Thinking ahead to 2013: Microsoft's show and launch line-up
Summary: Given it's 12/12/12, seems like the perfect day to look at what's on the Microsoft show and launch calendar for 2013.
It's that time of year again: Time to look ahead to 2013 and figure out which Microsoft conferences and launch events are worth attending in the coming year.
No doubt, like the case this year, there will be some surprise additions to the tried-but-true show calendar. Microsoft is taking a page from Apple's book and creating more of its own dedicated launch events for specific products -- primarily, if not exclusively, on the consumer front -- rather than attempting to shoe-horn its announcements into bigger shows, like CES. (The exception to this is Mobile World Congress, which the Windows Phone team continues to use as a venue for new product and technology announcements.
There are plenty of scheduled and rumored Microsoft conferences and launches already slated for the coming year. Here's my list so far.
Microsoft Office 2013 launch
Late January (location and exact date unknown)
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-makes-office-2013-available-to-volume-licensees-7000006711/
MVP Summit (invitation only)
Feb 18-21 Bellevue and Redmond
http://www.2013mvpsummit.com/about
Lync Conference 2013
February 19-21 San Diego
http://www.lyncconf.com/
Mobile World Congress 2013
February 25-28 Barcelona
http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/
Convergence 2013
March 18-21 New Orleans
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/convergence/
Game Developers Conference 2013
March 25-29 San Francisco
http://www.gdconf.com/
Microsoft Management Summit 2013
April 8-12 Las Vegas
http://www.2013mms.com/register
Microsoft Hosting Summit 2013
May 21-23 Seattle
https://www.microsofthostingsummit.com/
TechEd North America 2013
June 3-6 New Orleans
http://northamerica.msteched.com/#fbid=gYExbozGTe-
TechEd Europe 2013
(No exact dates avail yet, but expected at end of June) Madrid
http://www.citmagazine.com/article/1165062/Microsoft-appoints-PMA-Tech-Ed-2013-event?
E3 2013
June 11-13 Los Angeles
http://www.e3expo.com/
Worldwide Partner Conference 2013
July 7-11 Houston
http://www.digitalwpc.com/Registration/Pages/Registration.aspx#fbid=2pwFJIIkIOC
Microsoft Global CIO Summit (invitation only)
September 17-19 Redmond
https://www.msgciosummit.com/registration
SQL PASS 2013
October 15-18 Charlotte
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121108006811/en/Announcing-PASS-Summit-2013-Charlotte-NC-Oct.
Microsoft Build 2013
Fall 2013 (exact dates/location unknown)
Xbox 720 launch
Fall 2013 (exact date/location unknown)
Anyone know of other noteworthy Microsoft-specific launch/show events that I'm missing?
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Talkback
XBOX "720"
I would expect to see the next gen XBOX(es) to be announced early in the year. Launch tites are very important and it's going to be very difficult to keep a lid on any new hardware if they are aiming for the holiday 2013 market. I also imagine we'll see a Windows Blue event around late Spring / early Summer.
Xbox 720
Blue: Will be interesting if they share anything in advance. I'm curious if they will hold any kind of launch event or just push the update out. MJ
I don't know about xbox360
There is so much benefit to doing that.
Win8 Kernal?
It is my understanding that the next Xbox will be called Xbox 8 ...
What is happening with code "D" project - the "holy grail" of software?
What do you think happened to Bill Gates vision in 2008 http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/gates-talks-declarative-modeling-language-effort-386 is their Declarative Model Development (originally code "D") still on plan? Gates touted plans to build a declarative modelling language that could greatly reduce the need to code. He called it the “holy grail of development forever”, “the dream the quest…. but would be in a time frame of 5 to 8 years.” So next year......? Or maybe it was it too disruptive or even too difficult?
Oslo. Dead
Windows Phone 9 Reboot
@ldo17, It seems you have lot of information than Mary Jo
I see obsolescence in your comments, and in fact, you and your comments
I told you before that you need to go back to troll school to pick up some new silly and stupid remarks, because, you've become too predictable.
If you want to continue posting the same nonsense you've been posting, just issue a "ditto to all of my previous nonsense" after your name, and we'll already know what you meant.
Surface Pro?
The sooner the better
I believe they are still
Core i5
IE10 on Win 7
What about Vegas
For a product that generates $2B in annual revenue (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Nov12/11-12SPCPR.aspx), Microsoft seems to do surprisingingly little to promote it. I'm a casual observer compared to Mary Jo, but it seems to me that they do next to nothing to communicate about this product. For example, I haven't seen SP 2013 mentioned on their home page, but I don't check every day so maybe I missed it.
Anyway, SharePoint 2013, Vegas!
Oh, yeah, what about MEC? They revived Microsoft Exchange Conference this year, it was last September in Orlando, FL. It had been a part of TechEd for a long time -- will it be on again as a standalone conference next year?
MEC 2013