Microsoft's next developers' conference, Build 2012, is scheduled for Oct. 30 at the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. That's just days after the Oct. 26 release date for Windows 8.

The company says in a that Windows 8 will be one of the topics, but also Windows Azure, Windows Phone 8, Windows 2012 and Visual Studio 2012.

While it's unusual for such a large conference to be held on Microsoft grounds, the blog's author, Tim O'Brien, says that will give attendees access to more engineers who are actually working on the products that developers care most about.

(Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/Tim_Greene.)

in Network World's Software section.