If you're missing out on Tech-Ed '05, perhaps you can convince your boss (or spouse, sometimes they're the same person) to let you go to the Professional Developers Conference. Those that are lucky can do both.

While Tech-Ed is usually focused on what's available now, the focus of PDC is more on what's to come. Personally, looking at the tracks of both Tech-Ed '05 and the PDC '05, both events come closer together than last PDC in 2003. Still, if you're a developer and need to prepare for the future, PDC is an event not to be missed.