But there’s no way of actually telling what’s coming

Jul 26, 2010 07:11 GMT  ·  By

Yes, Microsoft is going to hold a Professional Developers Conference in late 2010, but don’t expect Windows client and server to be the starts of the event, like in the past years. The Redmond company has had a change of heart when it comes down to PDC, after it initially planned on skipping it altogether this year. After all, Windows 8 client and Windows 8 Server are still in the very early stages of development, and there might not be something all that consistent to share by year’s end. In fact, developers looking to participate to PDC10 should be aware of the fact that the software giant is not focusing the event on Windows 8.

“Since 1991, the PDC has been the epicenter of Microsoft’s biggest platform announcements. This year will be no exception. Leading-edge developers and architects will gather in Redmond this October to hear firsthand from Microsoft’s leaders about the next generation of Cloud Services, Phone, Tools & Technologies, Internet Explorer and Gaming Platforms,” Microsoft revealed.

PDC10 is not going to be a traditional Professional Developers Conference, especially for those already familiar with the past Microsoft conferences. First off, PDC10 will be housed in Redmond, and will only be opened to approximately 1,000 developers, versus the many thousands that normally participate at the event. In addition, as you can see from the description above, the Redmond company plans to deal primarily with Cloud technologies rather than Windows. On top of this, Microsoft has envisioned the event as a combination of onsite and virtual session.

“We’ll certainly miss you, but if you can’t attend you can still join in on the excitement via the live stream. This year’s groundbreaking event will include live streaming of the keynotes, as well as concurrent live streaming of sessions,” the company said.

While Windows 8 seems to be out, Internet Explorer 9 will definitely be in. Microsoft has released the third Platform Preview for the next iteration of IE and is already working on the upcoming development milestone. Speculation currently indicates that the Beta of IE9 will be produced in the second half of 2010, and it’s interesting to see that Internet Explorer will get its fair share in the limelight at PDC10. This year’s Professional Developers Conference will take place in Microsoft’s Redmond campus on October 28 and 29.

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Platform Preview is available for download here.

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