Overview of 2025

Intro

I'm Peter and this is the RoguePlanetoid Podcast where you will find insights about Microsoft or related platforms and technology, along with so much more whether you are beginner or an experienced professional or just interested in technology. Keep Current, Keep Coding!

Welcome

Welcome to episode thirty-five of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast with an Overview of 2025. During 2025 there were more events either attending or presenting than ever before and renewed as a Microsoft MVP for the first time! It is fantastic to look back at 2025 as well as look ahead to what is in store for 2026, which starts with a new look for this podcast and my website which you can visit at rogueplanetoid.com or check out the link in the show notes.

January

January kicked off 2025 and although there were some unexpected issues it was great to look ahead with an aim to do more than I ever had done before in 2024, which would be a challenge given that was my best year so far but a worthwhile challenge that I was going to take on in 2025.

February

February featured an Overview of 2024 on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast and then a first with two online talks in the space of two weeks for Microsoft Reactor, on Designing Windows Widgets using Generative UI and the other Developing Windows Widgets with Generative AI. There was also the launch of my video podcast, Talking Inspiration, where I interviewed Paul Lancaster a major part of the startup scene here in the North East of England which you can watch via youtube.com/@NiltoniBroadcastNetwork or check out the link in the show notes.

March

March saw a RoguePlanetoid episode on Generative AI and .NET then a chance to go to the DIBI Conference for the first time in years, with a fantastic and conference held in Edinburgh along with attending a couple of new events in Newcastle upon Tyne plus there was another Talking Inspiration episode, this time with Charlotte Windebank who is a fantastic supporter of startups here in the North East of England and Jamie Hardesty who highlights better than I ever could the fantastic tech scene here.

April

April covered Microsoft at 50 on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast which was great to help celebrate, as Microsoft has had a major impact my professional and personal life. It was great to attend a Women in Tech North East event to celebrate allyship and inclusivity in the tech community, along with presenting and going to Liverpool for the very first time where I did a talk on Design and Develop Windows Widgets via Generative AI, plus I interviewed Herb Kim who organises the amazing Thinking Digital Conference and many TEDx events here in the North East of England for Talking Inspiration.

May

May's episode of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast covered GitHub Copilot, and was chance to catch Microsoft Build 2025 online including the keynotes and sessions with plenty to learn about AI, .NET and more. It is always great to watch Microsoft Build and look forward to being able to go in person again, but it is still worthwhile watching sessions live or catching up with them later!

June

June covered Microsoft Build 2025 on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast and was a bumper month for events starting with UK Startup & Scaleup Week 2025 organised by Paul Lancaster, where we hosted a podcasting workshop before heading down to London where we were supporting the True Crime Awards which was an amazing experience plus Crimecon with Scottish Murders! June also saw TechNExt which I have been more involved with each year and last year was the biggest contribution yet, when I hosted a Build a Podcast AI with Blazor using GitHub Models workshop, as well as getting along to most of the hub events and main stage hosted by Jamie Hardesty. June ended with Tyne Design Week which was a fantastic new event to be part of, as well as catching another great .NET Meetup which included fellow North East-based Microsoft MVP, Mike Stephenson and another episode of Talking Inspiration with Jeni Smith, who is networking expert to help make the most of the events here in the North East of England! You can check out the workshop for TechNExt, Blazor Podcast AI, at tutorialr.com/workshops or check out the link in the show notes.

July

July featured the North East Tech Scene 2025 on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast, as well as new events to attend including True Crime Forum Newcastle and podcasting events from Ashleigh King. We had also hosted our own podcast events throughout the year so was great to be able to support other events too. I was renewed as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for the second time for .NET and Windows Development, which I am still so very proud and honoured to be, and updated my Comentsys Toolkits and some of the Comentsys Assets for .NET developers with some fantastic updates which you can check out at comentsys.com/packages or check out the link in the show notes.

