Windows 7 Home Premium Microsoft launches contest

Microsoft is launching a contest to inspire developers to develop native HTML5 content that doesn;t require browser plug-ins.This type of native HTML5 content is crucial to Microsoft as well as other phone and tablet makers heading ahead. As I;ve blogged earlier, IE 9 is often a key pillar of Microsoft;s tablet/slate push. And Microsoft is in search of native HTML5 apps, not ones driven by plug-ins like Silverlight and Flash — or Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) ones that are tied to the Windows client OS — to populate its app store(s) in the future.In spite of Microsoft;s backing, the contest, Dev Unplugged, isn;t limited to apps that work only or best in Internet Explorer (IE) 9. According to the Dev Unplugged rules, the content material must render correctly in the Release Candidate (RC) of IE9,Microsoft Office 2007 Product Key, the latest Chrome beta and the latest Firefox beta. Submissions must stick to HTML/CSS/JS on the client-side,Windows 7 Home Premium, with no restrictions on the server-side.The first two categories of content/apps that Microsoft is searching for from devs are games and music. Within these categories are four areas of specialization: Most innovative uses of geo-location, Pinned Sites (an IE 9 feature), Canvas and SVG, and design/UX (user experience).“We believe that HTML5 and related technologies, in conjunction with faster and faster browsers,Office 2007 Product Key, finally give developers the tools they require to develop experiences that are just as vivid, interactive and high-fidelity as what you have come to expect from native applications without the need to have for plug-ins. We want to see what you can do unplugged,” reads the text on the Dev Unplugged site.Microsoft has assembled a panel of judges who are considered “experts in HTML5,Microsoft Office 2010 Key, design and user experience on the web.” Microsoft plans to allow “the community” to vote for the top 40 finalists from which the judges will select winners based on “creativity, quality of implementation and fit with the contest theme.”The contest opens on March 1, with the submission ############## opening up to the public for voting on April 5. The submission deadline is May 9, with the winners announced on May 23. The grand prize is $9,000, plus a trip to the Future of Web Apps Conference in Las Vegas on June 27.Microsoft officials still have not provided a target release-to-Web date for IE 9. While many are expecting Microsoft to deliver the final IE 9 version in mid-April, around the time of the Mix ‘11 conference, some think Microsoft may RTW IE9 sooner, possibly at the South by Southwest show in mid-March.Update (March 3): Microsoft isn;t the only browser maker to be encouraging the creation of apps and content that don;t call for plug-ins. Shortly after Microsoft announced this contest, the Khronos Group announced the standardization of WebGL, which delivers 3D graphics support. Apple Google, Mozilla and Opera are backers. Microsoft officials said the company is “always listening to customer feedback,” but had nothing to say at this time,Office 2010 Professional Plus, as far as Microsoft;s plans for adopting WebGL.