MSDN Flash - Volume 12, Number 7: March 24, 2008
From the Editor
It's been awhile since we last flagged some of the resources available for Windows Mobile developers, and there is some great new content to explore. Windows Mobile lets you re-use your existing Visual Studio and .NET development skills and server infrastructure to extend your applications to mobile devices. You can view a sample line-of-business application that showcases the latest design principles and technologies in the mobile space with the Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution Accelerator 2008. Also, take a walkthrough of Creating Web Pages for Mobile Devices in ASP.NET, which exposes a System.Web.Mobile namespace devoted specifically to Web development. You can also check out a series of Silverlight for Mobile demo videos on Giorgio Sardo's blog.
The Wait is Over for Windows Vista SP1
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 addresses specific reliability and performance issues, supports new types of hardware, and adds support for several emerging standards. It also addresses some management, deployment, and support challenges. With last week's public release of Windows Vista SP1, developers now have a couple of options for updating their Windows Vista machines. If you want to install the update immediately, it is available now in five languages via Microsoft Update or by going directly to the Windows Download Center for standalone updates of both the x86 and x64 versions.
For more on Windows Vista SP1, including the prerequisite packages you'll need before you update, and details about supported device drivers, visit the Windows Vista Blog. And be sure to check out the Windows Vista Developer Center.
And here's a great video from the Channel 9 team: Application and Compatibility - Debugging specifically addresses application compatibility for Windows Vista and some of the things Microsoft has done to mitigate typical compatibility issues.
Thanks for reading.
Editor, MSDN Flash
A Note from Your Student Developer Team
Navigating the Conference Landscape
Everything around Microsoft (including the last newsletter) has been buzzing about MIX. What's MIX, you ask? I had the same question when I first joined Microsoft. Microsoft has a set of conferences that they participate in, as well as some that they run. MIX focuses on Web technologies; at the conference, Microsoft reveals new Web technologies and discusses best practices and the vision for those technologies.
Do students attend MIX? Of course! Channel 8 has links and discusses topics from MIX.
If you want to play with new Web technologies, follow one of these links:
• Web users, designers, and developers: The public beta of Internet Explorer 8 includes the new features, Activities and WebSlices, which will enable you to reach beyond the page and introduce news ways for users to stay connected to the content and services of their choice.
• Web developers: Silverlight 2 Beta 1, along with source code and unit tests. Microsoft Expression Blend 2.5 March Preview - to help create Silverlight 2 Beta 1 apps. Microsoft Expression Studio with support for PHP and Silverlight.
If you are just beginning your journey with Microsoft Web development, you may want to start at the Beginner Developer Learning Center with Visual Web Developer Express. It has three tiers of learning to choose from.
MIX is one of many conferences that feature Microsoft content. This list is not exhaustive, but here are some others to keep in mind:
• Game Developers Conference (GDC) - sponsored by Microsoft Game Studios and attended by XNA and game groups within Microsoft. This year's GDC featured announcements from XNA Game Studio Express, such as Xbox Live Community Games and upcoming XNA Game Dev for Zunes.
• Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive Microsoft event for software developers and architects focused on the future of the Microsoft platform.
• Microsoft Tech·Ed Conference comprises two conferences - Microsoft Tech·Ed Developers and Microsoft Tech·Ed IT Professionals. Tech·Ed is an opportunity to gain insight and stay up-to-date on developing on Microsoft platforms, or to learn how to architect, deploy, plan, and manage a Microsoft infrastructure.
• Mobile and Embedded DevCon (MEDC) was a premiere conference for mobile and embedded developers; this year, however, the Windows Embedded team will instead be focusing on tracks at Embedded Systems West and Tech·Ed Developers. More info is available on the Windows Embedded Blog.
Students 2 Business
Looking for a job or an internship? Keep your eye on Students 2 Business.
DreamSpark
Free software for all students, including Visual Studio 2008 Professional, Expression Web (formerly FrontPage), and Expression Blend.
Coming Soon: Navigating the Training Landscape
The News for Students section this spring will present different Microsoft training resources. Let me know if you've seen a great webcast, attended a useful virtual lab, or used any other great training resource.
Your Featured Content
Update Your Selected Topics
Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section.
The Big Easy Offer
Want to get free services and products with qualifying Visual Studio 2008 tools purchases? Check out the Big Easy Offer and find out how you can purchase Microsoft developer tools to rapidly create compelling software applications and receive partner subsidy funds from Microsoft to enrich your solution.
Windows HPC Server 2008 Technical Preview
Evaluate the latest Windows HPC Server 2008. We want to hear your feedback.
Try It and You Could Win a Windows Home Server
Evalu'08 and you could win. Download a free trial or take a virtual lab of Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008, and be entered for a chance to win great prizes. Evaluate three products, and you could win an HP MediaSmart Server powered by Windows Home Server. To sign up and to view the official rules, visit Evalu'08.
