MSDN Flash - Volume 13, Number 5: March 2, 2009
Volume 13, Number 5: March 2, 2009
Top News
Windows 7 Ecosystem Readiness Program
Get access to Windows 7 builds, application testing labs and toolkits that can help you ensure that your existing applications and devices will be compatible with Windows 7.
New Content to Get You up to Speed on IE8
• Internet Explorer 8 "How Do I" Video Series
Short YouTube-style videos around key features and functionality in IE8. Includes relevant code samples and corresponding fact sheets.
• Internet Explorer 8 Fact Sheets (28 sheets)
PDF "one-pagers" that explain key features and functionality in IE8, include code samples, and can be used both online and in print. Corresponding fact sheet for every How Do I video. Visit the IE8 Demo Site.
Build Your Game Using Silverlight 2, and Win up to US$5,000
What's your creativity worth? Build, shape and code your game concepts, and you stand to win US$5,000. Through April 15, Microsoft is asking game developers to dust off their best game ideas and bring them to life using Silverlight 2, the flexible new platform for delivering rich online content to your audience.
A Note from Your Student Developer Team
The buzz around Windows 7 continues to grow, with great new features like AeroShake, integration with IE8, ISO burning, and more. My favorite Vista feature was the Start Menu. I love being able to open the start medallion and type a filename or program. I have no idea where I keep things anymore. Windows 7 takes the Start Menu to a whole new level. When I open the start menu, I no longer just open up a program like Microsoft Word, I get the list of the last 10 documents I've been working on. Here are some links to see what's coming in the next version of Windows:
• The Bumper List of Windows 7 Secrets
• Top 10 Things to Look Forward to in Windows 7
• Windows 7 Overviews on Channel 9
Silverlight Game Contest
Build a game in Silverlight for the opportunity to win US$5K.
You May Be a Tech Whiz... but Are You Certifiable?
Have you ever considered taking a certification exam? Here's your chance to practice, in a super fun way. Choose an avatar, select your expertise, and pit yourself against a worldwide community in a quest for tech IQ supremacy, a top spot on the leaderboard - and ultimate bragging rights! Are you certifiable? Find out today.
The Ultimate Steal for Office 2007
Imagine Cup Game Development Due March 2
DreamSpark High School Now Available - Software for free for high school students
Students 2 Business - More jobs now available
JobsBlog - The Dear Abby of Microsoft Recruiting
Your Featured Content
Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section.
Microsoft Playbook for Application Architecture
The patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0 can improve your effectiveness building reliable, scalable, and secure applications on the Microsoft platform. The guide provides design-level guidance for integrating security and other quality attributes into the architecture and design of applications built on the .NET Framework.
Code Sample: Open PerformancePoint Planning Assignments from a SharePoint List
Display Planning Server assignments in a SharePoint list and then enable users to open them directly from that list.
Communications Server 2007 R2 Server SDK
Use this SDK to create applications that extend and enhance the SIP-based functionality of Office Communications Server.
Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core SDK
The UCMA 2.0 Core SDK abstracts away most of the Office Communications Server protocols by offering an API that exposes almost all of the features of the protocol, but is simpler to understand and use.
Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Speech SDK
Learn to build Office Communications Server applications that use speech recognition and text-to-speech features.
Government Resources
Learn about the latest Microsoft development tools for public sector developers! And be sure to check out the upcoming webcast schedule. Missed a webcast that you wanted to attend? Check out our on-demand webcasts.
Were you unable to attend a developer dinner event in Reston recently? The monthly developer dinners are now recorded for your convenience.
Seeking to improve productivity and streamline processes, the agency implemented the 2007 Microsoft Office release, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. In addition, the agency deployed a simple, customized user interface and a powerful Office Business Application that provides access to a vital line-of-business solution. Now, office-based and mobile employees alike can access and track documents far more easily, and the agency's grant-approval process is more efficient and provides greater accountability. Moreover, IT costs are down by more than $1 million yearly.
To enhance accounting operations, the organization worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner I.B.I.S., Inc., to implement Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The comprehensive solution enables employees and business leaders to access and examine business data in one system. After implementing Microsoft Dynamics GP together with Office SharePoint Server 2007, AIDB has tightened accounting controls, improved compliance, boosted efficiency, and saved an estimated US$330,000 over six years.
County of Marin Government Cuts Costs 91 Percent with Mainframe-to-.NET Migration
The county migrated its existing COBOL code to an environment running Windows Server and the .NET Framework. Costs were cut by 91 percent, customer support and business application development and productivity increases, integration and extensibility have been enhanced-and the county didn't have to retrain a single worker.
