Microsoft than
anything else, so Microsoft is best.....
praise Microsoft, glory to their name....
mmmmmmnnnnn..mmmmnnnnn Gates and Ballmer,
praise Microsoft...... heil hit..er..ahhhh
Microsoft...... (disclaimer): this is not a
quote from this post, so don't get your
drawers in a wad..... this is a summary of
your attitude from many, many of your
posts........

That better? There's your topic!
0 Votes
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In 98 he was still in grade school.
No_Ax_to_Grind 18th Nov 2007
wink

Look, he's a cowardly little fellow working a dead end job for wages and needs something, (anything) to rant about. Pay him no attention and he will get bored and go back to hiding in his trunck.
0 Votes
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That's All You Have Loser?
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
Wow, that's the best you can come up with?

This from someone who is too chicken to show up, doesn't reveal what company he works for, has 100 different jobs, makes stupid predictions and is hated by everyone on this board.

Yep, if anyone's the coward, it's YOU.

I post a serious article and you can't even respond to it with a professional answer.

The mark of a fraud.
0 Votes
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What, YOU??????
Confused by religion 18th Nov 2007
"I post a serious article and you can't even respond to it with a professional answer."

Serious articles don't use the words "crap" "bloatware" or any of your other epithets. Serious articles are appreciated by the reading public. You, sir or madam, have never written a single serious article on these Talkbacks. And I doubt that you ever will.
0 Votes
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what do you call "bloatware" if you don't call it bloatware
stevey_d 18th Nov 2007
"memory hungry", "resource hungry". Sure but these terms aren't often used. "bloatware" is, and it's meaning is clear.
I wouldn't think an article was not serious because it used this term. There are many pieces of software that in all due consideration, and putting it mildly, are in fact cr*p. And that is a technical term, universally understood in the industry.
(i.e. not worth the money).
0 Votes
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OH Really? Then What Is This??
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
According to Microsoft, typical load times for the final version should range from 30 to 60 minutes. The installation requires 7GB of free hard-drive space (some of which will be reclaimed after the installation isn complete), though the finalized install file itsel is expected to be a 50MB download via Windows Update.

7 GIGABYTES?!?!? To load a service pack?

If that's not bloatware I don't know what is.
0 Votes
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ROFLMAO
No_Ax_to_Grind 18th Nov 2007
I was there and you where, ummm, hiding in your car trunk. If you want to ell us what company you work for go for it. A hundred jobs? No, I own a ferw small companies that requires I wear many hats.

Please, we can see your envy and that you hate the fact you are a wage slave working in a cubicle somewhere. Don't blame others for your obvious limitations.

And no little one, owning your own plane is not all that hard, well, unless your a wage slave living from pay check to pay check.
0 Votes
+ -
Hey loser you were being called out the other day but you in the woodwork .
Intellihence 18th Nov 2007
Someone wants to know when you will pay up for the bet you lost . Remember the bet
you made about the ZUNE surpassing the iPod in a year . Well it's been a year and the
ZUNE is still a failure . Pay up and shut up already .
0 Votes
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He's A LOSER He Won't Ante Up
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
Just like he doesn't show up for beat downs.
0 Votes
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Slave Wage?
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
ROFLMAO...

As a matter of fact, I telecommute, so unlike you, you suit wearing ass kissing loser, I don't drive to work, I surf to it.

Go hide in Missouri, or Misery, or whatever you call it.
0 Votes
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Odd
voska 19th Nov 2007
Seems the last time you defended this argument you said you owned a single mid sized company now it is several small companies.

Just pointing that out is all.
0 Votes
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You Forget His Real Identity
itanalyst 19th Nov 2007
Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire, he owns a mansion und a yacht.
0 Votes
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No_Facts rides in a horse-less buggy
Ole Man 18th Nov 2007
If he had a horse, he wouldn't be trying to
hitch Microsoft's horses to his wagon. He
thinks if he's successful, his buggy will
fly, so he calls it an airplane.

"Wheeeeeew...... watch me fly!", he cackles,
as he reaches back to catch his A.
Uh-oh....., it's not there, he's done
laughed it off too many times.

