It’s the night before Microsoft’s Build 2014 Developer conference gets underway and many are wondering what announcements the event will bring. While I’m sure there are many surprises tomorrow, there are certainly some interesting details in the titles of sessions released so far.

Some that caught my eye were:

Developing apps using the Common XAML UI framework (Windows 8.1. Windows Phone)

What’s new in WinJS (Windows 8.1, Windows Phone)

The New Windows Phone Application Model

Windows Phone Enterprise Management

Building a Converged Phone and PC App using HTML and Javascript

Better App Compaq with Enterprise Mode for IE11 (Tagged Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone)

Windows Desktop Development Panel Discussion (Look at all those XAML folks!)

We’ll have to see what tomorrow  brings, but lots of juicing bits to keep us guessing. You can check out the schedule here: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014?sort=status&direction=asc#theSessions

Have you been to the MSDN site lately?
I ask because I know that personally when I need to lookup something information related
to my development efforts I’ll just search for it, often getting a mix of hits, instead
of heading right the “the source” for much of this info. Admittedly, in the past some
information had been hard to find on site, but if you haven’t checked it our recently,
the MSDN website has undergone some changes.

A quick glance at the site shows a much cleaner looking design, with what seems to
be much better organized information. For a fun comparison, here’s what the site looked
like a few years ago.

Below the main menu, the site is dividing into three “portals” separating content
by Platforms, Tasks, and News.

The Platforms page provides some overview information and easy access to dive further
into Desktop, Web, Cloud, and Phone development areas.

For other areas, a quick click on the “All
Developer Centers and Hubs” link takes you to a nice site map for all of the major
areas. As you continue to drill into topic areas, the trend of better organized information
continues, pulling together a variety of documents, videos, links to articles, and
other great sources of information.

Recently at the D9 conference Microsoft demonstrated then next version of Windows.

“Windows 8 is a reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface. A Windows
8-based PC is really a new kind of device, one that scales from touch-only small screens
through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse. ”

In the demos, Microsoft showed off a some of the new interface and features. This
video shows off some of it.

Microsoft also officialy announced a new conference this September called Build
Windows where they will be sharing much more information with developers regarding
Windows 8. In fact, most requests for additional details about Win 8 generates a “learn
more a Build” response.

Since these announcements there has been a lot of speculation by individuals on what
this means for current technologies and future development.  While I’ve heard
some very interesting interpretations by people, I’ve also heard some things that
I feel are completely inaccurate.  However not knowing all of the details myself,
I’m not in a position to say what is accurate or not, but would encourage everybody
be cautious about what they hear and read based on this early information, and of
course…. “Learn more from Build”`

As everybody scrambles to educate clients and site administrators on the recently
announced ASP.NET
Security Vulnerability, it’s great to see organizations like those behind Umbraco being
proactive to protect their install base.

Logging into an Umbraco site, administrators are immediately greeted with a warning
about the security issue:

Clicking on the alert provides the administrator simple instructions to install a
patch to address the issue. 

It’s great to see this level of support! Yet another reason to check out Umbraco if
you haven’t already.

PS – Please take the steps necessary to protect any sites you may have.

This weekend information regarding a security vulnerability with ASP.NET was released.
If you have a website based on ASP.NET, it’s extremely important that you read this
information and take the appropriate steps to secure your website. ScottGu
has posted details on his blog.

If you haven’t already registered, be sure to check out the upcoming Windows
Azure Boot Camp that’s taking place Wednesday June 23rd in Durham, NC. This free
training event is a great opportunity to get your feet wet with Windows Azure. Microsoft
DE Brian Hitney and Jim Duffy from TakeNote Technologies will
be presenting the content.

This is a hands on workshop, so show up laptop in hand and ready to learn. More
information and registration
information is available. Once again, it’s a free event but you must register
to attend.

With the recent public announcement that the Release Candidate (RC) of Win7 was just
days away, we’re starting to hear a lot more buzz around some details that had been
kept secret.

Have ever wondered why Microsoft makes certain decisions for the Windows OS and what’s
behind those decisions? For a behind the scenes explanation from some of the key engineers
behind Windows 7 and IT Pro’s about their own experiences, check out the introduction
to “Talking about Windows” by Stephen
Rose.

But wait! There’s more! This isn’t just a video site, it’s a community hub that allows
discussions around the content, as well as links to the Springboard Series of technical
guidance.

“Communication is key…We look forward to continuing the conversation.”

Well worth checking out.