April 2012

Volume 27 Number 04

Editor's Note - More of What You Came For

By Michael Desmond | April 2012

Since 1986, MSDN Magazine (and its predecessor Microsoft Systems Journal) has been helping to inform, educate and empower professional developers working with Microsoft tools and platforms. Behind the magazine’s success has been a single-minded focus on delivering actionable guidance and insight to developers. The hands-on tutorials and how-to articles that appear in each issue of MSDN Magazine show not only what you can do with the latest tools and technologies, but how you can get it done.

It’s a proven model, and one that’s worked very well for us over the years. The biggest frustration, frankly, is addressing the huge range of issues and technologies our readers are engaged with. There’s only so much we can do in the pages of content we print and parcel to each of our subscribers every month. Which is why we’ve been busy extending our coverage beyond the print magazine to include exclusive Web features and columns.

If you haven’t already, check out the MSDN Magazine Web site at msdn.microsoft.com/magazine. As ever, you’ll be greeted by the features and columns present in the current print issue of the magazine. So you’ll see Brandon Satrom’s latest HTML5 feature (“Using CSS3 Media Queries to Build a More Responsive Web”) at the top of the page, along with a pair of articles from Daniel Moth that explore the powerful Accelerated Massive Parallelism features in the latest versions of C++. Of course, our columnists are also represented, with folks such as Julie Lerman, Dino Esposito and Charles
Petzold breaking down a wide variety of technologies.

But look around the page and you’ll find something new: An online content section that presents additional features and columns published on the MSDN Magazine Web site. Each month, you’ll find exclusive content, including monthly columns like Rachel Appel’s Web Dev Report, which digs into HTML5 development, and Bruno Terkaly’s Azure Insider column, which tracks the fast-changing arena of Windows cloud development.

You can also expect to find two or three online-exclusive features at the MSDN Magazine Web site each month. In past months we’ve published features on Agile-based team development, Windows Phone application design, XAML programming techniques and, of course, HTML5. Going forward, we’ll use the MSDN Magazine Web site to let us further explore topics addressed in print. The ability to follow up our print coverage with Web-exclusive content
enables us to address the full depth and context of many of the technical issues presented in our pages.

And believe me when I say, there’s more where that came from. We’re always working to bring new content and greater value to MSDN Magazine, and I expect you’ll be pleased with the results before we’re done.

We’ll continue to improve Web site. If you’ve visited the MSDN Magazine homepage lately, you’ve probably noticed some subtle changes, like streamlined access to magazine back issues from the Issues link at the top. Or the new By the Numbers department at the bottom of the page, which offers a glimpse into things like what articles your fellow developers are reading and the specific issues or topics they’re exploring every month.

The work on the MSDN Magazine Web site is ongoing. And we fully welcome your advice and input as we expand the depth and breadth of coverage for our readership of expert developers. What would you like to see changed or added on the Web? What topics would you like to see addressed in our ongoing Web-only coverage? Drop me a line at mmeditor@microsoft.com.

Michael Desmond is editor-in-chief of MSDN Magazine.