Which hat will he don now? His clown's hat?
Naaah.. his dunce's hat fits him better.
0 Votes
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No_Axe Would Be Destroyed Over At Slashdot
itanalyst 18th Nov 2007
There are so many experts that post there in the open source and networking field with Windows he would be skinned alive and hung up to die.
0 Votes
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NINETEY PERCENT HAVE ISSUES WITH VISTA
itanalyst 19th Nov 2007
http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/infrastructure/applications/news/index.cfm?newsid=6258

"Ninety percent of 961 IT professionals surveyed said they have concerns about migrating to Vista and more than half said they have no plans to deploy Vista."

Oh wait, they didn't survey 961 IT professionals handpicked by No_Ax...so this survey is null and void.
0 Votes
+ -
The cat is out of the bag
Ole Man 19th Nov 2007
And Microsoft is desperate to recapture him.

They have offered huge rewards for
assistance, and No_Facts is flying around in
his horse-less carriage in search of the
critter. He frequently reports sightings in
hopes of getting a pat on the back and maybe
a small reward, but Microsoft demands
iron-clad proof before they cut loose with
any of the loot.
0 Votes
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Try reading your own link.
itpro_z 19th Nov 2007
The quote is "90% have concerns...", not issues. Yes, we have concerns, since we have spent the last 5 years perfecting our XP skills, and now have to start over again with a new OS. If you keep reading the article, you will notice also that many also noted "challenges with system management in non-Windows operating systems" as a stumbling block to moving away from Windows.

Nice try, though.
0 Votes
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Not concerned with issues?
Ole Man 19th Nov 2007
Or no issues with concerns?

Ahhhh!, the old Microsoft two-step again.

Doesn't sound much like IT skills.
Transposing and reversing words sound more
like an English teacher's job.
0 Votes
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Semantics
itpro_z 19th Nov 2007
"Issues", as in problems. His implication was that 90% of IT pros polled had problems with Vista, as in bugs, etc.

"Concerns", as in worries. The article was about IT pros worrying about the transition, which is our job. Totally different concept.

"Not concerned" is what you should be, since you don't run Vista, never have, and, according to you, never will. Interesting how you spend so much time and effort posting FUD about something you will never use, and know nothing about. But then again, having no clue hasn't stopped you in the past, has it?
0 Votes
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The English teacher hits a high note
Ole Man 19th Nov 2007
He can dish it out, but he can't take.

Typical bully!

The big dog, seeks the most popular
resources, and hordes an impressive portion
for himself. He cheers loudly for the
powerful and feels a comradery with them,
while he claps happily and jumps with joy
each time one of the insignificant minority
little dogs receive a blow or an insult. Yet
when he is caught alone or finds himself
outnumbered, he exposes his cowardice by
slinking off with his tail between his legs.
He cannot bear the thought of a good
whupping.

The little dog, on the other hand, proudly
displays the scars from many good whuppings,
and loves a scrap with a big dog better than
a banana split. He has nothing but disgust
for the scoundrels, and even less regard for
the mountains of garbage they take pride in.
He is loyal to the death to his small but
powerful lot that he didn't have to jump
through fiery hoops for.

So keep up the howling, wooly bullies, until
your master kicks you to the curb. Then you
can crawl over to the other (our) camp and
beg for some of the good food without chains
and fetters.

PS: Don't bring your activation, WGA, and
DRM crap with you. We don't allow garbage in
OUR camp, and you might wind up toting a
good whupping yourself.
0 Votes
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Big dogs, little dogs, and cars
itpro_z 19th Nov 2007
Nice dog story. I have no idea what you are rambling about, but nice story.

By the way, I know how much you like cars, so I have to say that I just saw an ad that you will appreciate. Go check out the new 2008 Ford Focus, "Powered by Microsoft...". Just what you need!
0 Votes
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Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole
Ole Man 20th Nov 2007
I have already seen the advertisement where
Ford has decided (sold out to Microsoft) to
incorporate the BSOD (blue screen of death)
into their products, except they don't care
what color it is.

I'd hate to have to reboot my car when I'm
cruising down the expressway 65 mph. Might
be worse than a BSOD. Could be bloody red
and nasty.

I'm getting ready to sell my old Ford
pick-up, before the value plummets to zero
or it get's hit by WGA.
0 Votes
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RE: What will Microsoft share about Windows futures in 2008?
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
I reebok jersey definitely gain in the submit.Critically checking ahead to review much more.
0 Votes
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RE: What will Microsoft share about Windows futures in 2008?
makrekdw73-24353635615163652143356448933213 12th Nov
crnhga,good post!

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