Silverlight @ #MIX10 – The Next Web Now
With only one week until MIX10, we wanted to give you a heads-up on all the news coming out of the conference, and highlight some of the great Silverlight sessions that every developer should attend. For those of you that don’t know, MIX is Microsoft’s annual Web development and design conference, held March 15 – 17 at the Mandalay Hotel in Las Vegas, which explores the art and science of creating great user experiences and rich Web applications. You can expect that Silverlight will be a major part of this year’s event, so even if you’re not able to attend in person, we’ll share how you can be a part of the MIX experience here.
Keynote
As you may have already seen, Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division, (and known in most Microsoft developer circles as “The Gu”) will deliver the Day 1 keynote address on March 15, along with Bill Buxton, principal researcher for Microsoft Research, and Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Windows Phone Program Management. Scott recently joined the Microsoft Channel 9 crew to discuss how he prepares for his keynotes, what he plans on talking about this year and why MIX is his favorite Microsoft conference. Check out the 10 minute interview on Channel 9 and be sure to visit the MIX Virtual Pressroom on Monday, March 15 and Tuesday, March 16 to see a live or on-demand stream of the keynotes.
Sessions
There are a number of must-attend sessions including a half-day Silverlight 4 boot camp with Silverlight guru’s Mike Taulty and John Papa. The session aims to equip developers with the skills necessary to build compelling and powerful Silverlight 4 applications. Additionally, attendees will be among the first to learn how to build applications and games for the recently announced Windows Phone 7 Series. Be sure to keep an eye out for a dedicated session track on the Windows Phone 7 Series platform that will run throughout the conference. Finally, we’ll cover off on how to use Expression Blend SketchFlow to prototype Silverlight 4 applications. Since its release with Silverlight 3 last July, SketchFlow has evolved into a game-changing feature that drastically improves the designer/developer workflow. For more information on Silverlight sessions at MIX, check out the top 10 list below, and visit Channel 9 after the conference for recordings of select sessions.
Resources
If you can’t make it to Vegas this year, be sure to watch this blog for the latest Silverlight news from MIX. Also, check out the MIX Virtual Pressroom next Monday and Tuesday to watch a live stream of the keynotes and receive the most up to date press materials from the conference. Finally, be sure to keep an eye out for Channel 9 Live’s exclusive onsite interviews and Q&A sessions with Scott Guthrie, Bill Buxton and Joe Belfiore, and follow the #MIX10 Twitter hashtag to keep a real time pulse on the show. See you - whether in-person or virtually - at MIX10!
MIX Top 10 Silverlight Session List (see the MIX website for a full session list)
Mike Taulty, John Papa
In this half-day workshop, you’ll learn the skills necessary to create powerful Silverlight 4 applications.
Windows Phone Application and Game Development
More to come at MIX!
Silverlight 4 Overview – What’s in Store for Silverlight 4?
Keith Smith
Are you looking for ways to build seamless, rich Web experiences and easy-to-deploy line of business applications? If so, come see an overview of the new features and updates in the upcoming release of Silverlight 4.
Silverlight 4 Business Applications
Scott Morrison
Continuing the overview of Silverlight 4, this session focuses on new business-oriented features including importing/exporting data, printing, data visualization, WCF RIA Services and design-time enhancements in Visual Studio 2010.
Prototyping Rich Microsoft Silverlight 4 Applications with Expression SketchFlow
See how to use SketchFlow to collaboratively design, evolve, explore and review user experiences and interactive content.
Stepping Outside the Browser with Silverlight 4
Ashish Shetty
Come find out about the new Silverlight 4 out of browser features and see some of the amazing things you can do.
Developing Multiplayer Games with Silverlight 4
Grant Skinner
Hear about all aspects of game development including path-finding, physics, artwork, peer-to-peer networking, performance optimization, and more.
Silverlight and Windows Azure: A Match Made for the Web
Matt Kerner
By combining the rich user experience with Silverlight with the flexibility and scalability of Windows Azure compute and storage, you can build some incredible end-to-end Web applications.
Building Rich and Interactive User Experiences in SharePoint
Andre Engberts
Come hear how SharePoint offers many ways to build rich and personalized interactions using its user interface framework.
Web Deployment Made Awesome: If You’re Using XCopy, You’re Doing it Wrong
Scott Hanselman
Come see a practical session on the new deployment goodness in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.