Listening to Bill Gates talk about the release date for Longhorn is a bit like reading the prophesies of the ancient “seer” Nostradamus - you can read anything that you want into the words, because the pronouncements are so vague, and there’s been so many of them.

True believers point to Nostradamus as predicting everything from the reign of Napoleon, to the moon landing, to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, to the attack on the World Trade Center. That’s because he wrote things like:

Within the pit will be found the bones,
Incest will be committed by the stepmother:
The state changed, they will demand fame and praise,
And they will have Mars attending as their star.

Um…thanks for sharing. The next time I’m looking in a pit for bones I’ll keep that in mind.

Bill Gates, of course, says nothing quite so colorful, but his words, especially when it comes to the release of Longhorn, can be open to just about any interpretation. A few days ago, at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2004, he said this about the Longhorn release date: “People are speculating that we’re out in 2006 sometime, and that’s probably valid speculation.”

Does that mean that Longhorn will be released in 2006, or merely that it’s valid to speculate that it will be released in 2006? Who knows? After all, a year ago Microsoft said Longhorn would be out in 2005, and it’s also previously said beta would be out in 2004. To use the words of one-time Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler, those statements are no longer “operative.”

Why is this important? When Longhorn comes out everything changes. From its Web services-oriented underpinnings to its new database-driven file system, the new operating system will thoroughly alter how we used PCs, and how businesses use them as well. Developers will have to change what they write, and how they write it. And even the economy, to a certain extent, hinges on the release of the new operating system, because when it comes out, expect more hardware to be bought to take advantage of it, and new applications written to tap into it as well.

Selfishly, I can’t wait to get my hands on it - who doesn’t like playing with new toys? And I’d love to update my book Windows XP Hacks with the Longhorn edition.

So when will we see it? Perhaps you know better than Bill Gates. So here’s your chance to be Nostradamus. Post a Nostradamus-like prophecy here, and we’ll see if we can decipher it.

Become a modern-day Nostradamus. Write your prophesy about Longhorn.

Related link: http://www.LibertyAssociates.com

I’m pleased to say that the code for Programming .NET Applications is now available on my web site: http://www.LibertyAssociates.com - click on books, scroll down to Programming .NET Applications and click on source code.

Thank you for your patience.

-j

Feedback about the book should be directed to my support discussion at
http://forums.delphiforums.com/LibertyBooks

In my last blog , I wrote that Microsoft has finally gotten serious about security - and a lot of you weighed in. There were Microsoft-bashers and Microsoft defenders, and the twain didn’t meet.

Well, I’m back to say that there’s more evidence that the company has seen the light when it comes to security. The evidence this time: Microsoft senior vice president Bob Muglia admitted to CNet that the company’s attempts to harden its software against attacks is slowing down product rollouts.

“It’s absolutely slowed things down,” he told the news site. “This work is making our software come out not as quickly.”

Products affected include updates to developer tools and SQL Server, both of which will be delayed until next year. That, in turn could delay other Microsoft products whose development depends on those programs.

I think it’s more than likely that the continual slipping of Longhorn’s shipping date is tied to security work as well.

Now, I’m sure some of you will argue that security is just an excuse that Microsoft is using to hide behind - after all, when has a Microsoft product actually shipped on time? But this time around, the company isn’t using security as an excuse. In the past, Microsoft would rush products out the door, willy-nilly, and security be damned. That’s no longer the case. It’s now willing to risk shipping dates of its most lucrative products - including the core operating system - to make sure its software is secure. The cynical among you may say that this newfound focus on security comes only for business reasons, that Microsoft recognized unless it releases more secure software, competitors like Linux will become more popular.

I say, who cares why the company is doing it? For whatever reasons, Microsoft has seen the light. Yes, it may mean a slower product pipeline, but that’s better for all of us.

Do you think Microsoft has gotten serious about security? Let me know.

Related link: http://www.LibertyAssociates.com

If I’m going to take your time by blogging at all, then i want these logs to go well beyond technology and give you a sense of what I’m up to and what I’m interested in.

Most (many?) of the blog entries will be about what I’m working on and/or about what I’m discovering in .NET and Whidbey, but at lesat some of them will be about other topics, including my very bizzarre politics.

