Microsoft’s primary developer conference, //build/, which last year saw the full reveal of Windows 8 and the release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview, has both started and stopped selling tickets for this year’s conference early this morning. Microsoft had put the tickets up early, early this morning for those interested, but were quickly overwhelmed with sales and filled up before the hour was over – an impressive feat, considering it took considerably longer to sell out last year.

However there are some key differences – last year’s //build/ conference was held in a large conference venue, while this year’s event is taking place at Redmond itself, signifying a significantly smaller event. With few new major products in the pipeline after Windows 8, this would certainly make sense, however a significantly fewer number of seats would certainly explain the little amount of time it took to sell out.

Microsoft has also in the past “held” seats for later dates, which could also explain the quick sell-out time. The best bet for interested developers would simply to be keep your eye on both the official //build/ registration site as well as various social networks where discussion about this sort of thing is prolific, and see if you can’t squeeze yourself into a potential future seat.

//build/ 2012 takes place between October 30th and November 2nd on Microsoft’s campus at Redmond.