Why I'm Going To MIX
I confess, if I didn’t work for Microsoft I probably would go to fewer conferences than most folks. I never did well in school, I just don’t learn well in classrooms, and while the networking in the hallways is incredibly valuable, the overall cost that I was paying as an independent was high. So I picked carefully; especially in hard times.
But MIX is different, and more so if you are interested in RIA and Silverlight.
While PDC is a great place to see where Microsoft is going and TechEd is fantastic for deep technical information, Mix could almost be renamed “Silverlight Neonatal Unit” (though I admit I may have a skewed perception).
It was at MIX07 that I switched from being a general .NET programmer to being a Silverlight Programmer (before joining Microsoft) and it was at MIX08 that we revealed Silverlight 2, a upgrade that I thought was about as big as that from Win 3.1 to Windows 95.
Now, without saying anything out of school, let's put together just two public facts:
- On November 16, Scott Guthrie posted a glimpse of Silverlight 3 indicating it will ship in 2009.
- On Jan 14 the Mix 09 site posted a page called Silverlight 3 Sessions including
- What's new in Silverlight 3
- What's new in Silverlight 3 Media
- Deep Dive into Silverlight 3 Graphics
So it is fair to speculate that Silverlight 3 will play an important role in this year's Mix. And that is pretty exciting news indeed.
I'll say more as soon as I can, but what I will say right now is this: I'm at least as excited about Silverlight 3 as I was about Silverlight 2.
| { Update – There is a $400 discount until Feb 13 and be sure to check out the MIX site for details about keynote speakers, the agenda and the new Mix Online pages. Also be sure to signup for MIX's Twitter feed and keep an eye on the MIX tweme [1] } |
[1] See Meme