Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2006 Shifted to August

Apple's fantastic annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has been shifted again, this time one month later to August 7-11, Apple announced. After many years being staged in May, Apple shifted its WWDC to June and then to July last year. The WWDC is primarily for anyone who develops software or hardware for the Mac. But it is also for anyone who is interested in the technical aspects of Apple's Mac OS X and hardware.

We have attended several years and it has been a very long time since wrote code for the Mac. But we were very interested in Apple's new attention to scientific computing, i.e. adoption of clustering technology with Xgrid and Workgroup Cluster computers. We also enjoyed the Campus Bash party, other special intellectual and social events and meeting scads of members of the global Mac community.

One of the best things about the WWDC is that Apple's engineers are personally available to discuss the Mac platform. Connections can be made and issues resolved with the engineers who know the most about the Mac.

WWDC is a great place to discover tools and techniques for optimizing code on Intel-based Macs, explore best practices for choosing and using the latest APIs, and learn how to make the most of the technologies and services built into Mac OS X. Last year, the WWDC attendees were introduced to Apple's transition from Power PC CPUs to Intel CPUs with exclusive immediate hands-on access to the emerging technology--only at WWDC.

What will be the extra special draw this year? Apple's not saying yet but has announced that the next version of Mac OS X 10.5 is called "Leopard." Will this be the year of the Leopard at WWDC? Register now to reserve your spot and save $300. There are also specials like get five registrations for the price of four. [Bill Fox]