January 2009 - Posts
You may have noticed already, but the RC1 release of Internet Explorer 8 is now available for download at this location. Internet Explorer 8 offers the following new features:
- Accellerators. Makes it easier to map directions, translate words, send email, etc. Learn more
- InPrivate Browsing. IE 8 will not store history information, if you don't want to. Learn more
- WebSlices. Seems to me like another form of RSS feeds. Learn more
- Search Suggestions. Type a text in the address bar, and detailed suggestions appear in the drop down list. Learn more
- Various new security features. We all know what it's for, right? Learn more
The website contains various video's that demonstrate the new features. Follow this link to visit the IE8 Beta web site.
I was triggered to read a blog post by James Whittaker, software architect at Microsoft, through an article in Computable, a Dutch IT magazine. The dutch article was a short interview with James Whittaker about his work at Microsoft and for Visual Studio 10. He mentioned the title of his blog post to show that testers at Microsoft are aware that bugs do.
To read his post about testing at Microsoft, click this link: "if Microsoft is so good at testing, why does your software suck?"
From the same author, a post comparing developer to tester ratios at Microsoft and Google is an interesting read.
Both articles give a open look into Microsoft with regards to software testing.
A quote from the dutch article (poorly translated): "Perfect software? It's not going to happen. People build nothing that is perfect"
This week I'm in Seattle as part of LEAP 2009, a Microsoft program for Dutch IT architects. Purpose of this program is to increase knowledge on Microsoft's vision on technical architecture, the future of software technology and enhancing architects knowledge of Microsoft's product range.
We're the guests of Microsoft for a three day conference at Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond. During the conference, Microsoft Architects will share the architecture strategy, technology and roadmap and will go into architectural details.
Some of the subjects:
- IIS 7 future
- Office Future
- New World of Work
- Visual Studio 10 .Net 4.0
- Innovations in Identity management
Sessions are from 8:30 till 17:00. So with my current jet lag (I'm writing this at 3:45 local time...) the first day might be a challenge. I'll try to post whatever interesting I hear over the next couple of days.