PDC Opening Keynote

I am writing this from Bill Gates’ keynote at PDC in Los Angeles.  User experience is definitely the message of the day.  Windows Vista is a clear indication of the MS belief that if you build a better interface then they will come (or stay as the case may be).

Atlas, which will allow MS technology developers to build XMLHttp based, google map like, experiences is a prime example that this is the battlefield of this round.  There was a bit of a history lesson that was likely very unneeded given the crowd, but then WinFX (highlighting Avalon), Windows Vista and the supporting technologies were covered.

Windows Vista is supposed to, “Bring clarity to your world”. The Vista demo was cool, it is hard to call it anything else.  If you like the UI in Windows XP then you might have a hard time being lured to Vista, but if you have ever envied the Mac interface then you will have to dig a bit to find enough justification to jump.  Control and security are the other motivator.  Phishing attacks have been increasing dramatically and IE 7 goes a long way to allowing you to be much more confident that you aren’t being victimized.  The dynamic protection service will let you opt in to view a known phishing site so that you are never really prevented from hanging yourself.  I think this is a good example of MS keeping pace with the hackers, the problem for many people is that they may not want to move, but security will force the upgrade ultimately.

Office 12 was announced and will be released at the same time as Windows Vista.  The biggest changes are to the user interface (basically reinvented) and the intrinsic XML file format. 

More later…