For a good part of the summer my team has been working hard to get the 10 code ready so that it can become a core platform for Channel 9.  It has been a lot of work, refactoring the code, getting the right infrastructure in place.   We really want to nail the next Channel 9 update and build something that sets us down the right path for the future of our network of sites.

Today was our first big milestone in that project, where we shipped a big service pack to 10.  Most of the in this update is behind the scenes and is infrastructure that is needed to drive Channel 9.   You will notice a lot of cosmetic improvements too along with new features as well for 10.  The primary focus though is on preparing us to get off of the ASP.NET Forums / Community Server base that Channel 9 was mutated from a long time ago.

Key items:

• Each producer of content has their own blog.  We treat media as a first class citizen along with text.  You’ll start to see folks on 10 mixing text, audio and media together for content.  It is also an opportunity for folks to really bring their personality and interests into the blogs.  We’ll surface relevant content to the homepage of the site in the main featured section and other items to the What’s happening bar on the home page.  This way you can see what is happening in the forums, the blogs and more
• We’re increasing the pool of content contributors for 10.  We’re building a global team of Evangelists who will contribute content to our sites.  If you’re inside Microsoft and want to help blog on 10, let me know.   We’re also looking for some people outside too.  If you are interested in Blogging on 10, contact me at JeffSand at Microsoft dot com.   This of course can be in addition to your existing blog and can have a text or media focus.  We’re really looking for blogs that focus on the Tech Enthusiast / Power user community.

So other than that the resumes are still coming in for our open positions.  I promise to respond to every single person who has sent a video or an email about applying.  Unfortunately not everyone can get an interview, but we’re definitely getting some amazing candidates for the positions.

Thanks again everyone for your amazing support of 9 and 10.  Next stop is screenshots to share of the big Channel 9 update which we should have in the next week.