Microsoft hosted an event to showcase SQL Server 2010, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft Azure ‘Cloud’ computing, and Microsoft SharePoint 2010.

The event was called EnergizeIT. The purpose of EnergizeIT is for Microsoft to show the development community understand the possibilities on how IT can be used as a tool to deliver real-world solutions.

To highlight:

1) Buried in the event was Windows Mobile: a preview for the Windows 7 phone. In the presentation, Microsoft showed how easy (at least in theory) it was to develop an car accident claims processing system for a fictitious insurance company. The Windows 7 phone was used to photograph the accident, to send it to the insurance company for claims, and to monitor the claims status by phone.

Aside: from a high-level point of view, Microsoft lost market share (it fell from 19.7% to 15.7%). It is very likely that Microsoft will have a difficult time catching up to Google (Android) and Apple (iPhone and App Store).

2) Microsoft SharePoint 2010 was showcased. Other than the requirement for 12GB of memory, a 64bit operating system, and a dual core processor, developers can jump on board to test SharePoint 2010.

Aside: SharePoint still felt a little sluggish. It could have been because the demo sites were not optimized.

3) Microsoft managed to demo the development of an application in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 / SQL Server 2010 without typing a single code. Visually, Studio 2010 embodies the “ribbon” interface. The “team“ environment taking place among network administrators, database administrators, and software developers was illustrated.

It was amazing to see a system architecture by database design created without the use of code. Studio 2010 looked like a souped up version of Microsoft Visio, but more able than just making diagrams.

4) Microsoft Office 2010 was demoed. Still, how many organizations have migrated even to Office 2007?

Note: I tried Office 2007 once before. Hated it. Tried it again. Gave it a chance. Was bought into it.