Print - Live from PDC 2003: Day 3, Wednesday

Morning in Los Angeles

This morning, LA was covered in a thick fog, but it looks like it's finally starting to wear off. We're heading to the Convention Center soon for today's keynote address by Microsoft Research's Rich Rashid. Oh, and today is Paul's birthday!

10/29/2003 7:19AM PST

Day 3? Hasn't it been longer than that?

It feels like Day 17. This show is brutal, as expected. It's also excellent, also as expected.

10/29/2003 7:22AM PST

Longhorn, Whidbey, Yukon and MSDN subscribers

So this complicates things. Microsoft sent me the following note this morning about MSDN subscribers. I ran across your coverage below of events at the PDC in LA and wanted to alert you to an issue that needs to be clarified. The PDC bits of Longhorn, Whidbey, and Yukon are not available via download, and will not be broadly distributed to MSDN Subscribers. The bits are available to MSDN subscribers only upon request at no charge and will be shipped to them. Sorry for any confusion, but wanted to be sure you let your readers know." I'm still waiting to hear what the procedure is for requesting these products.

10/29/2003 9:52AM PST

Rick Rashid, Jim Gray tout Microsoft Research advances

This morning's keynote was an interesting look behind the scenes at Microsoft Research, the in-house research organization at Microsoft. Rashid's talk touched on such topics as A/V playback, image viewing and processing, AV capturing and encoding, and storage. A demonstration of some advanced video processing technology was particularly amazing: In a 3D scene, rendered in real time, Rashid showed how algorithmic improvements and GPU utilization allow them to render graphics far more realistically. SQL legend Jim Gray showed off SkyServer, Microsoft's latest massive database project, which contains over 10 TB of data and utilizes Web services.

10/29/2003 12:39PM PST

Aero rocks Aero rocks Aero rocks Aero rock Aero rocks ...

Hillel Cooperman, Product Unit Manager of the Windows User Experience Team at Microsoft gave a rousing and, dare we say it, inspiring presentation ostensibly titled The New Windows “Longhorn” User Experience: Get Users to Fall in Love with Your Software; Hillel actually changed the title to the simpler, and more concise, "AERO: The New Windows Longhorn User Experience." Hillel, who gave the Gates keynote Longhorn demo, was one of the best speakers and presenters we've ever seen, and we're officially begging everyone else at the software giant--including Gates himself--to study his style and enthusiasm. Hillel quickly whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a relaxed, hilarious, and dead-on explanation of what was wrong with today's software--including that by Microsoft--and what the software company was doing to fix it. Aero, he explained, isn't just about user interface, it's about the whole user experience (UX), and the ways in which all of the technologies in Longhorn work together to give users the best possible PC experience.

10/29/2003 12:55PM PST

Tradeoffs Microsoft is addressing with Aero

Is your computer ...

Experience or tool?

Powerful or simple?

Automatic or manual?

Familiar or special?

The goal is to have it all, but the reality is you must make tradeoffs toward one or the other in each category, Hillel said. Then he launched into the Aero demos and the room fell silent. We should note that Hillel's demo was a Macromedia Director prototype and not the real thing, though he did say that all of the Longhorn stuff shown elsewhere at PDC 2003 was live, working code. Hillel's demo, however, displayed a more recent look at the work in progress that is Aero, though all of the stuff we've seen is virtually identical to the Aero prototypes I revealed in August; clearly, they've settled on a general look, and are now fine-tuning how it all comes together. But it's early yet, and anything and everything could change. Feedback from the PDC 2003 developer preview build will have a lot to do with how Longhorn, and Aero, ultimately progresses.

10/29/2003 1:00PM PST

Hillel, Aero, and the Longhorn user experience

We desperately want to obtain some screenshots of the Aero demo Hillel showed, but he explained that the company felt it was far too early for that UX to get out, since it was still a work in progress and a distraction from the developer-oriented plumbing, technology, and concepts Microsoft is trying to communicate this week. However, Paul will be visiting Redmond in December and has made tentative plans to speak with Hillel further about Aero and the Longhorn UX. Even at this early stage, it's an amazing and exciting looking interface.

10/29/2003 1:04PM PST

The Microsoft Experience

Hillel has put up a new unofficial Web site online to encourage developers to learn more about the new Microsoft Experience work his team is undertaking. The site has a link and information on the newly released Windows User Experience Guidelines and will be updated with "thoughts and notes" on a regular basis. The site is available at http://www.themicrosoftexperience.com

10/29/2003 1:50PM PST

PDC discovers blogging. Heads up, guys, we've been doing this for years

If it wasn't already clear, PDC 2003 has reinforced the idea that the Blogging Revolution is upon us. There are a countless number of Microsoft employees and event attendees posting their views and thoughts about the conference and newly unveiled technology. Microsoft has caught the blogging fever as well: The upcoming Tablet PC SDK 1.7 will include a sample application for InkBlogging. One of Microsoft Research's yeynote demonstrations this morning also included a blogging project called mywallop that brings bloggers together into an amazingly rich and interactive community. As we discussed on Sunday, Microsoft has released a community application for the event called PDCVibe which makes it easy to find and take part in different blogs covering the event. Of course the best coverage of the PDC has taken place here and we've enjoyed providing it to you. But then we first "blogged" an event like this in late 1999 when we provided live coverage of COMDEX Fall 1999. This was before "blog" was even a term. If you're interested in Paul's notes on non-Microsoft technologies, his Internet Nexus blog has been almost constantly updated since he first started it over two years ago.

