Tonight, Microsoft will kick off their annual build conference which targets developers from across the globe. The event will start with a welcome session at 1AM Wednesday morning AEST and while it will stream live to the world as normal, there’s something very different about this year’s event.
Microsoft have committed to all their big events being online, streaming only till well into 2021. As such, Build will not have in-person attendees this year, which is normally sees between 5-6,000 attend San Francisco or Seattle.
This year the tickets are free and there are no flights, no after-party, and no cost. Here’s the crazy thing, after the welcome is over, Microsoft usually present to paying attendees the latest and greatest hardware, software and services.
This year, with the event being live, Microsoft are taking the opportunity to expand the conference to as many as 100,000 attendees. Last year a ticket to Build would have cost close to A$5,000 before travel and accommodation, so for it to be free is a big deal.
If you’re a developer or are just keen to see what’s new from Microsoft, you can get started with Microsoft Build and its more than 600+ sessions from the stream below. The event runs from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd Australian time and if you registered, you can build your schedule here.
Personally a highlight this year will be the session – Azure & M365 Recap with Dona Sarkar, Mary Jo Foley & Paul Thurott, hosts of Windows Weekly and will be a quick one, Wednesday, May 20 from 4:45 AM – 5:00 AM AEST.
Other than that, it’ll be great to see what’s new for Microsoft 365, AI, Fluent Design, and who knows, there could even be some surprises about the upcoming Xbox Series X.
Finally, it’s probably no coincidence that Microsoft’s digital event limit matches the limit for Microsoft Teams Live Events, however, as a response to coronavirus, Microsoft lifted that limit to 20,000.
