Microsoft has announced a new conference to replace PDC - Build/Windows.

Microsoft’s conferences for core developers and IT specialists have been less headline grabbing in recent years, with the cancelling this year of a European TechEd and very minimal recent Professional Developers Conferences seeming to indicate that Microsoft no longer really feels the need to talk face to face with developers and IT professionals.

This trend is perhaps being reversed with the announcement of a new conference for developers in September 2011.

The new conference, Build/Windows, not a sensible title, will take place from September 13-16 in Anaheim in California, and will be aimed at developers writing for Windows, Windows Azure, Windows Phone and the Web.

You can now register for the conference at http://www.buildwindows.com/, where you can also learn more details of what will be on offer.

It will hardly come as a surprise if Microsoft has a test build of Windows 8 at Build, and given the interests of the attendees, probably Visual Studio 2012 as well.

The conference blurb says that attendees will

“learn all about the new app model that allows you to create powerful new apps. All while retaining the ability to use your existing apps. Web-connected and web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript have access to the power of the PC.”

So no mention of Silverlight in the build-up, adding to the speculation that Microsoft is essentially moving to HTML5 as their weapon of choice - which is like throwing away a cruise missile to take up a paper dart.