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I attended the launch of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and Biztalk Server 2006 yesterday. Being a Microsoft Student Ambassador, I got special reservations (thanks to Deepak Rajendran at Microsoft) for the ready launch tour! The main highlight of the event was ofcourse Bill Gates!

A huge crowd was expected and the community members (including me) were asked to come early, so we met at the entrance by around 10:30 AM. Security was very very tight. My car was stopped four times from the entrance of Palace Grounds (the venue) till the parking spot and there was more to come. There were umpteen restrictions - no carrying mobile phones, cameras, bags, books, jackets(!), etc. etc. There were many disgruntled developers who had to leave all their belongings in their cars or at a counter. Getting inside wasn't exactly a walk in the park - it was more like walking into an American airport after 9/11. We had to carry a print-out of a bar-code that we got when we registered online. There were security checks every ten feet or so, where we were asked to show the bar code printout, a photo id card and a business card. Then there was a metal detector check and a frisk and after getting a wrist band at the registration desk, we were finally let into the venue. Phew!

it was around 11:45 AM now and we were taken straight to the food counter! We were each given one huge cake box, consisting of a veg puff, cake, frooti, chips, sandwich and some paper napkins. Like the paper napkins, the rest of what was in the box was also inedible.

We were then taken to our "VIP seats", right at the front and after an initial confusion as to which VIP area was for us, we settled into our proper seats and devoid of mobiles, books and only with each other for company, we started our nearly 3 hour wait for the event to start! They were playing some good music to keep us occupied and I had a great time cracking jokes with Ranga and Ghana. Also spoke for a long time with Nitin and Pratheek.

Finally at 3:00 PM, there were some announcements and the event started with a special performance by Parikrama, who sang a special song for the Indian developers

After this song came the moment everybody was waiting for, the announcer made a nice announcement...then drum roll...And onto the stage walked Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates! It was a nice moment and he got a very warm welcome and standing ovation from the assembled developers!

Bill Gates spoke for a while about the products that were being launched and then went back stage. There were some presentations by other Microsoft employees and then Bill G returned with Sheila Gulati for a Q & A session. People from around the world had submitted their questions at the Microsoft website and a few of them were picked for this round. Lots of interesting questions were asked like when was the last time Bill coded (apparently quite often to learn, but a completely shipped product was long back - 1983); what his foundation is doing; advice for Indian developers and entrepreneurs, etc... Bill was once again given a standing ovation after this round and he then left for another meeting. Next there were more cool demos about the new products.

Thus ended the formal part of the event and coming up next was more performances by Parikrama. It was rather sad to see that most of the Indian developers don't appreciate good music and most of the 5000 strong crowd dispersed, eager to collect their take aways for the day (a copy of VS 2005 and SQL Server trial edition and a belt pouch), except for around a 100 or so enthusiasts, who stayed back for some awesome music and a totally rocking performance!

We finally left by around 7:00 PM after a Student Partner meet outside in the Palace Grounds, but not before making plans for the evening! More on that shortly!

posted by Sabarish @ 12/09/2005 08:44:00 PM