August

August marked my award of Microsoft Most Valuable Professional with an overview of my personal and professional experience and expertise which helped on my journey to be awarded on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast. It was great to attend another .NET Meetup with Samson who I'd met at .NET Liverpool and fellow local longtime .NET developer Peter Shaw. I also updated the rest of my Comentsys Assets which included ones for games with some open-source assets and some I created myself, with my limited design expertise, which looked quite good although was just dominoes, dice and game boards.

September

September on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast featured an episode about NuGet which helped mark my first new NuGet package, another Comentsys Toolkit with Comentsys.Toolkit.Blazor, which I developed porting some of my Windows App SDK toolkit to Blazor with the aid of GitHub Copilot. I also attended and hosted a panel discission at Tech Connect 2025 which was my first on-stage appearance at a paid conference which was fantastic. I also wrote articles about building my assets and toolkits packages joining other articles which you can check out at rogueplanetoid.com/articles or check out the link in the show notes.

October

October featured the panel discussion from Tech Connect 2025 on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast recorded live which was the first episode ever done this way, and covered all the other sessions in an article on Tech Connect 2025, I also covered the end of Windows 10 which officially went out of support in October and a looked back on Windows Phone on its fifteenth anniversary!

November

November's episode of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast was on Visual Studio 2026 which I had been using for a few months which is a fantastic iteration of Visual Studio, which I have been using since the very first version - Visual Studio 97 back in 1997! I travelled down to Manchester to present my talk, Take a Note of UI with .NET 10, when I was invited by Mike Irving and fellow Microsoft MVP which was fantastic and a great chance to check out the city which is always impressive! It was also great to mark the twentieth anniversary of Xbox 360, although it actually launched the following month here in the UK. It was also great to host an online event, .NET Conf 2025 - Newcastle upon Tyne, which featured lightning talks for those here in the North East of England and further afield.

December

December began on the RoguePlanetoid Podcast with an episode on .NET 10 alongside an article about .NET 10 and one covering the talks from my .NET Conf 2025 - Newcastle upon Tyne event. There was also a chance to attend the launch event for TechNExt 2026 which I look forward to being part of in 2026. December was when I announced Comentsys Learning with Learning Programming with C# and .NET, which will be a live-streamed online course coming in 2026, you can find out more and sign up for information where you'll get a What is Programming with C# and .NET guide for free at comentsys.com/learning or check out the link in the show notes.

Conclusion

2025 was I'm pleased to say even more event-packed than 2024, where I beat my challenge to surpass what I had done that year! 2025 marked me being renewed as a Microsoft MVP which is thanks to having given back to the community that has supported me throughout my personal and professional journey. It was also an opportunity to be more involved including running workshops as part of UK Startup and Scaleup Week 2025 or TechNExt 2025, doing more presentations online as well as in person in Liverpool and Manchester along with conferences where I was on stage like Tech Connect 2025 or just attended to learn from those speaking such as DIBI in Edinburgh.

2025 was great to see my toolkits and asset packages be updated with new features or content for .NET developers to consume in their own projects or create a new toolkit for Blazor using the power of AI, something that has been a theme in many events I have been to or been a part of. It has also been great to celebrate anniversaries such as Microsoft at fifty, Xbox 360 at twenty and Windows Phone at fifteen, which included finding out when I was in Manchester that those there were involved in a pivotal event I attended before the launch of Windows Phone that allowed me to test my apps and was very appreciative of that event!

2025 has been fantastic year and was pleased to indeed do more than in 2024. I look forward to an amazing 2026, which kicks off with a refresh of my website, another chance to deliver Take a Note of UI with .NET 10 for the .NET Meetup here in the North East of England, and will see the release of my new course, Learning Programming with C# and .NET, but these are hopefully just a few of the things I will be doing, which will including being a guest on a podcast and hosting a brand new one, so I hope that everyone and myself have an amazing 2026!

Outro

Thanks for listening to the RoguePlanetoid Podcast where each episode you will find insights about Microsoft or related platforms and technology, along with so much more wherever you listen to your podcasts or at rogueplanetoid.com/podcasts for the RoguePlanetoid Podcast whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional or just interested in technology. Keep Current, Keep Coding!