Editor's Note
What Happens Next
By now you've no doubt noticed some changes in this month's issue of <i>Visual Studio Magazine</i>.
There's a lot going on at
VSM
as we work to improve the publication, and we're anxious to let you know what we're up to, and to hear your opinions about what we might do better.
It's probably best if I start at the top. Back in January our parent company, 1105 Media Inc., announced that it was merging its two developer publications -- VSM and the twice-monthly Redmond Developer News -- into a single, integrated publication under the title Visual Studio Magazine. The move blends the best aspects of each magazine, combining VSM's detailed how-to content and coding tutorials and RDN's in-depth analysis of key issues and technologies.
In a sense, RDN and VSM have been two sides of the same coin. RDN gave developers fair warning of what was coming, be it new technologies or newly discovered challenges, and VSM showed them how to work with it.
Now these two missions are being united under the VSM banner. The move reflects the fact that developers need context. They need to know about the tools they're mastering, so they can make better decisions on how to use them. To that end, future issues of VSM will deliver the kind of in-depth features, timely technology and product news, plus expert insight that you've seen in RDN since 2006.
The transition brings significant changes to the VSM staff. I want to take a moment to recognize the outstanding efforts of former VSM Editor in Chief Patrick Meader and Managing Editor Guy Wright, who are both moving on from VSM as part of the transition. I've worked on occasion with Patrick over the past two years, and I've respected him deeply for his intelligence, composure and commitment to principle. Patrick is as dedicated and forthright a person as I've ever run across in my 16 years in IT publishing, and his success over the years at VSM is testament to that.
Joining the VSM team are three new faces. Kathleen Richards is the new executive editor and will guide many of the key how-to departments and features at the magazine. Richards was senior editor at RDN and before that at Application Development Trends magazine. Jeffrey Schwartz arrives as news editor, where he'll drive the front-of-the-book news and review content. Schwartz comes to VSM from RDN, where he managed the book's large news section. Prior to that he was a senior editor at VAR Business.
As for myself, I've moved over as editor in chief of RDN to serve as editor in chief of VSM.
What does it all mean? Quite a lot, actually. The new staff reflects an expanding mission for VSM. The magazine will continue to publish cutting-edge tutorial and how-to content, but our coverage will expand to include issue-oriented features, timely news analysis and incisive commentary. Developers working with tooling as expansive and as powerful as Visual Studio don't work in a vacuum, and Visual Studio Magazine will reflect that.
This issue is really the first step in the effort to broaden the scope and reach of VSM. In April, we plan to unveil a redesigned publication that is fully aligned with our expanded vision.
I want to emphasize that Visual Studio Magazine is here to serve you. With so many big and exciting changes afoot, we're more anxious than ever to hear the opinions and input of developers and managers. What can we do to improve VSM? What kinds of stories, content, tutorials and interaction are you looking for? And how can these things be tuned to help you do your jobs better? We want to hear your ideas -- e-mail me at mdesmond@1105media.com.
About the Author
Michael Desmond is an editor and writer for 1105 Media's Enterprise Computing Group.