In case you missed it, Microsoft just released some great new downloads, specifically new versions of VS 2008, Silverlight, and Expression Blend.

As someone who started writing what are now called AJAX apps since 2000, I *really* appreciate how Silverlight and Blend make RIAs much easier to develop.

Links to all the bits-

• Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2
• Visual Studio Extensions for Silverlight
• Silverlight 1.0 SDK / Silverlight 1.1 SDK
• ASP.NET Futures CTP
• Silverlight 1.0 RC1 / Windows (direct link)
• Silverlight 1.0 RC1 / Mac (direct link)
• Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Refresh / Windows (direct link)
• Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Refresh / Mac (direct link)
• Expression Blend August Preview
• Expression Media Encoder Template Updater

Going through my email this morning, I received my official Mix07 confirmation.  Last year, I had a number of customer commitments so was really not in the loop on Mix, this year, though, I've had some overlap with some of the things I've been working on and have had a chance to get involved in various aspects of the event.

Earlier this year I went to another web conference(which shall remain nameless), and was so dissapointed I left the conference (and Vegas) a day early. (Me, leaving Vegas early? unheard of, I know). 

Mix, though, is a different story. From what I've seen of the sessions, this is actually an event I'd pay out of pocket to go to. It's got a good mix of folks from MS, as well as from third parties.  I may or may not be delivering a session, that's something that'll get decided in the next month or so, but will be onsite either working in certain areas of the event, or attending sessions.

One of the great things about conferences is that I get a chance to meet up with former colleagues and people I've chatted with via email and blogs. If you're going to be in Vegas the 29th - 2nd and want to chat about WCF, CardSpace, Mashups, or whatever - shoot me an email and we'll make some plans to sync up.

With the talk about Web2.0, you'll hear people telling you about mash-ups and these cool new AJAX applications.

I always chuckle a little bit when I hear “AJAX“ and new.  Saying AJAX is “new“ is like saying “Screencasting“ is new  (anyone else use Lotus Screen Cam back in the 90s?)

AJAX isn't new, it's been around for close to a decade. Heck, O'Reilly published the first edition copy of “Dynamic HTML - The Definitive Reference” back in 1998.

But writing these apps was never for the timid.  I developed a few in 2000, and the development experience was far from ideal.  That development experience has gotten better recently with Atlas. 

“Atlas” is a codename for an extensible, object-oriented framework to facilitate AJAX-style web development, namely exploiting DHTML and asynchronous server communication to provide more interactive browser applications. It is implemented in JavaScript and helps abstract the variances across browsers and versions of browsers.

Since we have alot of cool new stuff coming out (WCF, WF, WPF, Infocard, Atlas, Expression tools, etc., etc.), Atlas might not be on your radar screen.

We actually released a CTP of Atlas back in March, and it actually came with a Go Live license so you both develop with it and put it into production.

I wanted to make sure you were aware of the WCF/Atlas sample code that was out there.  If you're used to WCF, it's a great first step on the road to building some really interesting AJAX-style apps. 

You can find the sample here. If you don't have Atlas installed yet, this site will be helpful.

If you're like me and wanted to go but missed it - good news.  The sessions have just been posted online for free view/download.

Sessions here: http://sessions.mix06.com/

NGW034 - From "Username and Password" to InfoCard

DIS003 - Today's Identity Crisis, and the Identity Metasystem

For those unfamiliar with MIX, here's the pitch -

“