Windows 7, Windows Mobile on PDC docket
CARLSBAD, Calif.--Tuesday's quick Windows 7 demo at the D6 conference here was nice, although developers who really want to get a feel for the new operating system will probably need to wait until October.
Windows 7 and its multitouch interface will be a key topic at the Professional Developers Conference, which is set for October in Los Angeles. The PDC hasn't been held since 2005 when Vista was still in development. Microsoft also plans use the conference to show where it's headed in mobile, which probably means a look at Windows Mobile 7, although the company wouldn't say that for certain.
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, is giving the keynote at the event and the company is expected to have a broader beta of Live Mesh and offer a clearer picture of its overall services push.
On Tuesday, Microsoft revealed a sampling of the sessions, including several cloud services tracks such as "Developing and Deploying Your First Cloud Service" and "Scalable, Available Storage in the Cloud." That last one sounds like a pitch for a service in which Microsoft offers cloud storage to developers, now doesn't it?
There's also "Live Platform: Building Mesh Applications" and "Live Platform: Mesh Services Architecture Deep Dive" on the agenda.
The Windows 7 tracks give a few hints about that product as well. Seven-related panels include "Web services in native code," "Optimizing for energy efficiency and battery life" and "touch computing." The Windows Mobile tracks include "Location, Location, Location" and "Optimizing Web development for devices."
The event will be followed a week later by a Microsoft conference for computer makers, the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), which is also set in Los Angeles.
Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
