I put my Windows7  hat on. I attended a  developers conference for the upcoming release .  It went okay. I got my free copy for running on Ubuntu Linux.  Despite some hassles, the speaker – Bruno did a decent job of explaining how to make software applications. During the presentation the internet died (oops.) The screen was hard to read at times – it was blurry & the projector bulb was dying. The touchscreen he was using started acting up also.

Most conferences are pretty much the same. I was a little bummed with the ‘continental breakfast.’ They didn’t even have anything to put on our bagels. There were a whole bunch of us geeks wandering around with dry bagels. I think I heard someone say “Microsoft why have you forsaken us?” I know some people like their bagels dry & devoid of dairy products (or peanut butter.) Apparently not us all of us techs do. The soda was warm, too. The coffee was ok. Opera’s Open Web Camp had much better food (& their budget is slightly smaller.)

Enough whining about the food, I’ll move on. Does anyone need a Windows 7 bottle-opener? I also saw a lot of Apple computers there & iphones. Nothing new – technical events are dominated by Apple computers and iPhones these days. I believe Skynet starts with the Apple logo.(nerd joke.) One of the Mac users said everyone was nice to him. He was expecting a negative reaction was to his laptop, or being asked to leave.

Sitting among the ‘partner displays’ they had an ‘ask an expert table’. I asked the experts about Ubuntu, as I pointed to my Linux shirt.
I was a little surprised when one of the guys told me that he had an Ubuntu virtual appliance. And then showed me it on his laptop.
Maybe I should not be surprised. Microsoft has been going to open-source events for a while. Either I am being blinded by the time I have spent with people from Redmond. Or they have learned something from spending time open-source idealists. I just wished they could have learned something about catering from us also.