Managed World

Following Chris's cue, I am going to post what I'm looking forward to attending at Microsoft Meltdown also (ME TOO, ME TOO, ME TOO!!!). Here's a handful of sessions I'm looking forward to (assuming they don't conflict with eachother (which they probably will)):

Best Practices for Windows Development
Speaker: Chuck Walbourn
Developing games for the Windows platform means more than just using a few DirectX APIs.  This talk covers a broad range of topics that game developers should take into account during design and implementation to ensure their titles work well on current and future versions of Windows

Optimizing Windows Games
Speaker: Kev Gee
Make your game the best it can be.  Learn about common performance concerns on the Windows platform from graphics to file I/O and the best practices for designing high-performance titles.

Managed and Native Code for Tools Development
Speaker: Brandon Bray
This talk will cover the advantages of using both managed and native code for developing tools. The talk will cover the fundamental features Visual C++ provides for using features of managed code and deep integration with native code, both new and existing.

Debugging Tips and Techniques for C#/C++ Developers
Speaker: Habib Heydarian
Learn about tips and techniques for debugging applications using the Visual Studio 2005 debugger. This presentation covers new features in the Visual Studio 2005 debugger as well as true and tried techniques for debugging Visual C# and Visual C++ applications.

The Effects Framework for DirectX 9: Best Practices & Optimizations
Speaker: Kutta Srinivasan & Relja Markovic
The Effects framework is a material and state management layer that enables developers to leverage the full shading potential of HLSL and DirectX9 in a data-driven manner.  Efficient material and state management also happen to be some of the largest performance issues in modern graphics development.  Learn how to get the most out of the Effects system in your title and how to avoid common performance pitfalls.  Find out about the new performance features and optimizations we have developed since the last Meltdown.  Attendees will benefit the most by having previous experience with HLSL and the Effects system.