Barney's Blog

Blog archive

PDC Preview

Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference started today, and lots of goodies are to be unveiled. Topping the list is pre-release Windows 7 code given to all attendees. Microsoft is calling this code "pre-beta" (isn't that what the word "alpha" refers to?).

Microsoft promises improvements to the Windows kernel, but I'm still waiting to find out if there is, in fact, a new kernel altogether. I'll report back on what I learn.

At the show, developers can bring their own code and see if it'll work with Windows 7. I hope all the hardware guys bring plenty of drivers to try!

Microsoft will also promote multi-core (dual to eight cores) and many-core (lots and lots of cores) programming. This way, apps can fully exploit the amazing gains made by processors. The trick is that it takes a new approach to programming and an awful lot of effort. Basically, you have to rewrite your apps from scratch to use all of these cores. Here's what I learned about multi-core after a month of two of research.

Posted by Doug Barney on October 27, 2008 at 11:52 AM


Featured

  • Microsoft Planning Additional Job Cuts in May

    Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are hitting its home turf, with new notices affecting 1,248 people in the Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah, Wash. areas in May.

  • Microsoft's Loop App Now Available in Preview

    Microsoft's latest collaboration application, Loop, is now available as a public preview.

  • 2023 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Microsoft To Add ISV Designations to MCPP

    Microsoft's top partner executives detailed several changes it plans to make to the 6-month-old Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP).