After a couple of weeks of the Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld commercials that were utterly confusing in the short versions that aired on TV, Microsoft has launched its new commercials today that take direct aim at Apple. 

"I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype," says Microsoft employee Sean Siller, who looks a whole lot like John Hodgman.  I personally like these ones way better than that other two commercials that aired.  I found the other commercials with Gates and Seinfeld were way too confusing in the short format, and made it seem like Microsoft was trying too hard.  The new commercials are a billion times better than the earlier commercials.  I love the
“bill@windows.com” bit in the video’s that show his email address.

Longoria “I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype”

Microsoft “Not Alone” Commercial

Microsoft New “Stereotype” Commercial

Let’s dive into some of the sessions you can expect at TechDays 2008!

The TechDays 2008 Session Breakdown

There are five tracks that you can choose in the TechDays tour:

1. Windows Developer
2. Web Developer
3. Virtualization
4. Data Platform and Business Intelligence
5. Infrastructure

TechDays Day 1 Session Breakdown

TechDays kicks off with a bang on day 1!  Click the image if you want to see the details, or just keep reading below to see the breakdown.  I know I know I blocked out certain tracks. I wanted to focus mainly on the sessions I will make an effort to attend.  Plus I thought it might be nice to let the IT Pro’s comment on their tracks.

Windows Developer – Track 1

1. Building Killer Line-of-Business Applications with WPF
2. A Platform in Your Pocket: Windows Mobile for Windows Developers
3. Just Sync It! Leveraging the Microsoft Sync Framework in Your Applications
4. Building Differentiated UI Applications Using Composite WPF

Web Developer – Track 2

1. Goin’ Up to the Data in the Sky: ADO.NET Data Services for Web Developers
2. Internet Explorer 8 for Developers: What You Need to Know
3. A Deep Dive into the _________________  hmmmm, trust me, don’t miss this deep dive
4. __________________ Silverlight ___________  again, this session will rock!

Virtualization and Data Platform and Business Intelligence  – Track 3/4

Blocked information due to the fact that I don’t want to spoil all the surprises for everyone!

Infrastructure – Track 5

1. Building High Availability Infrastructures With Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering

Just one of the sessions in Track 5 that focus around getting the most out of your infrastructure.  We’ve been doing some testing and deployments with Windows 2008 in the last little while and let me tell you something, the big secret right now is how powerful Windows 2008 truly is.

Oh don’t worry, I’m not even close to being done!  This is just day one for the two day event!  What else could possibly be added to this event?

TechDays Day 2 Session Breakdown

Day two kicks off where day one left off.  For those that are lucky enough to be in a city where you get both days, you are about to get completely spoiled.  Check out the sessions I will try and attend!

Windows Developer – Track 1

1. The Best of Both Worlds: WPF in WinForms and Vice Versa
2. The Windows Vista Bridge: How .NET Developers Can Easily Access Exciting New Vista Features
3. Blackbelt…. (Sorry, you’ll have to wait till the site launches!)
4. Developing Windows Mobile Applications with Visual Studio

Web Developer – Track 2

1. Mastering Your Silverlight Samurai Skills (Part 1 of 2)
2. Mastering Your Silverlight Samurai Skills (Part 2 of 2)
3. Car or Motorcycle: _____________________   <—This one will rock, come check it out
4. The Zen of PHP on Windows!  Boooyaaaaa, I’m not the only one doing this clearly! 

Virtualization and Data Platform and Business Intelligence – Track 3/4

These are amazing tracks, but allas, I promised the mother ship I would not let out all the secrets in the candy bag.  I’ll let an IT Pro talk to these!

Infrastructure – Track 5

1. ROCKBAND 2!!!!! Just kidding… or am I?
2. Windows Deployments the Way You Want Them: Unleashing the Power of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit with Customization
3. Streamlining Web Site Migration and Web Server Management Using the MS Web Deploy Toolset
4. Special Guest Appearance by the Mad Mexican! (or not)

And of course, you can bet that the entire event will include many question and answer sessions and opportunities to meet one on one with the speakers and ask your super geek questions to the experts!  Lunch time for example will feature Birds-of-a-feather sessions where you will have time to ask your questions and be heard!

There will also be evening receptions on both nights, giving you even more time and ability to make connections with your peers.  While I have shown the two day event schedule, the one day event schedule will be just as powerful, and just have a blend of day one and day two. 

One Final Thought… RockBand 2?

One last note, and this is to the Microsoft Canada guys, I am hoping we have some RockBand 2 at the evening events, and maybe even some Karaoke!  Also, you guys might want to do some screenings of the Microsoft Commercials with Seinfeld and Gates.

Being in Winnipeg, I usually don’t look forward to December.  I am confused now as to what to think… Bring on December!  See you at TechDays!

All attempts to contact Twitter have failed. Apparently they wanted to release a statement through Twitter last night, however were unable to do so as Twitter kept going down. They finally gave up and sent out messages of the acquisition via friendfeed. Watch the link that was sent out via friendfeed below.

Video: rick astley – never gonna give you up

Of course if you actually believed that Twitter was purchased by MTV, you should have a smile on your face, and as Ashton Kutcher would say, you have been “Rickrolled!”

For enterprise users, this won’t mean much, but for consumers that go out and buy BlackBerry’s and don’t have a BES Server, this means you can sign up to Microsoft as your email provider, and have the email “pushed” to your device.  Google has GMail for Blackberry, but it is not push technology.

The integration of Windows Live services into the BlackBerry platform will allow customers who use Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger on their BlackBerry smartphone to benefit from the BlackBerry platform architecture with the ability to communicate in real time using push technology, and an exceptional mobile communications experience. Customers will also be able to seamlessly access their Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger account from their BlackBerry smartphone by simply entering their Windows Live e-mail address and password once.

“The BlackBerry platform is respected around the world for providing optimized messaging capabilities, and RIM continues to look for ways to provide customers with a wide range of communications options and the best possible mobile experience,” said Mark Guibert, vice president, Corporate Marketing at RIM. “Our relationship with Microsoft and the addition of Windows Live services to BlackBerry smartphones help us build on that strategy for our customers.”

These partnerships are great as they pave the way for things like Silverlight on BlackBerry’s, and other cool ideas.

Read the Press Release from Microsoft here.

Nobody really knows what is going to happen, but the blogs are a buzzing. 

Will Silverlight 2.0 be introduced and go live?  Whatever it is, it makes for interesting stories for people to read, and write about.  That’s what’s fun about the Internet these days.  You go to bed, and you miss all the good stuff!

What we know right now:

1. Robert Scobble saw the demo, and he started to cry
2. Googlers have seen it, and trembled in their pants
3. It’s getting a lot of press on nearly every major blog, including TechCrunch
4. Coincides with TED, and .NET Heroes Happen Here Event Launch in LA Keynoted by Steve Ballmer
5. MIX 08 kicks off exactly one week later, an event focused around the future of web applications.

Check out http://www.opensourcehero.com/. 

Nobody knows for sure what it is however.  Some of the ideas floating around:

1. Silverlight 2.0
2. New Project that takes advantage of PhotoSynth Technology
3. Some new Surface technology
4. Silverlight Space that puts Google Maps to shame

Is it the perfect storm for Silverlight and Microsoft?  It seems like everything is being setup for it.  What will launch for sure on the 27th of course is Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008!  Although the additional Microsoft “secret” might not be a specific Silverlight announcement, my guess is whatever it is, it will run on Silverlight.  If you look at the top left of www.opensourcehero.com you will notice the “Click Here to Install Silverlight”.

One thing is for sure, February 27th, 2008 will be an exciting day for technology.  It will either be a day where the Internet is left in awe that Microsoft pulled off a huge technological advancement, or another flop in time.