M.C. Hampster's Journal: MSDN Event

I don't know why I continue to punish myself by attending MSDN "Events", but it just seems like a good way to get out of the office. I attended an event yesterday for .NET Developers that promised information on developing and debugging WinForm applications and ASP.NET applications. It was a half a day in the afternoon so I left work early. I heard about it from another programmer friend, and we agreed to go together to make it more interesting. There were three topics covered: WinForms, ASP.NET and a sneak preview of Visual Studio Team System. I was really more interested in the last two.

The first presentation on WinForms was an absolute WASTE of time. The whole thing was dedicated to creating ugly custom forms and windows. As if there really is a need for most .NET business developers to create a custom shaped form, especially one that looked as ugly as the example. It's one of those things that can "awe" developers (ooooh, there's a hole in that form and you can see right through it!) but in practicality, you'll never use unless you are trying to create some 133t media player.

The second section on debugging web services was slightly more interesting. Not much I didn't already know, but there are always a few little nuggets of information for the intermediate to advanced developer (if you can stay awake).

The Visual Studio Team System demonstration nearly caused a riot. Before really going into the demo, the guy explained that it's pretty much been decided that it will not be included in any of the MSDN Subscriptions, even Universal. I am so seriously ticked off at this. Take at look at Microsoft's description of the MSDN Universal subscription. A few choice quotes (emphasis mine):

Latest Microsoft developer tools, including Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect 2003, which provides the full power of Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Developer, plus additional capabilities for designing, specifying, and communicating application architecture and development best practices.

MSDN Universal provides you with quick and convenient access to the complete set of the latest Microsoft developer tools, servers, operating systems, productivity applications, technical resources, and support to design, build, and test applications for Microsoft Windows, the Web, mobile devices, and XML Web services. The software download site provides instant access to a range of past and current software available in your subscription, in addition to new releases of your subscription software.

His basic defense of this decision was "Well, when you purchased your subscriptions, you didn't even know about this product right?" To which, several people, including myself, yelled "Yes, we did." I just wish he had been honest and said, "We want more money, thanks!!!1one"

Anyway, the real highlight of the event was when I was picked last in the raffle. There were 4 prizes: Two books, Halo 2 and a backpack. Whoever was picked first had first choice, etc. Well, the only thing left for me was the backpack. To my surprise, the backpack is quite awesome. It's the Ogio Metro Laptop Backpack with an MSDN logo on it. It's a dark blue color. It actually fits my widescreen laptop comfortably and my stuff for school. So rather than carrying a backpack plus a laptop case, I can carry it all together. I feel like it was payback for the wasted 4 hours of my life.

Buying Development "Solutions" From Microsoft

[the_mad_poster]

Is like hitting yourself in the face with a brick to "earn" the privilege of having someone run over your foot.

The intial act of trying to get the "service" hurts like a bitch and all you wind up with at the end is a cripple anyway.

Yea, in case it was a little ambiguous, I don't like dealing with Microsoft and I'm not a big fan of their "solutions". :\

Re:Buying Development "Solutions" From Microsoft

[buffer-overflowed]

I really like Visual Studio and MSDN as a whole actually.

Re:Buying Development "Solutions" From Microsoft

[M.C. Hampster]

I wouldn't say it's that bad. For the most part, I would agree with buffer in his response that VS.NET is pretty good, and I personally think that the MSDN library is fantastic (no, not perfect). I have yet to really see competitors (IBM comes to mind) or open source come to the level of quality in the documentation.

I also think that Microsoft has become more developer friendly in the past few years. However, this seems to be a big step backwards. I haven't really seen a complete demo of VSTS, so i

MSDN not including Team System

[glh]

I hadn't heard that yet. Wow, that is really suprising. I will make sure I get in touch with the product team making that decision and find out what the deal is- I'm sure a lot of people will be in an uproar if that is the case.

I went to the same event and had a similar experience- the winforms presentation was pretty silly :) The debugging was basic, but the team system was really well done. What city did you attend the event in? Do you happen to know who the presenter was?

Re:MSDN not including Team System

[M.C. Hampster]

It was in Phoenix, AZ. I think the presenters last name was Wong? I tried looking up the event but it's existence has been wiped off the face of the earth now that it has passed. :-)