I just arrived back from the Microsoft TechEd US in Boston, which was a blast. Microsoft will release a lot of new software in the coming years, and they've announced their "4 promises" (which were presented in a style like the TV-Series "24".
I actually was going to write about each of them here, however they are also covered on this site:
TechEd this year was great. The community area was in a perfect setup. Two years ago in San Diego we had those cabanas - couches and tables to sit together and exchange with each other. Last year in Orlando there were mainly tables. Last year at IT-Forum they had product booths only. We provided the feedback that a mixture would be great, and that's how they did it this year. They were splitting it into three major areas (IT-Pro, Office and Collaboration, Development) and had couches, tables and product booths in each of those areas. And we had a lot of wired LAN and Power-Plugs there, so everyone was happy this time.
I spent most of the time answering questions and discussing scenarios about Longhorn Server, Windows Server 2003 (R2) and Directory Services, and had a lot of great conversations. It was great meeting many known faces again, and also to meet a lot of new ones.
And the products which will be coming out in the next years are incredible. We've never seen that many products with those functions in a single year before. Citing Microsoft: "We will release more products in the next 18 month than ever before". I will cover a couple of them which fit into my blog in later posts.