Build here we come!

2014-03-27

Only six more days and then Microsoft //Build 2014 will start! The schedule still only shows the begin and end times but slowly some details are coming out.

So here are my personal hopes and speculations on what Microsoft is going to show us next week.

One source of inspiration is the schedule for the Dutch TechDays that will be held two weeks after Build. This week 16 sessions showed up on the schedule with the following intriguing title:

To be announced after //Build

The following speakers will be presenting those sessions:

  • Marcel de Vries (ALM MVP and Microsoft Regional Director for the Netherlands)
  • Alex Thissen (.NET architect at a Dutch company)
  • Rajen Kishna (Microsoft Technical Evangelist focused on Windows 8 and Windows Phone)
  • Maarten Struys (Microsoft Account Technology Strategist focusing on Windows Embedded, Windows Phone and Windows Store apps)
  • Andy Wigley (Microsoft Technical Evangelist focused on Windows Phone)
  • Matthijs Hoekstra (Senior Product Marketing Manager focused on Windows Phone)
  • Bart de Smet (Microsoft Software Development Engineer focused on C#/Reactive Extensions and cloud)
  • Robert Green (Microsoft Technical Evangelist focused on Visual Studio)

So what can we conclude from this list?

There is definitely going to be Windows Phone news. This shouldn’t be a surprise since Windows Phone 8.1 rumors are all over the internet. Other rumors focus on the merge of Windows Store for Windows Phone, Xbox and Windows 8 Store. Will this be announced this year or do we have to wait to 2015? We will see!

The other interesting sessions will revolve around ALM, C# and Visual Studio. Since those are the areas I really look forward to here some hopes of mine:

  • Roslyn! I really hope we get at least a new CTP or maybe even a beta.
  • Brian Harry already mentioned on his blog they did a huge update to Visual Studio Online that’s still hidden behind feature flags. In his ALM Summit keynote in Germany he mentioned that Release Management will be added to Visual Studio Online so that’s at least one thing we can expect. The other feature I really hope for is the merging of Lab Management and Release Management. Currently there is a lot of overlap between those services and it’s hard to explain this to customers other then ‘wait and see’. Let’s hope Build will clear this.
  • Project N: at the Visual Studio 2013 launch a brief demo was shown on compiling C# directly to machine code. Maybe we are going to hear more about it.
  • C# 6: Mads Torgersen already demoed some expected new C# 6 features at the NDC and I hope that together with Roslyn we will get our hands on those new features.
  • Visual Studio 2013 and Team Foundation Server 2013 Update 2 will probably be released. Currently in CTP 2, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a new beta with a Go Live license.
  • I’m also wondering if we will be seeing anything new related to Azure. At least the name change to Microsoft Azure is scheduled for Thursday during Build so maybe that will be live and we will get some new features?

So that are my hopes and speculations. New ALM and new C# stuff would make my Build great. It would also be nice to see Satya Nadella in person and maybe we can even get some Developers Developers Developers.

So what are your thoughts? Any new speculations? Any things you hope for? Or want to grab a cup of coffee during Build? Just leave a comment!