What is next for ISVs in the UK from Microsoft?

I was speaking with a friend from a UK ISV and we were discussing the pace of technology releases from Microsoft - why it is in sometimes very good, why it is sometimes bad, why it is never, ever boreing! It has certainly been a busy 3 years of major releases from Microsoft which impact ISVs.

  • 2004/2005 for my team was all about helping ISVs be successful with SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and .NET Framework 2.0
  • 2006/2007 has been about Windows Vista, Office 2007, .NET Framework 3.0, SQL Server 2006 BI
  • 2007/2007 will be all about Windows Server "Longhorn", Visual Studio "Orcas",  .NET Framework 3.5 and the next version of SQL Server, codename "Katmai".

What is the likelihood of my working with an ISV that will use all 4 technologies  :-) ? i.e.

  • Will be developed in .NET Framework 3.5 using Visual Studio "Orcas", using SQL Server "Katmai" as the database with all the server elements targeted at Windows Server "Longhorn".

Actually it is probably not as far fetched as it might initially sound (or at least - that is what I am currently trying to convince myself). Can I convince you? Here goes:

Many of our early adopters of .NET Framework 3.0 are impatiently waiting for the dev tools. They will adopt "Orcas" swiftly.

1. ISV adopts Visual Studio "Orcas" - Tick

Once on "Orcas" it would be a simple enough step to find yourself lured into one of the sexier new features - ADO.NET has at least three - LINQ, Entity Framework and Synchronization Services.

2. ISV adopts .NET Framework 3.5 - Tick

Then there is the question of Windows Server 2003 vs Windows Server "Longhorn". Well, if the ISV happens to do a lot of WCF work today (many do) and also does a lot of ASPX work, then suddenly "Longhorn" IIS7.0 and Windows Process Activation Service (was WAS) begin to look very attractive.

3. ISV adopts Windows Server "Longhorn" - Tick

Now that leaves "Katmai". Well - as every UK ISV will tell you, the SQL team do great Beta programmes and very stable Betas. We found it easy to get ISVs interested in SQL Server 2005 Betas - and I hope we can do the same with "Katmai" (even though I'm not really sure what is in it yet!)

4. ISV adopts "Katmai" - Tick

Easy as shooting fish in a barrel. I wish :-)