10/29/2003 2:04PM PST

It's AERO not Aero

So Mark Minasi tells us that Aero... excuse us, AERO is an acronym. It stands for Authentic Energetic Reflective Open. Huh.

10/29/2003 4:55PM PST

Universal Studios party

We winded down the day at Universal Studios, going on lame rides with a bunch of drunk geeks and eating and drinking, well, with a bunch of drunk geeks. It's always impressive when Microsoft rents out a place this size, but coming so late in the week, we were all a bit spent.

10/30/2003 12:35 AM PST

Happy Birthday Paul! Thanks for the good work guys! A few of us here in Ottawa have been following your posts daily. Editor's note: :) Thanks! --Paul

Feature wise Avalon looks pretty good. WinFS is nice as well, but the memory hunger and slowness of Longhorn really worries me. I think MS should maybe at least put some time into speeding up the OS, rather than just waiting for us all to upgrade.

Happy Birthday, Paul! May you grow very old...at least old enough to become a burden to your children! ;-) Editor's note: ;) Thanks! --Paul

There are reports out today that the MSDN build will not be made available for a fee. Can your get confimation of this? Editor's note: I've got the query in right now. --Paul

Happy birthday Paul! Mine is tomorrow! Editor's note: :) Thanks! Happy birthday to you as well. --Paul

Here is the MSDN page with more info about how to request Longhorn: http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/longhorn/productinfo/

Regarding the Longhorn Kits being available via MSDN - according to the msdn website at http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/longhorn/productinfo/ - all you need to do if you're a MSDN subscriber is phone up MSDN customer service! Hope that's of some use...

Here is MSDN subscriber procedure for getting the PDC bits (from the MSDN Subscriber downloads page); Special Access to Longhorn and Whidbey PDC Release Code Active MSDN Operating Systems, Professional, Enterprise, and Universal subscribers may request a set of software distributed at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2003 (PDC), including the preview versions of the "Longhorn" operating system and SDK, and Visual Studio "Whidbey". Eligible MSDN Subscribers can request the previews by calling MSDN Customer Service. Certified Partners and Breadth ISV / Empower partners should contact their respective Service Centers for further assistance. Note that the preview package contains DVD media, and a DVD drive is required. Please allow 3-4 weeks for fulfillment.

According to the MSDN Subscribers Download site, we must contact directly our local MSDN Customer Service and request the preview versions of Longhorn and Whidbey.

Paul, Does that last comment about Longhorn and availability means the general masses are not goign to get a preview like in the past? Editor's note: I'm waiting to here back from MS about that. For the record, a Microsoft employee did tell me previously that it would be publicly available. --Paul

Hi Paul, Enjoying your coverage. Here's the blurb on the MSDN site with the procedure for requesting the bits. Have your MSDN Universal member number at hand when you call: "Special Access to Longhorn and Whidbey PDC Release Code Active MSDN Operating Systems, Professional, Enterprise, and Universal subscribers may request a set of software distributed at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2003 (PDC), including the preview versions of the "Longhorn" operating system and SDK, and Visual Studio "Whidbey". Eligible MSDN Subscribers can request the previews by calling MSDN Customer Service. Certified Partners and Breadth ISV / Empower partners should contact their respective Service Centers for further assistance. Note that the preview package contains DVD media, and a DVD drive is required. Please allow 3-4 weeks for fulfillment."

Hey Paul, The info is posted on the following link http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/. Here is an excerpt from the page that also leads to call if you’re a current MSDN subscriber. Longhorn and Whidbey Previews available to MSDN Subscribers Eligible MSDN Subscribers can request the previews by calling MSDN Customer Service. Certified Partners and Breadth ISV / Empower partners should contact their respective Service Centers for further assistance. Please note that the preview package contains DVD media, and a DVD drive is required.

Regarding the PDC bits - you have to call Microsoft and just tell them you want it. Call the technical support hotline.

There's a link at http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc: "Longhorn and Whidbey Previews available to MSDN Subscribers." It appears to direct you to the general MSDN Subscriptions Customer Service phone numbers.

Paul, The procedure for requesting the PDC bits is described on the MSDN site. "Eligible MSDN Subscribers can request the previews by calling MSDN Customer Service. Certified Partners and Breadth ISV / Empower partners should contact their respective Service Centers for further assistance. Note that the preview package contains DVD media, and a DVD drive is required. Please allow 3-4 weeks for fulfillment." I already called and the process was quick and painless.