.NET KB Articles
FIX: An access violation occurs when you start an application that runs on the CLR
RSS Feeds
.NET Framework 2.0 | .NET Framework 1.1
Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio .NET KB Articles
MSSCCI SccRename fails when files checked out during the rename of a windows form
RSS Feeds
Visual Studio 2008 | Visual Studio 2005 | Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition | Visual Studio .NET 2003 | Visual Studio .NET 2002
ASP.NET and ASP KB Articles
FIX: Web clients may have several problems when you access an ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX-enabled Web site
RSS Feeds
ASP.NET 2.0 | ASP.NET 1.0 | ASP 4.0
SQL Server and Data Access KB Articles
RSS Feeds
SQL Server 2005 | SQL Server 2000 | SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services
Visual FoxPro | XBase KB Articles
VFP 9: Error 'The address is not valid' invoking Help after Installing Service Pack 2
RSS Feeds
Visual FoxPro 9.0 | Visual FoxPro 8.0 | Visual FoxPro 7.0
Web Resources
New MSDN Videos:
• Windows Azure for Developers: .NET Services
• Windows Azure for Developers: Microsoft SQL Data Services
• Windows Azure for Developers: Fundamentals
• Windows Azure for Developers: Developing a Windows Azure Application
Integrating External Document Repositories with SharePoint Server 2007
Graphically Displaying Data from SharePoint Lists in Visio 2007
Use the Visio VBA object model to graphically display data from a SharePoint list in a Visio 2007 drawing.
Creating Documents by Using the Open XML Format SDK 2.0, Part 3
Learn to create PowerPoint 2007 presentations from data in a database, assemble Word 2007 documents from smaller documents, and bind content controls to custom XML.
Writing to a Text File from Within a Macro in the 2007 Office System
Learn to use the Scripting Runtime Library to write to a text file for use with VBA macros, validation, and other automation in the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
Harness the power of SharePoint lists and document libraries, including Web services for lists and libraries, list events, and even RSS feeds.
Watch Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) War Story Videos
Steve Lipner tells about security struggles that began with Code Red and led to the Microsoft Security Push. Mike Howard tells the story of the Security Push, the massive security training effort and the other challenges Microsoft overcame to make the SDL part of its development culture.
Introduction to Team Build and Continuous Integration
In this on-demand webcast, we discuss four key benefits of continuous integration that can improve your software quality within a week.
geekSpeak: Virtual Earth for Developers with Geoffrey Emery
In this episode of geekSpeak, Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Geoffrey Emery shows us how developers can use Microsoft Virtual Earth to provide mapping and location features in their applications.
Taking the Mystery Out of Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server
In this on-demand webcast, get a high-level understanding of what Team System is, how Team System differs from Visual Studio alone, who uses Team System, and why.
Virtual Lab: Visual Studio 2008 - Developing a WPF Application
This lab provides an introduction to the development of a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) client with Visual Studio 2008.
Understanding Windows Communication Foundation Virtual Lab
After completing this lab, you will be better able to demonstrate the capabilities and tools of Windows Communication Foundation.
Virtual Lab: Using LINQ to SQL with the .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008
After completing this lab, you will be better able to use LINQ to SQL to implement a resource access layer that interacts with an existing Microsoft SQL Server database, manage the DataContext, use where clauses, perform joins, order the results, and handle conflict detection.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Overview
March 12, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
April 2, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
In this webcast, we will cover, from a high level, all the tools that make up Visual Studio Team System, including Team Foundation Server and the different editions of Visual Studio Team System.
Team Foundation Server - 2008 Overview
March 19, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
April 9, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
In this webcast, we will cover, from a high level, all the tools that make up Visual Studio Team System, including Team Foundation Server and the different editions of Visual Studio Team System.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Developer Edition Overview
March 19, 3:00 P.M. Central Time
April 30, 3:00 P.M. Central Time
In this webcast, we will cover the Visual Studio Team System 2008 - Developer Edition of Visual Studio. We will show how it can be used by the developer to write better code. Some of the tools that will be covered include static code analysis, unit testing, code coverage, code metrics, and code profiling.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Professional Edition Overview
March 5, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
March 26, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
April 16, 1:00 P.M. Central Time
In this webcast, we will cover the Visual Studio Team System 2008 - Database Edition of Visual Studio. Some of the tools that will be covered include database projects, how to version control your database schema, unit testing of store procedures, automatic test data generation, and comparing data and schema information between databases and database projects.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Tester Edition Overview
March 5, 3:00 P.M. Central Time
March 26, 3:00 P.M. Central Time
April 16, 3:00 P.M. Central Time
In this webcast, we will cover the Visual Studio Team System 2008 - Test Edition of Visual Studio. We will show how it can be used by testers to help them succeed at their job. Some of the tools that will be covered include web testing, load testing, and manual testing.
