Microsoft delays WinHEC 2008

Stephen Withers
Monday, 19 November 2007 05:13

IT Industry - Strategy

Microsoft has announced that the next Windows Hardware Engineering Conference will be delayed by around six months.

"We have re-scheduled WinHEC for the fall in response to industry feedback", Microsoft officials said.

It's tempting to speculate was "industry feedback" means in this context.

Maybe a bunch of companies have said "April or May isn't really convenient - too many of our guys prefer to take time off for some late-season skiing"?

Perhaps a major partner has something planned that will make a difference to the broader Windows ecosystem?

Or could it be that Microsoft itself is cooking up something big that would ideally be revealed at WinHEC, but the company won't be ready to talk about it until the second half of the year? After all, Microsoft is part of the industry, and WinHEC is a big deal with presentations from senior Microsoft  executives.

Postponing WinHEC does not mean the flow of information will dry up. Microsoft plans a series of events to keep hardware engineers and Windows driver developers up to date.

The statement also said WinHEC 2008 will be held on the West Coast, but that comes as no surprise as the event is usually held in Seattle, Los Angeles or San Francisco.