More VS2005 goodness and launch events galore

Okay, the posts are probably going to be fast and furious (sans Vin Diesel) for the next month or so as we kick off the Visual Studio 2005 launch (and throw in the appropriate SharePoint info here and there). If you're still waiting for your MSDN download to complete (like I am) then you can check out the 2.0 Framework download here or the SDK download here. This is the final version stuff so get developing! No more betas, no more release candidates, no more what flavour of product x should I use with framework y?

Also if you haven't already signed up for the 2005 Visual Studio Launch Event I urge you to do so now. Seats are filling up across the country so some places are in waiting mode now. This is the biggest launch event in Microsoft's history and frankly, the products just kick ass (go ahead Eclipse and Java guys, slam me all you want). The main launch event page can be found here. Sweaty Steve Ballmer is going to be kicking it off in San Francisco on November 7th. I saw him at the MVP Summit as he gave the keynote there. Steve is an excellent presenter and really gets the crowd going.

As for the Canada launch, it kicks off November 8th in Toronto with lots of great stuff. I'll be working at the Calgary event at the Stampede on November 24th (and maybe head up to Edmonton for the launch there on the 15th) so come by and have some fun. We're going to be doing some cool stuff at the launch with the Cabana idea that started at TechEd. Basically an informal area where you can sit down, talk about VS2005, SQL Server 2005 or whatever (yes, SharePoint) and relax with some MVPs and Microsquishies. We'll have some whiteboards setup and be there to answer questions, talk about the new products, and whatever else strikes your fancy. It's going to be a blast.

Like I said, lots to post on the new products, on what's going on in SharePointLand (especially with 2.0 support now [well, except for SPS]) and other goodies going on. So stay tuned for some cool stuff.