Paul! Responding To Your Question Here: Sorry for any confusion, but wanted to be sure you let your readers know." I'm still waiting to hear what the procedure is for requesting these products. FYI: No public Longhorn preview, says MS - developers only Posted by Voodoo on 29 Oct 2003 - 20:59 | 7 comments The leak of the special Longhorn build designed for Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this week may turn out to have a lot more rarity value than expected. According to Microsoft, this build will not be widely available after all. The PDC build, 4051, is part of a DVD package, which also includes the Longhorn SDK and Whidbey, handed out this week. Some have been expecting Microsoft to cater for developers who're not attending PDC by including it in the December MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) update, and it's also been rumoured that it will be made available to the wider public for a small fee in November. This latter would have been unprecedented, because 4051 is an alpha version, and beta 1 of Longhorn, Microsoft's Jim Allchin indicated this week, won't be out until next summer. But Microsoft will not be strewing copies of 4051 to all and sundry after all. According to a spokesman: "The PDC bits of Longhorn, Whidbey and Yukon are not available via download, and will not be broadly distributed to MSDN subscribers. The bits are available to MSDN subscribers only upon request, at no charge and will be shipped to them." This seems to be news to at least some MSDN subscribers, as recent posters in MSDN discussion groups appear to be under the impression that it will be in the December drop. But here's the official notice - you need to call MSDN customer service and get them to ship it. View: The full story News source: The Reg

Happy birthday, Paul. May your websites live and keep us informed forever. By the way: The hyperlink to the Eric Rudder keynote photo gallery links to the Jim Allchin keynote! http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/pdc2003.asp Editor's note: thanks! I'll get that fixed. --Paul

"I'm still waiting to hear what the procedure is for requesting these products." Call MSDN Customer Service, Validate information, Issue verbal Request for PDC2003 DVD, Receive confirmation and a "Thank You". That's all I did, anyway as a Universal MSDN Sub. Curiosly, I didn't recall seeing "Yukon" (sql server) on the information from the MSDN download page Editor's note: Thanks! And thanks to everyone that wrote in with this information. I still haven't heard from Microsoft, but a bunch of MSDN subscribers did write me. Thanks! --Paul

Please get us some (all?) of the audio if you can from Hillel's Aero presentation - it sounds worth listening to.

I hope at the end of the week we get a detailed report of all this good stuff with plenty of new pictures and new videos.

This is all "gee wiz" until your computer gets a virus or you have to reboot due to a critical update. Ask the hard questions Paul. Where are the radical changes in security, and reliability? What's going on with the "Next Generation Secure Computing Base"? Enough with the smoke, mirrors, and glass windows propaganda, let's hear about the Nexus. Let’s get to the important stuff!

When is Longhorn coming out to stores and going to be build into computers?? Editor's note: Sure. In 2-3 years. --Paul

God Paul, you really need to get over yourself. This constant defense that you were "the first" or are "the best" even with evidence often to the contrary makes you look, at best, extrodinarily arrogant or, at worst, incredibly desperate. Editor's note: That's not my intent. I'm really just pointing out that "blogging" isn't new; only the term is. I not the first blogger or anything, and never claimed that. Jerry Pournelle accurately contends that he is the original blogger as he's had an electronic day book for years and years. What you're not putting in context is that I'm a single person, essentially competing with huge places like CNET.com. It's not easy, but more importantly, I do occassionally latch onto some things before the Big Guys. --Paul

Seeing your references to "user experience (UX)" made me think that when the code names disappear maybe we'll have Windows UX. But then I realized that it would be too easy for the Microsoft bashers to add an "S" in front of the "UX"! BTW, really enjoying your coverage of the PDC. Editor's note: LOL. this has been acronym and code-name hell. I was fascinated to see they're even reusing code-names now (for example, "Vegas"). --Paul

There does not seem to be much to rah rah about with longhorn visually. How can the addition of a sidebar be the revolution in computing gui that people were hoping for. I am really looking forward to longhorn but the transparentcies are a bit obvious in my view. Remember that film hackers (i know, i know) but the was data was represented there i.e. in big towers was different, you mean to say windows will still have the Start button, great a real feat. Editor's note: To be fair, most of the emphasis on the visuals has come from the press (ahem), the people at the show, and others outside of Microsoft. The company really doesn't want people to get too wrapped in how it looks, not yet, because things will change so much over time. But it's hard not to: AERO is just so amazing. --Paul

Thank you guys for the links and great information you provided from Wednesday events. I've counted on the SuperSite to give me information I can use - ahead of the consumer pack. Terry Seattle

Hi there, I wanted to know if you guys have heard anything about accessibility improvements? Mainly I am refering to visual disabilities. Any new advances in the ways the new Windows will open itself up to screen reader applications, etc...? Thanks so much for the excellent site; keep up the awesome work! Editor's note: Thanks. Yes, this is a major push of the high-DPI capabilities. The UI will be highly scalable, with vector graphics and text that look good at any size. Unlike today's BMP-based UI, Longhorn will be a huge boon to the viusally impaired. --Paul

Schade nur dass Microsoft nix zum eigentlichen 3 Dimmensionalen AERO Style veröffentlicht...