Launch 2005: Here Comes The Next Generation of Developer Tools

Remember the old Jimmy Buffett tune, "Come Monday"? Well, this coming Monday, November 7, 1995 (or "Launch 2005", as it's known here in Redmond), will be remembered for a long time as the day the price/performance debate in software development and deployment was changed forever.

This is way better than four lonely days in the brown L.A. haze. Keep an eye on this website on Monday for performance numbers that will blow your mind, at a price point that won't elicit winces from upper management. Those in the know might even crack a smile. Biz Talk Server 2006, Visual Studio 2005, and SQL Server 2005 are the real deal.

I've been working with SQL Server 2005 (and most of Visual Studio 2005, in the form of the new SQL Management Studio), for over two years and from a developer productivity standpoint, it's hands-down the finest suite of tools I've ever used, and I've been doing this since (gasp) Jimmy Carter was POTUS.

I'll blog more once the numbers are off embargo on Monday (it's frustrating to have to tease you like this), but trust me: TCO will never be looked at the same way again.

More next week, after the launch.

   -wp