As many people have written, guessing about what the technology bits will look like at the PDC can be a
frustrating tease, but there is still plenty of background and useful preparation that can be done, even before the bits are revelead.
Eric Gunnerson is advising Microsoft presenters to focus on the why of the technology rather than the what/how:
Why is always more important than what ...Technical people are smart and used to figuring out things on their own. ... What they can't figure out is what was going on in your [the designer's] mind when you wrote a feature, and knowing that [the designer's intention] is the most important part.
As an audience we can use this time before Microsoft open the Kimono to start thinking about what Microsoft's strategies are in each of the areas (OS/dev tools/Web Services) and what design challenges they have to think about. This helps generate questions so that when we're listening to the endless days of PowerPoint we have a reason to listen and engage. As Dare has mentioned there's plenty of opportunities to ask the Microsoft developers questions at these conferences (like at Tuesday night's Ask the Experts). Doing some work before hand to develop understanding and frame some questions is a good investment.
Tim Sneath has already started the questioning, asking will Yukon kill the business tier and put in the database? Mehran isn't convinced, but it is the dialogue that is important.
Background to Indigo:
Specific questions I've got based on WSE: