>What are lossely coupled events?

This is a simplified explanation, but I think it gets the concepts across.

Lets say that you have a middle-tier component that calls another component. Component 1 will know the name and interface to component two. It will also stop and wait for a return value from component two. These components are tightly coupled.

Under loosley coupled events, component A doesn't know anything about component B. It simply broadcasts a message that says "Here's some value." It then terminates, not waiting for a response. Component B watches for this message and then captures it and goes on its way.

You can find out more in the MSDN Library or at www.microsoft.com/com. I'm also do a pre-con session on COM+ at Whilfest.