Microsoft's Tech-Ed: Developers Conference 2006 Europe Brings Together Developers and Students to Build Next-Generation Applications

November 7, 2006; 04:28 AM

At the Tech-Ed: Developers Conference 2006 Europe, Microsoft Corp unveiled to developers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region new technologies designed to enable them to build next-generation interactive applications for Microsoft(R) Windows Vista(TM), the 2007 Microsoft Office system and the web. In a keynote address to more than 3,750 developers, sponsors and academics, Eric Rudder, senior vice president of technical strategy, highlighted releases of the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office for the 2007 Microsoft Office system and ASP.NET AJAX, and urged the audience to download and take advantage of them as part of their development effort for Microsoft Windows Vista. Rudder also highlighted the opportunities for developers to take advantage of the 2007 Microsoft Office system's developer platform to build a new class of application, called Office Business Applications (OBAs).

In addition, Simon Brown, EMEA vice president of developer and platform evangelism, announced the launch of Imagine Cup 2007, the world's premier student technology competition. Separately, Microsoft also announced the worldwide roll out of its Microsoft Student Partners programme as part of the company's initiative to encourage the development of high-class technology skills and learning required to support a healthy and vibrant software economy.

"The upcoming release of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system will enable new levels of innovation and create an amazing range of opportunities for developers in EMEA and across the world," said Rudder. "In delivering these new technologies for Windows(R) and Office, as well as new tools for web development, Microsoft enables developers to use their existing skills to build great applications today using this next wave of platform innovation."

Commitment to Innovation and Development

Based on its belief that great innovation in IT is achieved through partnership and collaboration with the academic community, Microsoft announced the following:

-- The launch of the Imagine Cup 2007 finals with the theme "Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all". Students will compete to earn a place at the worldwide finals in Korea in 2007. Now in its fifth year, the Imagine Cup has grown to be a global event with more than 65,000 students from 100 countries entering the 2006 competition. The Imagine Cup 2006 winning team from Italy and third-place team from Norway demonstrated their winning technologies.

-- The worldwide roll out of its Microsoft Student Partner programme. This programme offers university students with a passion for technology the opportunity to interact with the Microsoft academic community, access the very latest Microsoft software, reference materials and training, and receive privileged access to new recruitment opportunities.

New Technologies for Developers

Rudder outlined a range of new technologies are designed to help developers build web services and service-oriented applications that deliver the levels of security, reliability and differentiation that businesses and consumers expect. These include as follows:

-- The release to manufacture (RTM) of the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, which includes advances for building rich, interactive client applications (Windows Presentation Foundation), communication and workflow (Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation) and online identity management (Windows CardSpace).

-- The availability to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN(R)) Premium subscribers of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system upon RTM.

-- The availability of Visual Studio(R) 2005 extensions for the .NET Framework 3.0, a series of plug-ins and project templates that enable developers to use Visual Studio 2005 to build .NET Framework 3.0 solutions.

-- The RTM of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, enabling developers to build scalable, robust line-of-business applications based on the functionality of the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

-- The Beta 2 of ASP.NET AJAX Extensions and the Microsoft AJAX Library (collectively called ASP.NET AJAX). Formerly codenamed "Atlas", ASP.NET AJAX is a free framework that allows developers to quickly create a new generation of more efficient, more interactive and highly personalised web experiences that work across the most popular browsers.

-- The Release Candidate (RC) of SQL Server(TM) 2005 Compact Edition, a new offering for essential relational database functionality in a compact footprint. By sharing a familiar SQL syntax and common ADO.NET programming model with other SQL Server editions, SQL Server Compact Edition allows developers and administrators to apply their existing skills and be immediately productive. The RC is available via web download at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/compact .

-- Unique capabilities in the 2007 Microsoft Office system that simplify the development of OBAs, which bridge line-of-business systems with the people that use them through the familiar user interface of Microsoft Office. The emergence of Office as a true developer platform combined with the rich client and server capabilities of Office 2007 provide a much richer environment for building OBAs.

Customers Begin to Ship Solutions Now

Customers have already begun to deliver solutions using the innovative new features in Windows Vista and the .NET Framework 3.0. Mail-order and online consumer purchasing leader OTTO GmbH uses the power of the .NET Framework 3.0 to create a new shopping experience for more than 10 million retail customers. Consequently, OTTO is able to position itself as a thought leader and innovator in a highly competitive market.

"The OTTO Store is the next-generation shopping experience - fun, personal, confident and secure," said Dr Thomas Schnieders, vice president of New Media at OTTO. "We could not have delivered this exciting new user experience without the advantages that Windows Presentation Foundation and CardSpace provide."

Learning and Training Resources Available Now

To enable successful deployment and use of Microsoft products and technologies, Microsoft Learning extends the customer readiness promise to the next generation of Microsoft technologies and offers the latest training products for developers. Training for ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX is now available, with additional offerings for the .NET Framework 3.0 and Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, shipping in the next few months. Information on the latest learning and training resources from Microsoft is online at http://www.microsoft.com/learning .

Product Information and Availability

The .NET Framework 3.0, Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, ASP.NET AJAX and Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for the .NET Framework 3.0, are available for immediate download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio. An OBA Reference Architecture Pack for Supply Chain Management is also available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/architecture/office/oba/rap/scm .

Further information on speaker sessions, technical workshops, partner information and product announcements is available on the Tech-Ed virtual pressroom at http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/techEd .

About Microsoft Tech-Ed: Developers Europe

In its 13th year in Europe, Tech-Ed Developer is Microsoft's premier European conference designed to provide developers with deep dive technical training, information and community resources focusing on building software solutions with Microsoft development tools for current and soon to release products and technologies. Tech-Ed Developer Europe runs from 7-10 November, at the Centre Convencions Internacional (CCIB) in Barcelona, Spain.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more than 13,000 people in over 60 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in more than 138 countries and territories.

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