The speech will be Gates' last keynote as Microsoft's chairman.ORLANDO, Fla.—In what should be his last keynote address as chairman
of Microsoft, Bill Gates is expected to announce a slew of new and
upgraded technologies to enable developers to create compelling user
experiences, build data-driven applications, manage large enterprise
projects and capitalize on emerging trends such as cloud
computing, modeling and natural language programming.
On June 3, Gates will deliver the keynote at the Microsoft TechEd
Developer event here. Joined by Microsoft executives and technologists,
such as S. "Soma" Somasegar, senior vice president of the Microsoft
Developer Division, Gates will announce a new beta release of
Microsoft’s Silverlight rich Internet application platform, a technical
collaboration with IBM around the IBM DB2 database and the launch
of Microsoft project code name “Velocity,” a distributed in-memory
application cache platform.
Gates also is expected to talk about "how to take a developer that
knows .Net and empower them to use that tool set in new and interesting
ways," said Jonathan Perera, general manager of the Microsoft
application platform division.
Gates will introduce 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. Microsoft also will deliver a
commercial Go Live license for Silverlight 2 beta 2. The technology
will be used to power the online experience NBC Universal is creating
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Moreover, to help developers take full
advantage of Silverlight, Microsoft is also releasing Expression Blend
2.5 June 2008 Preview and Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual
Studio 2008.
"With the Go Live license, we're announcing we can offer production-level support" for the product, Perera said.
Gates also will announce the first Community Technology Preview
of a new Microsoft technology codenamed “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,
Perera said.
"One problem we're trying to solve is how do you take information
out of a database that you need for performance's sake?" he said.
The partnership with IBM will further simplify application
development for enterprise teams working in heterogeneous environments.
IBM and Microsoft will work together to integrate IBM DB2 database
access with Visual Studio Team System Database Edition.
"This allows for offline management of the DB2 schema and version control for the DB2 schema definition," Perera said.
In addition, Gates and company are expected to announce new partner
wins and a new CTP of the Microsoft Sync Framework, a synchronization
platform that enables collaboration and offline scenarios for
applications, services and devices. New partners include SmugMug, a
photo sharing site, and Ontela, which provides technology
infrastructure to wireless carriers that allows consumers to more
easily access the photos in their camera phones. A CTP of the Microsoft
Sync Framework for Windows Mobile will be released in the third
quarter. It will support the FeedSync open protocol format.
Microsoft also will demonstrate continued progress for its modeling
effort. Codenamed "Oslo," it is Microsoft's overall model-driven
development effort and focus on helping developers realize the
potential of declarative programming. It will be used by future
versions of Visual Studio, System Center and BizTalk Server. Oslo will
include visual modeling and composition tools, a foundational
repository for managing application metadata, and a new, declarative
modeling language to enable interoperability of models between tools
and domain specific modeling notations.
"We've been working with customers and others about how to bring forward a modeling language," Perera said.
Microsoft also will deliver 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, Perera said.
Microsoft also will announce that Beta 2 of IE8 will be
released in August in 20 languages. Internet Explorer 8 is the next
version of Microsoft’s browser, and in beta 1 it delivers significantly
improved standards support and developer platform investments with
enhanced user experiences. Beta 1 is currently available and is focused
on Web developers and designers to help them deliver Web experiences
that go beyond the page for consumers.
Also as part of the keynote, Gates is expected to reflect on
Microsoft's 33-year history with developers and share his predictions
for the future.
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