TechEd US - highlights coming - including Silverlight 2 announcement
Bill Gates kicked of TechEd US with a keynote that included some important announcements. Keep an eye on the following site for all the news over the next few days: https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/teched/default.mspx
This press release summarises the key announcements: https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/jun08/06-03TechEdDevPR.mspx - headlines copied below to help you quickly see.
"Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 will be available this August in 20 languages worldwide. Internet Explorer 8 is the next version of Microsoft’s popular browser, and in beta 1 it delivers significantly improved standards support and developer platform investments with enhanced user experiences. Beta 1 for Internet Explorer 8 is currently available and is focused on Web developers and designers to help them deliver Web experiences that go beyond the page for consumers.
Availability this week of Silverlight 2 beta 2, the latest version of Microsoft’s cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Now available with a commercial Go Live license, Silverlight 2 beta 2 will be used to power the unprecedented online experience NBC Universal is creating for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To help developers take full advantage of Silverlight, Microsoft also released Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview and Microsoft Silverlight Tools beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008.
An alliance with IBM that will further simplify application development for enterprise teams working in heterogeneous environments. IBM and Microsoft have agreed to work together to integrate IBM DB2 database access with Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition.
Multiple partner wins and the latest community technology preview (CTP) of the Microsoft Sync Framework, a comprehensive synchronization platform that enables collaboration and offline scenarios for applications, services and devices. New partners include Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Ontela Inc. and SmugMug Inc. Microsoft Sync Framework will be released in the third quarter of 2008 with full support for the FeedSync open protocol format on devices. A CTP for Windows Mobile support will also be available in the third quarter 2008.
The first CTP of the Microsoft project code-named “Velocity,” a distributed, in-memory application cache platform that makes it easier to develop scalable, high-performance applications needing frequent access to disparate data sources. Large clusters of machines can be seamlessly integrated into a single cache, providing high availability to data.
Ongoing momentum for Microsoft code-name “Oslo.” Microsoft reiterated its commitment to model-driven development and focus on helping developers realize the full potential of declarative programming, inspiring collaboration across organizational roles and enabling developers and IT pros to more easily deploy, manage and evolve applications. Microsoft will bolster its investments in a unified modeling platform code-named “Oslo,” which will be used by future versions of Visual Studio, Microsoft System Center, BizTalk Server and Microsoft SQL Server. “Oslo” will include visual modeling and composition tools, a foundational repository built on SQL Server 2008 for managing application metadata, and a new, declarative modeling language to enable interoperability of models between tools and domain-specific modeling notations.
A new version of Visual Studio 2008 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 v1.2, which will allow developers to use Visual Studio 2008 to extend the value of Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server by providing a simplified development environment."