Jim Zimmerman

Well better late than never. I have been wanting to tell about this great event, but as soon as I got back from vegas, my kids got me very sick. So here it is:

So, it was the coolest convention I have ever been too. This is no joke. Microsoft really outdid themselves this time. Not like a normal Microsoft event. It didn't even feel like one sometimes. The branding was different, not the bold Microsoft signs but MIX 06 signs everywhere with Microsoft on the top left corner. There were also media center lunges with bean bags to sit and play xbox 360 games and the new vista media center. What was also wierd was the number of apple laptops I saw. There were tons of flash and mac developers and graphic designers there. It truly was a mix of different people. It was bringing together the designer and the developer. It was really cool the kind of conversations I had. Here I am talking to someone from Adobe about how WPF/E will compete with flash. For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, WPF/E is Microsoft's version of Flash. Except better I think. Finally will have a way to wire up cool design to code-behind pages. You can get more information about Microsoft's new design tool called Expression here.

I played with the xaml stuff and wpf/e in the hands-on labs, but have yet to get it installed on my pc. I am very excited about where Microsoft is headed. It was definitely the early adopter crowd. I don't think WPF/E even comes out until Mid-2007.

So anyway, Vegas was lots of fun and I met alot of cool and fun people. Microsoft had a reception Monday night which was one of the best parties I have ever been too. I saw O'Reilly dancing, Gates wasn't there though. It felt like one of those parties you used to hear about in 2000 at the height of the dotcom boom. Lots of key companies there and everyone drinking and having fun.

For those who missed it, it is definitely worth going next year. It will be hard to top this year, but I am sure it will be somewhere fun.