Microsoft to hand out early code
Looking to drive demand for a wave of forthcoming products, Microsoft will fill the pockets of developers this week with early versions of several programs, including the latest "build" of Windows Vista.
At the software giant's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft is planning to provide programmers with the code for an early version of Vista, as well as Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005, both of which will be released in November. Vista, the client version of the next release of Windows developed under the code name Longhorn, is expected to be released next year.
The company will distribute the software on Tuesday following morning keynotes by Bill Gates, Microsoft's chief software architect, and Jim Allchin, the group vice president in charge of Windows.
In addition, company executives are hosting several sessions at which they plan to lift the hood on the inner workings of Microsoft's Office 12 suite and encourage developers to build applications on top of Office.