Today, I’d like to let you know what I’ve been reading, because what I read inevitably makes an impact on what (and how) I write.

I also tend to obsess on a given topic (more on that some other time). Over the past year or so I’ve been focused on three non-technical topics:

* Ancient Civilizations
* Stephen King
* GLBT issues

I read 19 SK books in the past year:

From A Buick 8
DreamCatcher
Tommyknockers
Desperation
Needful Things
The Regulators
Gerald’s Game
Hearts In Atlantis
The girl who loved Tom Gordon
Deloris Clairborn
The Gunslinger: Dark Tower 1
The Drawing of the Three: Dark Tower 2
The Waste Lands: Dark Tower 3
Wizard and Glass: Dark Tower 4
Wolves of the Calla: Dark Tower 5
The Talisman
The Black House
Insomnia
Rose Madder

His books range from quite good, to truly great, and there is a wonderful snobbery in how he is relegated to “popular fiction” because of his choice of (admittedly silly) horror.

His best work (in my opinion, but this piece is entirely my opinion) is the Dark Tower series. If you read this, be sure to get the revised first book, much better than the original. Aligned with the Dark Tower series are a bunch of books that are more or less part of the same universe. The strongest association is in The Talisman and its (even better) sequal The Black House, but you also see it in many other books as well (e.g., Hearts in Atlantis, Insomnia, etc.)

On GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) issues, I’ve recently read Homosexuality and Civilization which is a fascinating book and, while somewhat academic, highly readable and enjoyable.

I also read The Gay Rights Question in Contemporary American Law” which, while slightly dated (even though it is only 18 months old) was very well reasoned and very interesting.

Finally, I’m just now in the middle of Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate which is the best attempt I’ve seen to cover both sides of the issue. Each chapter consists of an essay, a rebuttal, a counter essay and a counter rebuttal. The people involved are the leading national voices on the issue. Great book, very well put together.

As for Ancient Civilizations, while I am reading Donald Kagan’s book on the Peloponnesian War I’m getting most of my information from a set of wonderful tapes from The Teaching Company.

Feel free to recommend other, related books

Related link: http://www.nhdnug.com/4square/DesktopDefault.aspx

I’ll be offering a presentation on implementing an ftp client in .NET for the New Hampshire .NET User’s Group on Thursday, May 20, 2004. The meeting is actually in Tyngsboro Mass, and is easy to get to. There is no charge.

Related link: http://www.cti.sba.uwm.edu/workshop

On April 30 I’ll be presenting
Wicked Fast C# at the School of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This is an all-day intensive seminar, the cost is $99.

OVERVIEW

The development language of choice for .NET applications is C#, and the premier development environment for C# is Visual Studio .NET This course will present an intensive introduction to Visual C# .NET aimed squarely at Java, C++, VB6 and other experienced programmers.



1. Fundamentals
A lightening-quick introduction to .NET, the framework, the CLR and the role of C#. A brief review of classes, inheritance and polymorphism, followed by an introduction to Structs and interfaces (and the difference between C# structs and C++ structs pointed out). The is and as operators are demonstrated. Implementing multiple interfaces, extending and combining interfaces is discussed. The string class is shown, and exceptions are described.



2. Core Topics
Visual Studio .NET is shown, and the C# coding support demonstrated. Arrays, Indexers and the collection classes are discussed. Delegates are explained in detail, and their relationship to Events is demonstrated. Garbage collection is explained.



3. Building Applications
Using C# to build Web and Windows applications is discussed and demonstrated. Interacting with databases is introduced, and the ADO.NET framework architecture is discussed and demonstrated. Events are shown within the context of GUI applications.



4. Advanced Topics
Streams are introduced. Reading and writing to files and directoreis, asynchronous and overlapped I/O, network streaming are explained. An ftp client is created and explained. Attributes are shown, custom attributes are demonstrated. Using reflection to access attributes and metadata is shown along with reflection emit. Threading is introduced and concurrency issues and solutions are discussed




Who Should Attend



Java, C++, VB6 and other experienced programmers interested in making the shift to C# are the target audience. Novice programmers who have read at least half of an introductory book on C# (e.g., Programming C# 3rd Edition by Jesse Liberty) may also benefit from this fast-paced introduction to object-oriented software development with C#.