Devang Gandhi

Microsoft PDC 2008 is here. This year, it is in Los Angeles, CA at the Los Angeles Convention Center, October 27-30. If interested, you can register for the conference here.

What exactly is the PDC?

PDC is the technical conference organized by Microsoft for developers and architects. It gives professional developers the opportunity to meet Microsofties, get the first scoop on forthcoming products and provide valuable feedback about how they feel about Microsoft’s products.

Who should attend?

If you are a developer or an architect using Microsoft technologies, this will be an event where you can find out new tools and services that can make you more efficient in your job or improve the design of your solution. If you are in a decision making position in your company on technological strategy then this event becomes all the more important to keep your self updated on the latest product offerings.

Why should I attend? 

• Keynote presentations from the likes of Ray Ozzie (Chief Software Architect), Rick Rashid (Senior VP, Microsoft Research), Bob Muglia (Senior VP, Server and Tools). Compete list of speakers.
• About a 160 technical PDC sessions on various topics.
• Hands-on labs for those who like to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty with straight-out-of-the-oven code.
• Get to know the best practices and useful tips from the insiders.
• Interact with the experts and the Microsoft staff in the lounges and get all your questions answered. Make sure to ask all your how-to questions about Vista. If you haven’t already switched to Vista, this is a good time.
• Check out the detailed agenda.

PDC highlights

• Windows 7. Check out windows 7 news.
• Cloud Computing Platform
• Oslo – Model-driven development platform
• Visual Studio 2010 and .net framework 4.0

This morning, I had a problem with the remote desktop client. The problem – I could not get the remote desktop client window to go in full screen mode. It would maximize to a window size smaller than my monitor. I restarted both the machines – no use. Then digging through the internet, I finally figured it out. The solution – pressing Ctrl+Alt+Break while in the remote desktop client.

Another piece of advice for remote desktop sessions, to restart your remote machine type shutdown /r at the command prompt.

I visited Leavenworth, WA with some friends last Sunday. We went there for the Oktoberfest but were disappointed to find out that it was on Friday and Saturday. Nonetheless the trip was worthwhile. It was a gorgeous sunny day, which will become rare going forward here in the Pacific Northwest.

Leavenworth, an alpine Bavarian village is about a 100 miles east of Seattle. It has an interesting history. The land was settled by pioneers in search of gold, furs and fertile farmland. The town began to prosper with the arrival of the railroad towards the end of ninteenth century. However in the 1920s the railroad relocated and the sawmill and the logging industry fell apart. Fast forward to 1960s, the community remodeled their town in the form of Bavarian village.

We tried some danish pastries which were really nice. The Ohme garden was closed by the time we reached there but gives me one more reason to go back. Christmas may be a good time for a revisit since their Christmas Lighting Ceremony is very popular.