For those of you who haven’t noticed, a large number of the talks from
DevCon are now available at
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/foundation/DevNotes.mspx. In one sense
this is great, but in another sense it makes me ask why have DevCon when it
is just WinHEC for drivers only?
The first DevCon almost two years ago, featured a ton of new material under
NDA, round the clock feedback sessions, and access to almost any Microsoft
developer you needed. The second DevCon had a lot of repeat material from
the prervious WinHEC, one night of feedback sessions (with every subject
conflcting with others), and access to Microsoft developers significantly
missing.
I recognize that there is a ton of effort needed to create such a
conference, and I know the Microsoft folks worked hard for it, but the
bottom line, was that WinHEC and DevCon were much of the same. The worst
comment was from a developer who went to talks on the same subject at WinHEC
and DevCon and felt the WinHEC talk was significantly better.
I have recomended that Microsoft consider for future DevCon’s:
-
Deep drilldowns of Windows technology - for instance how does Plug and
Play really work -
Techniques from the Kernel - for instance there has been a ton of work on
reducing lock contention in the kernel, how about explaining what worked and
what did not -
Things Microsoft doesn’t support - for instance OSR and StorageCraft
both have done virtual storage system
I’m curious what others think, should there be a DevCon (unique from WinHEC)
and if it is seperate how do can it be made unique and valuable.
–
Don Burn (MVP, Windows DDK)
Windows 2k/XP/2k3 Filesystem and Driver Consulting
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