Microsoft Delays Hardware Developer Conference

WinHEC will be moved from the spring to the fall of 2008 and will be held in an as-yet undisclosed location on the West Coast, according to an announcement on the WinHEC website.

A company spokesperson said the decision was made in response to "industry feedback," but declined to offer additional details.

WinHEC is where Microsoft normally shares details on new strategies and partnerships, and shares hardware roadmaps with OEMs, device engineers, and system builders.

In the meantime, Microsoft next year will stage a series of technology-specific events to keep hardware engineers and Windows driver developers up-to-date, according to the Website.

WinHEC 2007 was held in May in Los Angeles, and included keynotes from Bill Gates; Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer; Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows Product Management; Bill Laing, general manager of the Windows Server Division, and Mark Russinovich, a technical Fellow working in the Platform and Services division.

At the event, Microsoft embarked on a concerted effort to quash complaints that hardware and software incompatibilities and the lack of new hardware and applications for Vista is hurting adoption.