Microsoft’s online-only Build developer conference will be started on May 25th

Spring is completely upon us, which implies the schedule is beginning to top off with high-profile tech events. Furthermore, the most recent addition? Microsoft affirmed today that its online-only Build developer conference will run between May 25th and May 27th, however, there’s still no word on when registration will open. (If last year is any sign, our cash is on “the end of April.”)

“Microsoft Build is where developers, architects, start-ups, and students learn, connect, and code together, sharing knowledge and expanding their skill set, while exploring new ways of innovating for tomorrow,” the organization’s events page clarifies.

Tragically, Microsoft presently can’t seem to update its Build-specific webpage with data about the current year’s priorities or schedule, however, we’re more likely than not taking a gander at another packed event.

A year ago, Microsoft went on (in addition to other things) about improved collaboration tools for its suite of Office productivity apps, an AI-focused supercomputer running on its Azure cloud platform, and new cloud tools designed explicitly for healthcare practitioners.

Historically, spring and summer are been jam-loaded with enormous, in-person events where app and software developers get their first look at the forthcoming platform and strategy updates, go to workshops and code reviews, and for the most part, mingle with their partners.

Beginning a year ago, however, the worldwide Covid pandemic has constrained organizations that stage these events to quickly reevaluate their methodologies.

A few, as Microsoft and Apple, immediately turned to useful online-only affairs that incorporate entire day’s worth of sessions, demos, and fireside chats. (Everything being equal, Apple reported for the current week that its own Worldwide Developer Conference will likewise continue as an online-only event from June 7-11.)

Meanwhile, Google has not yet affirmed whether it intends to organize its Google I/O developer conference at all this year — the organization canceled the show totally in 2020, yet said a month ago that it intends to have some version of its yearly Google Cloud Next event this October.

Between a surge in COVID-19 vaccine production and information on loosened-up limitations for vaccinated travelers, Build 2021 likely could be the last absolutely virtual developer conference Microsoft will at any point need to put on.

With any luck, developers will continue their journeys to Seattle one year from now, and who knows — possibly those small emotional support horses from Build 2018 will show up again as well.