Build 2013: Microsoft's roadmap

59 hours after the start of the keynote with which Steve Ballmer began a new edition of Build, it's time to close the sale , stop for a moment and recapitulate what they have given of themselves these days. Between today and tomorrow the thousands of event attendees will leave with the same speed with which they arrived in San Francisco.

In a matter of hours the Moscone Center will be emptied of developers and media that during the three days have practically lived within its walls. The signs and logos of Build and Microsoft will soon disappear from them. And the company folks will be back at their Redmond headquarters, but for now they've left us with a bunch of news

Windows 8.1, the absolute star

Just like the first Build of 2011, this year's is once again the Windows 8 Build Even more than the last year, when the system was just released in stores. On that occasion there was nothing to show, it had already been done a month before. But this year there was a lot to show about the operating system thanks to the Windows 8.1 update, the absolute protagonist of the event and around which a large part of the novelties presented revolve.

This is not a revolution, but a giant sum of small changes that represent the next step on the evolutionary scale of Windows 8. There are the concessions to some critics of the system, such as the start button or the ability to boot to the desktop.Or minor details that I will never tire of highlighting, such as the ability to use the same background on the desktop and the start screen.

The update also adds better integration with Microsoft services like SkyDrive and Bing. Both provide Microsoft with a strategic position in the industry. Because integration is the thing in Windows 8.1. Along with the public preview of the update also comes a preview version of Internet Explorer 11 that aims to merge one more with the system. The team behind the browser continues to pursue the best combination of browser and operating system, which seems ever closer thanks to Modern UI.

Applications, applications, applications…

If we talk about Modern UI applications, things look interesting for the coming months. After a hesitant start, the Windows Store has undergone a necessary redesign that at first sight looks good but we will have to see how it responds on a day-to-day basis.Day by day that should be loaded with news from now on.

In Build 2013 we have announced some applications that will arrive in the next months, and they are not minor applications. Among them finally appear actors of the stature of Facebook, Foursquare, Flipboard, Songza, and so on until completing a catalog of very appetizing news.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft will continue to lead the charge with its own applications, some of them new and some of them soon to be updated. With Windows 8.1, those from Redmond have given a good review of the base applications of the system. Thus, they let the Messages application die to bet on Skype as the only messaging application, and they update, add and redesign many others. The pack will be completed by Office Modern UI when it arrives in 2014.

Developers, developers, developers…

If someone leaves Build 2013 happy, I'd bet they're a developer. The string of applause that accompanied each new keynote announcement on the 2nd leaves no room for doubt. And it is that the attendees of Build 2013 take a good handful of novelties to help them in their work, in addition to the occasional new toy on which to test their code.

The Preview of Visual Studio 2013 has been ubiquitous throughout the three days of the conference. From the keynote on day 1 to the last sessions of the event, the new version of the Microsoft development environment has served as the basis to accompany all the improvements and new tools that Microsoft had prepared for the true protagonists of the event.

Windows Azure is consolidated as one of the most complete offers on the market in terms of cloud platforms.Their numbers are impressive and their growth seems sustained. It is not surprising that he was the absolute protagonist of the second keynote, in which we were also able to see the benefits of the unified ecosystem that Microsoft is building with Windows demonstrated like never before.

You develop a website or application, it doesn't matter what you decide, and you reach millions of people through all kinds of devices. And this is another section where Microsoft is gaining a unique strategic position that will be difficult for its rivals to replicate.

Absences: Windows Phone and new hardware

Of course, among so much news and announcements we have also had absences Neither a new Surface, nor anything from Windows Phone 8.1. The first were nothing more than rumors, but the absence of the second does leave a small gap that Microsoft has not been able to cover. It is true that we were already aware of the late arrival of the mobile system update, but that is not why we have been left wanting to know more about what Redmond intends to offer in its next version.

The hardware section is the other point where the absences are most notorious It's not that we are facing an event designed for it, but With the arrival of Windows 8.1 and the new screen sizes it allows, perhaps we expected something more than the well-known Acer Iconia W3. Of course, due to a variety of devices it will not be.

">the range of devices present in Build was tactile. There have been no major innovations in this section, but the offer was already large and varied. Even so , we hope to see new equipment in the coming months.

The path designed by Microsoft

If there is one thing that the event conveys, it is the enthusiasm of the people of Microsoft for the products and services they provide to users and developers . Listening to them talk about every new thing in Windows 8 or about the new developer tools is the best demonstration of how sure they are in Redmond of the way forward.

We started these three days pointing out that Build led the way. This year's developer conference was about exactly that, telling the world where Microsoft wants to go and how to get there Whether you're a user or a developer, yes If you decide to accompany them, those from Redmond have made the necessary tools available to you.