Complete SharePoint & SQL Server Learning Libraries - Just US$495 Each
These 6-course AppDev OnDemand Learning Libraries include a full year of online access to award-winning training for your choice of SharePoint 2007 or SQL Server 2005. Libraries are specially-priced US$495 (discounted from normal price of US$995) each through March 31.
Security for Developers
SDL Threat Modeling Tool 3.1.4 Ships
Early Days of the SDL
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Getting Help for CAT.NET and Anti-XSS
MSDN Webcast: Software Security with Static Code Analysis Using CAT.NET
Baking Security In: A Comic Strip View of SDL
Training
Second Shot provides a free retake offer if you fail your certification exam. And from now until June 30, if you register for Second Shot, you'll get an e-learning collection for just US$35 (usually priced up to US$349). But hurry, once you have activated a discounted e-learning collection it will only be available for 90 days.
Take a Course and Get SQL Server 2008 for Free
Help your career thrive in any economy with training on the latest Microsoft technologies. For a limited time, when you attend select SQL Server 2008 courses with Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions, you'll receive a free copy of SQL Server 2008. Offer is valid through June 30, 2009 or while supplies last.
Free Downloadable E-book Offers From Microsoft Press
Learn at your own pace, on your own schedule. These three free e-book offers are a great way to stay up to date on the latest Microsoft technologies.
• Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions
• Visual Studio 2008 Free E-Book Offer
Certification 101: Getting Started with Microsoft Certification
March 10, 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time (Live Meeting)
March 10, 5:30 P.M. Pacific Time (Live Meeting)
Join the Microsoft Certified Professional team for a Live Meeting to learn about the value, benefits, and process of getting certified: choosing a certification path, preparing for your first exam, taking an exam, and what to expect after that.
SharePoint for Developers Part 2 Now on Ramp Up
The easy-to-access content (provided by subject-matter gurus) teaches the important skills in a guided path, making the learning process easier and more efficient.
Case Studies
Building High-Volume Web 2.0 Applications on Windows
Read or listen to this CIO interview with Break.com, focused on building Web 2.0 apps on Windows vs. Linux. "Microsoft has created a platform that simply lets me architect and build applications in a way that I can't on LAMP."
ASP Provider Datatune Cuts Management Cost by 67 Percent with Choice of Windows over Linux
As its business grew, so did Datatune's need to scale its home-grown solution. The company considered but rejected development solutions based on Cold Fusion, PHP/MySQL, and Java as being too complex, costly, and time-consuming to develop and maintain.
Restaurants Improve Profitability and Customer Service with Robust Point-of-Sale System
LionWise chose Windows Embedded and the .NET Framework 3.5 managed code programming model because it offered a lower total cost of ownership than Linux.
Automotive Web Site Kelley Blue Book Speeds Delivery of New Interactive and Mobile Solutions
Kelley Blue Book chose a Windows solution over Linux because it offered less risk and provided security with reduced costs.
Software Tester Beijing Software Upgrades Environment for Enhanced Performance and Service
Beijing Software Testing & QA Center was running a 10 node HPC cluster on Linux, but was looking to upgrade to improve system performance and better meet customer needs.
Beijing Planetarium Increases Rendering Speeds for Faster Creation of Astronomy Shows
In order to create the tens of thousands of individual frames for their digital space shows, the Beijing Planetarium used a Microsoft HPC solution. To increase revenue, the Planetarium need to upgrade to reduce production times while increasing manageability.
Partner News
Capture and Apply Sets of Property Values with Designbox for Visual Studio
Designbox for Visual Studio lets you easily capture and reapply finished control designs using the Designbox Gallery. Works with all WinForm Controls. Download the free trial.
The Next Revolution of Data Presentation for Silverlight
Featuring the codeless data binding, multiple hybrid view, super-smooth scrolling, and many more. Download the free Feb 09 CTP now.
Introducing the Visual Basic Upgrade Companion Developer Edition
Migrate your Visual Basic 6.0 applications to high-quality native Visual Basic .NET or C#. Free trial.
Get a Free Trial of New Resco MobileForms Toolkit 2009
The new version of Resco MobileForms Toolkit 2009 brings three new components, enhanced touch functionality and more attractive GUI.
Migrate Your VB6 or WinForms Legacy Desktop Applications to the Ajax DHTML or Silverlight without Rewrite
Visual WebGui integration with Visual Studio and WinForms API compatibility enables quick migration of legacy applications. Just copy any existing WinForms source code to a VWG project and create a fully functional equivalent Web application. Free trial.
Get Ready for a New Era in Automated Web Testing with Telerik's New Offer
WebUI Test Studio (powered by ArtOfTest) is specialized for testing ASP.NET apps. Try now for free.
Software Plus Services Concepts and Methodology Series
In this series of web seminars, you'll learn the critical concepts behind S+S, and learn how to get started on the road to a successful S+S implementation.