Nail biting all the way through…

Thanks guys, you were stunning. What a gig!

I’ve been playing with this for a few days now and I can safely say that although I’m pretty comfortable using it, it’s nearing the edge of my comfort zone! Things are not where I left them in Windows 7!

Anyhow, if you’d like to look at the Metro interface and get an idea of what’s coming; take a look here and download the preview. I’d advise you use a test PC, not the one you use every day. That could be bad…

With Windows 7, I honestly think Microsoft answered their critics in the open source world at least by releasing an OS which can compete. Now all they have to do is give it away free like Linux and we’ll have the best OS ever!

Anyhow, I digress. If you haven’t already gone and dug this up, please see the video below. Its Steve Ballmer’s keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year where he shows us little guys what Microsoft are planning to do in the 12-18 months or so. I particularly like the fact that he doesn’t brush the acquisition of Skype under that carpet, it does however remain to be seen what they do with the brand going forward.
I’m secretly hoping that they’ll announce a tie in with Polycom or Cisco/Tandberg to turn the Xbox (or PC) with Kinect into a domestic video conferencing solution families can use to stay in touch, with Skype as the backbone and gestures to control calls. Yeah, I’m dreaming but I’m hoping I’m right. What a great opportunity they have.

Enjoy the talk, its a bit obviously set up at times but the information is there and being demonstrated in an accessible way. The Metro interface is coming, we better get ready for it!

Saw this and was immediately transported back to typing furiously at my keyboard doing college assignments only to have one of the cats come over and walk across the keyboard to get my attention!

Neither of them sat on my hands though. This cat’s a genius!

I’m not saying the one at the hotel wasn’t serviceable or enjoyable, the food’s always a bit ropey at these kinds of things (more school dinners than fine dining) but that’s usually part of its charm! The DJ was OK as Christmas party DJs go and the casino theme meant we could all merrily gamble away with bits of plastic. The company was pretty good too. I managed to bump into two of my oldest friends (the friendships not the people!) there. Getting a chance to catch up was great and I’m sure we’ll use that as an excuse to find our way into a pub soon for a proper natter.
I still have to go back to the food though, it really was frozen TV dinner kind of quality and served to us by what I’m assuming were new recruits as many of them had no idea how to carry two plates on one arm. I’m not saying I’m an expert but I learnt that in my first week at a pizza restaurant!

Never mind though, the company and joking about more than made up for the food quality. Even if most of the jokes were about the food!

Moral of the story: Get the basics right and the rest may very well follow. Get them wrong and the rest won’t matter.
Oh and make sure you try the food at the cafe, its better than you expect!

Yes, I’m very sad like that but hey! I enjoy it and its not hurting anyone (that I know of!).

If you fancy having a go at anything like the stuff I’m doing, I’d advise you check out the Visual Studio Express 2010 products available for free download on the Microsoft Website here.
Anyhow, my download’s finished so I’m off to play for a bit!