Gautam Goenka (MSFT)

My list of interesting stuff at PDC2005

My laundry list of product/technology/features that I liked at PDC (based mostly on keynotes):

Product/Technology:

1. Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server (hey, it is my product :)) - This will give IBM Rational run for their bucks.
2. Windows Presentation Foundation (a.k.a. Avalon) and XAML - The next generation mind-blowing UI
3. Expression suite (Acryllic, Sparkle and Quartz) - The new super cool designer!
4. Linq - Native syntax for database query built into the language!!!
5. WinFS - The new relational file system for Windows.

Windows Vista Features:

1. Quick search based on WinFS is everywhere even in Start menu where it can filter the "All Programs" list.
2. Hovering mouse over minimized window in task bar (or ALT+TAB action) gives the live preview of the window.
3. Sidebar and gadgets - For Microsoft employees, this is the old "Sideshow"
4. There will be "Parental Control" on the PC so you can set permission what you kids can and cannot do.
5. The super fetch cache and auto-defragmentation features for better performance. One can even add a USB drive to your laptop to increase the cache memory!

Office Features:

1. The new result oriented UI a.k.a Ribbons!
2. There is live preview of formatting changes (like font) as you select it. There is no need to apply the change to check it out.
3. Excel: The data in cells can be graphically visualized in various ways inside the cell.  For example, one can add a bar graph to bunch of cells inside the cell itself.
4. Outlook: Preview pane for attachment inside Outlook. No need to double click on the attachments!!!
5. Outlook: RSS reader built in Outlook
6. Sharepoint: Built in RSS feed feature and in conjunction with the above, ability to have all documents offline in Outlook

Obviously, there were lots and lots of other interesting stuff.