Yesterday's sessions I attented were rather disapointing. I went to many WinFS sessions, and I realize that except for ADO.NET integration, the product didn't change much. It's still the same data store, with data types, schemes, relations, and a searching APIs, or browsing APIs should I say, as I learned it wasn't mere searching… yeah, right.

I guess this year's PDC is less about listening to Microsoft, and more about installing the bits as soon as possible and play with them. Even though the bits are related to the same products as two years ago, they are more stable, and the interface has less chances to change until release.

I'm already shopping for a new machine to install Vista on. I was thinking about a laptop, as I don't have one. What do you think? Should I stick to a desktop machine?

Tags: PDC05

Yesterday, I went to the Mono meeting. Miguel and his crew were not prepared at all. The room was too small (that's a good sign though), the projector didn't work with two of the laptops, and Miguel ended up doing Q&A for two hours, only showing glimpses of the applications he wanted to demonstrate. I left before the end. I wanted to talk with Miguel, but I guess I'll use the email channel.

I've always been curious about Mono, because I would feel great proud seeing the software I conceived and developed being run on more and more computers. It's not because I'm a Linux advocate. I'm a "liberty-of-choice" advocate. I used to be a Windows developer (WIN32, COM). I'm now a .NET developer, whatever the platform. Why would I complain on seeing Xceed Zip for .NET work on Linux?

Tags: PDC05

The keynote is now over, I just finished a speedy lunch (burp), and I'm sitting in Halls C&D for the "Lap around the Windows Communication Foundation". I'm eager to learn more about the latest state of the "Indigo" part of WinFX.

I'm left with a bitter taste about the earlier keynote. The presentation wasn't that much dynamic (except for Don Box, Anders Hejlsberg, Chris Anderson and Scott Guthrie), and the chance to get a i-mate JASJAR for only 149$, which ended up on a very sad note: 5 minutes after getting out of the keynote, there were none left… all sold out. That means you had to leave the keynote in the middle to get one, even though Jim Allchin told us there were no need to rush out. You can have an outstanding presentation, if the conclusion is disappointment, it ends up useless. This promotion was a bad idea. Someone should have told Jim!

Speaking of Jim Allchin, I thought he wasn't in a good day. He often hesitated and was searching his text a lot. Too bad because I respect him a lot.

Avalon and Indigo, I'm sorry, Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation are too close from releasing to be exciting announcements this year. I feel the concepts I saw two years ago at PDC 2003 didn't change a lot since then. At most, the interfaces have changed a little bit, Visual Studio .NET has improved to expose those functionalities better, but the rest tastes like reheated contents.

I hope to get more new stuff during sessions.

Tags: PDC05