… The space looked light on giveaways, not much evidence of the free iPods of a couple of years ago. Only booth babes I saw were a leggy pair at the Ignify exhibit. ...  The show looked very busy Monday and early Tuesday, not so much on its opening on Sunday. One happy exhibitor said that Microsoft helped his company because “Nobody was visiting the center,” he said. The center was a hole-in-the donut in the exhibit space the size of a small country occupied by Microsoft. It had the signs of frugality. There was no booth—the usual product stands were spread out and most of the furniture was table top displays over an area with very wide aisles. Microsoft also did not have the usual padded carpet, but made do with the basic thin layer of the main show floor.  ... The company automated its registration lines with self-serve kiosks a la airline check-ins with fewer registration workers and that seemed to work very well. Food was good and the show well run. Press interview schedules were mercifully light on meetings, instead of being jammed one after the other. There seemed to be more resellers with exhibits. Having IP in additional to reselling Microsoft products is going to grow in importance.  ... Biggest problem was the freezing air conditioning, particularly in the keynote auditorium. Must be to counteract all that Texas hot air.