Knowledge Base Article: How to extend the Windows Server 2008 Evaluation Period
This article describes how to extend, or re-arm, the windows Server 2008 evaluation period up to 240 days.
Test Drive Windows Server 2008
The Windows Server 2008 test drive allows you to try the latest release from Microsoft instantly. By logging onto our test-drive environment, you will be able to experience Windows Server 2008 first-hand through a collection of short virtual labs and video walk-throughs.
Test Drive and SQL Server 2008 Test Drive and SQL Server 2008
Try out the SQL Server 2008 test drive for a look at the new features. Experience the new platform via a series of video walk-throughs and short virtual labs that run on your Web browser. No installation required.
Test Drive Visual Studio 2008
Try out the Visual Studio 2008 test drive for a look at the new features. Experience the productivity breakthroughs via a series of video walk-throughs and short virtual labs that run on your Web browser. No installation required.
Government Resources
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Briefing
Come join your technology peers to learn about current and future .NET technologies. The focus of this 1-day seminar will be Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team System. You will be provided with an overview of each role, and the session will wrap up with a preview of the next version of Team System (codenamed "Rosario").
Developer Webcasts
Learn about the latest Microsoft development tools for public sector developers! And be sure to check out the upcoming webcast schedule.
On-Demand Webcasts
Missed a webcast that you wanted to attend? Check out our on-demand webcasts.
Tennessee Department of Human Services - Chooses Microsoft Software to Make Better Use of In-House Expertise
Several years ago, the State of Tennessee standardized on Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Oracle for large application development. The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) recently adopted Microsoft software to deliver high-impact, mission-critical applications at a lower cost, while continuing to improve citizen services through technology. Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 helps accelerate the development of new solutions and supports DHS's application lifecycle management strategy, while Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 provide a full-featured, reliable, cost-effective, and easy-to-manage platform for deploying and supporting those solutions - all of which is possible with in-house resources and expertise. Read this case study to learn more.
On-Demand Webcast: Learn about Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS)
Gain insight into Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) through this demonstration-oriented presentation by Vlad Vinogradsky, architect evangelist, DPE - public sector. MSRS is a .NET-based environment for building highly concurrent, loosely coupled, service-oriented, and asynchronous applications. This session will provide an overview of MSRS, its application model and visual programming language, and peek under the hood at the MSRS technology foundation - concurrency and coordination runtime (CCR), and decentralized software services (DSS).
Microsoft Learning
Stay ahead of the curve with Microsoft Learning for Visual Studio 2008. Whether you are learning new features, improving expertise, increasing your productivity, or just staying ahead of the curve, Microsoft Learning can help you get up to speed quickly. Microsoft Learning materials are the most reliable and up-to-date source of learning about Microsoft products.
• Download a free Visual Studio 2008 e-book
• Find classroom training on Visual Studio 2008
• Get ready for Visual Studio 2008 with free e-learning
Free Visual Studio 2008 Hands-On Training from InnerWorkings
Take advantage of this free training promotion from InnerWorkings, focusing on new features in C# 3.0 and LINQ to SQL, and start building your skills today.
Windows Mobile 6: Configuration Steps to Test Local Host Web Services
Windows Mobile 6 offers a great developer experience in Visual Studio 2008. The combined features of the Windows Mobile 6 SDK + Visual Studio 2008 provide excellent new ways for testing your applications for reliability and resiliency. Testing Web services, however, is not an out-of-the-box experience. Developers have to take specific steps to make sure they can consume (test) the Web services hosted locally in the development machine from the emulator. Joel Reyes, public sector developer evangelist, has put together a sequence of steps to make the process easy.
Check out some really nice how-to videos from Scott Hanselman on the ASP.NET MVC Preview. The videos are demonstration-oriented and very explanatory.
Free How-to Videos
Robert Shelton, public sector developer evangelist, is releasing via his blog a series of how-to videos for developers.
• Programmatically create a user task with SharePoint 2007 using Visual Studio 2008: In this how-to video, Robert demonstrates how to send a basic SharePoint task with Visual Studio. At the end you will see how to connect an Outlook client to the portals task list, so that a user can see the tasks within their Outlook desktop client. (Downloadable source code available.)
• Building a basic approval workflow for SharePoint 2007 using Visual Studio 2008: This video demonstrates how to build a simple one-level approval workflow around a fictional expense report. The focus is on the workflow piece, although you will also learn how you can use a custom ASP.NET task form to build an approval form. (Downloadable Source Code Available).
• Using Active Directory searching/lookup in a SharePoint 2007 workflow using Visual Studio 2008: This video demonstrates how to perform a dynamic lookup or search of Active Directory for information (the manager of a user) using Visual Studio 2008 as part of a SharePoint document workflow, to find users to assign tasks to.
.NET Framework KB Articles
SerialPort.ReadLine method causes IOException to occur
RSS Feeds
.NET Framework 2.0 | .NET Framework 1.1
Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio .NET KB Articles
Problem: Building a VC++ DLL returns error LNK1189 when there are too many exports
VCRuntime: Command line option syntax error. Type Command /? for Help.
RSS Feeds
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SQL Server and Data Access KB Articles
FIX: SQL Server 2005 requests columns that you do not expect when you run a SELECT statement
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SQL Server 2005 | SQL Server 2000 | SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services
Visual FoxPro KB Articles
Using Microsoft Visual FoxPro to add images to a Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007 InLineShapes collection
New record does not appear in Visual FoxPro table until RLOCK() is cleared
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Team Development, Source Control, and Testing KB Articles
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Evaluation Center
SQL Server 2008 CTP 6 Is Now Available for Download
SQL Server 2008, the next release of Microsoft SQL Server, will enable developers to create new applications that can store and consume any type of data on any device, while allowing all your users to make informed decisions with relevant insights. For more information on SQL Server 2008, and for an opportunity to share your feedback with the product team, check out the SQL Server 2008 resources page.
Experience What's New in Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite - Download the Trial Edition
Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite combines the functionality from all four Visual Studio Team System 2008 role-based editions (Test Edition, Architecture Edition, Development Edition, and Database Edition) to offer a comprehensive development environment for multi-disciplined team members. Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server trial and Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition trial are also available for download.
More Evaluation Center Resources...
Web Resources
Microsoft HealthVault Be Well Fund 2008 Request for Proposals
This request for proposals (RFP) seeks to stimulate research and development across a broad range of health disciplines that have the potential to significantly improve health outcomes for patients. It is intended that the proposals will open new and deeply innovative avenues of research, and explore the potential for disruptive improvements to health management enabled by reusing and sharing data between people, families, caregivers, doctors and facilities.
Questions? | Download the HealthVault SDK.
Build Web Apps Without Web Forms Using ASP.NET MVC
MSDN Magazine explains how the ASP.NET MVC Framework's Model View Controller pattern helps you build flexible, easily tested Web applications.
Learn How to Tame Your Software Dependencies for More Flexible Apps
There's a dark side to tightly coupled architectures. This MSDN Magazine article explains the drawbacks, why these architectures are hard to test, and how they limit adaptation. A number of solutions are proposed.
Redefine Your Build Process with Continuous Integration
Learn how to set up and use a continuous integration server using both discrete tools and the more comprehensive CI Factory solution. MSDN Magazine explains how.
High-Performance Excel-Based Applications in Financial Services
This paper describes a comprehensive solution based on Microsoft and GigaSpaces technologies that addresses scalability and performance challenges with Excel-based applications in the securities and capital markets industry.
Labcast: VoIP, the "Out-of-the-Box" Experience with Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2
April 3, 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time
Windows Presentation Foundation Tools in Visual Studio 2008
April 4, 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Security for Developers
Security Briefs: Protecting Your Code with Visual C++ Defenses
Programs written in any language can have vulnerabilities that leave their users open to attack, but it's the C and C++ languages that have a special place in Internet history because so many security vulnerabilities are due to the very thing that makes these two programming languages so popular.
How Do I: Secure Passwords Using Hashing Algorithms?
How Do I: Secure Data Using Asymmetric Key Encryption?
How Do I: Secure Data Using Symmetric Key Encryption?
Security How Do I Videos RSS Feed
Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
SQL Server - Fact Checking Recent Vulnerability History
Training People on Threat Modeling
Training
Free .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 E-Learning
Learn how to build solutions using Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Presentation Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation with the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008. This collection is free for a limited time.
Introducing E-Reference from Microsoft Press, Powered by Books24x7
Hosted for convenient access via any Internet connection, Microsoft E-Reference Libraries bring timely, relevant books together in an easy-to-use format and provide a powerful search engine and intuitive navigation that enable fast access to critical information and increased productivity. Enjoy 7 Free Days on Us. Don't wait, try it out now.
Case Studies
Medical Center Develops Patient Screening Tool Using Enhanced Web Technologies
Vanderbilt University Medical Center created its Patient Safety Screening Tool for Sepsis using the enhanced Web technologies of Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2005, along with Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the 2007 Office system.
Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) Chooses Microsoft Software to Make Better Use of In-House Expertise
Visual Studio Team System 2008 helps accelerate solution development and supports DHS's application lifecycle management strategy, while Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 provide a reliable and easy-to-manage platform for deploying and supporting those solutions.
Designer and Developer Collaborate to Deliver an Improved User Experience
To deliver an optimal user experience for its new executive dashboard, VSR Networks bridged the gap between graphic designers and software developers by using Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition for software development with Expression Blend for UI design.
Partner News
DevForce Free Trial - Latest Version Supports Visual Studio 2008
DevForce, the extensible .NET development platform, now supports Visual Studio 2008. Download a free trial.