Windows Workflow Foundation
Okay, on the current project we have to integrate with a Workflow system. I will not name it because it is Staffware. Point is that when integrating the whole stuff, one of our teammembers, Mike, has to take the definitions and import them into our development environment. Hopefully the names of variables are correct and our software will understand the whereabouts of staffware client and staffware is ready to eat up our integration stuff.
Now how different are things to become after november. The Windows Workflow Foundation integrates neatly in VS2005. You can design you're workflow graphically and even create new workflow actions.steps in C# (or VB). The nice thing is that this also checkins into source control and gives all the debugging fuctionality you expect. The most incredible thing was the debugging of the actual workflow steps. So you could step through your whole workflow step by step and use F11 to step into sub workflows and use F11 again to step into the custom classes you created.
I think the WFM vendors on this world: Staffware, Filer, IXOS/LiveLink should start to worry, espcially if you are on the lower end of WFM.
Office 12 (and especially sharepoint0 s going to fully levarage the Workflow Foundatiion.