Microsoft announced late on Thursday May 24 that it has cancelled the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) that was slated for this October.

I’m having fun thinking this is because Leopard was delayed until October and Microsoft would need a few months to replicate some of the features.

As the last two PDC conferences (2003 and 2005) were all about Longhorn a client-side operating system that never shipped, it’s entirely possible that Microsoft has nothing to talk about.

As Scoble says: this means a couple of things: no new Windows and no major new Internet strategy this year.

Scoble also writes:There still is a ban on .NET code in core parts of Windows. They aren’t getting enough performance yet from .NET. … letting Microsoft’s developers write .NET code for Windows would unleash a bunch of innovation.

??? I don’t think the coding environment is the most important thing for innovation. Having a culture of innovation is much more important. And that’s not been at Microsoft for such a very long time.

He brings up another point: if Microsoft is unwilling to use it to develop Windows or Office, why should the rest of us base our life on it?

This reminds me of the Win32 API fiasco.

and lastly:

Some other things I’m hearing from the Windows team? That they are still planning out the next version of Windows. So, I don’t expect to see a beta until 2008 (probably second half of the year, if we see one at all) and I don’t expect to see a major new version of Windows to ship until 2009.

You’re kidding, right?

They haven’t finished mapping out what it does mid-2007. And you’re saying we won’t see a major new version until maybe 18 months later? I’m tempted to give this one a major DUH! (especially seeing my comments above on the content of the last two PDC shows). Even on the long finger, expecting a major new version of Windows before 2.5 years has passed seems a rather bewildering measure. It took them how long to get Windows Vista out? Considering it was ON TIME…

Still a grumpy bugger today. Orange still on my mind.

Exploiting the negative is an interesting theory:

“If everyone tried following their bliss everyone would be trying to get to the same place at the same time. It’d be a fucking traffic jam. But since no one likes going into the negative there’s more room for opportunity – less competition, less traffic.”

This isn’t about trying to make lemonade because all you have is lemons though there are probably a hundred business plans out there which tell you how to exploit the fact you have a job lot of T-shirts/odd-sized boxes/carpet remainders.

This is about actually exploiting the negative. Look inside the places where you are lacking, where you have failed, and see what can be made of them.

It’s taken a lot of soul searching but it’s sorta worked for me. In many cases it’s meant letting go of some things which used to be vital to my continued existence.

For instance, dealing with separation and divorce means actually setting aside quality time with my kids rather than just living in the same house. The negative was unavoidable but I think it made a happier Dad and therefore happier kids.

Creating a profitable company frees you up a lot but when you fall out of love with the work you are doing, it means you can look for new challenges. You might learn to love the old work again, or you may find yourself a new muse.

Faced with a bad outcome, looking at ways to exploit it might just give you a renewed lease on life.