MSDN Flash - Volume 13, Number 9: April 27, 2009
Volume 13, Number 9: April 27, 2009
Top News
Run Older Apps on Windows 7 with New Compatibility Modes
Check out the Windows Blog to learn about the Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. Windows XP Mode is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC which enables you to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 based PC.
msdev.com Training Community Is Here
ISV Innovation is now msdev, an all-new training community. We've taken all of your feedback and added loads of new features to make it easier to get training on the latest technologies. This new look, based on the rich media capabilities of Microsoft Silverlight, features higher-quality videos via the embedded Silverlight movie player, single-click training, customizable display options, and dynamic search.
Windows Internals with Sysinternals - a Two-Day Webinar
June 1 & 3, online
Explore the internals of key Windows kernel components and mechanisms with the Sysinternals tools in this two-day webinar. Topics include kernel architecture, memory management, thread scheduling, interrupt processing, time accounting, and crash dump analysis. This knowledge will help you debug more effectively as well as understand performance issues. Register here.
Are you geek enough for Server Quest II? Prepare to be ushered into a world where the IT pro rules. As you play the game, you'll dig deep into your surroundings, solve puzzles, and uncover Easter eggs and mini-games that will help you inch your way closer to the prize - and closer to carving your name into the annals of geekdom.
A Note from Your Student Developer Team
With the economy on the fritz, preparing for jobs becomes ever more important. What can you do to prepare? Join us in reading technical books from the experts, such as Code Complete and The Inmates are Running the Asylum, with our Technical Book Club for students. We'll cover sections of the books and talk through some of the main concepts at a pace you can keep up with if you're working or studying this summer. We start our first book, Code Complete, this week.
Preparing for Jobs:
• 10 Skills Developers Will Need in the Next 5 Years
• Technical Book Club: Code Complete
• Find a Job at Students to Business (S2B)
What's Coming in Windows 7:
• Video: Windows 7 HomeGroup - HomeGroup is a feature in Windows 7 that allows you to very easily share libraries with other computers on your home network.
• Doing homework in Windows 7 - Students don't just do homework, they multitask. They listen to Internet radio. They get up to get soda. They browse the Net. Well, at least I did. Here's how Windows 7 can make your multitasking experience a whole lot easier.
What's New in Internet Explorer 8:
• Web Slices and Accelerators: A Web Slice keeps you up to date on a particular piece of information in real time. An accelerator allows you to quickly take an action based on highlighted text.
• Color-coded tabs: Ever wonder why your tabs are turning color in IE8?
• Processes are the new threads: One of new approaches many browsers are taking is to model tabs as processes instead of threads. Why? Crash protection. When a Web page crashes, it will crash that specific tab instead of all the tabs you have open in your browser. Scott Hanselman provides a great overview.
Imagine Cup U.S. Finals - Please Vote
In a few weeks some of the brightest - and youngest - minds in America will compete in the U.S. Finals of the Imagine Cup, Microsoft's worldwide student technology competition. Fifteen student teams were chosen out of thousands to showcase the technology applications they designed to help "solve the world's toughest problems" of eradicating hunger and poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, and improving education and environmental sustainability. Vote for your favorite team.
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On-Demand Series: A Developer's First Look at Windows 7
This series introduces Windows 7 with two introductory sessions: one focusing on the new user interface, and one on behind-the-scenes features; two hour-long sessions that cover compatibility and security issues; and six shorter sessions that focus on coding for a single new feature.
New Series of Video Tutorials on Visual Web Developer Express 2008
Over the course of the next few weeks we will be adding many more videos to this series. These video tutorials will range in complexity from beginner to intermediate and will help Web developers build everything from simple Web applications to full-featured Web solutions that incorporate Silverlight as well as third-party libraries like jQuery.
New Office Developer Bookstore
We have some great news for Office and SharePoint developers: we launched a new section on the MSDN Office Developer Center where you can find Office and SharePoint books that matter to developers. We also provide free book chapters. Check back often as new bookstores are opening weekly.
OfficePalooza: Join the Contest to Test and Sharpen Your VBA Programming Skills
This sweepstakes will run two weeks beginning April 20, 2009, and features ten fun VBA coding challenges in the form of puzzles and games. When you think you've solved a challenge, follow the instructions on the challenge page and send in your solution. It's that simple. Each entrant will earn a chance to win prizes.
Show Off Your Design and Development Skills with the PhizzPop Online Challenge
Through May 26, tap into your creative genius and create a Silverlight-based solution that effectively displays customer data. Participants will receive free training, have their solutions posted in the submission gallery, and have an opportunity to win a Hewlett-Packard computer system or a Wacom Pen Display Tablet. See contest rules.
Government Resources
Developer Webcasts
Learn about the latest Microsoft development tools for Public Sector developers! And be sure to check out the upcoming webcast schedule.
Cloud Computing Bringing Cost-Effective and Pragmatic Change to the Public Sector?
Change is in the air, and in the face of tremendous cost-cutting measures, government needs to find pragmatic ways to re-tool the infrastructure so public sector agencies can dramatically save money and engage with local citizens when they are in the home, on the road, or in the workplace. Join Government Technology and the Center for Digital Government for an on-demand webinar with a common-sense discussion on cloud computing.
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.
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health developed an online community resource guide using Microsoft solutions. The site uses information provided by the 211 InfoLine, and informs the public on available services related to health, mental health, basic needs, housing, and more. This online tool allows mental health providers to search for and provide information to people regarding services in addition to mental health.
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Gains Efficiency, Compliance with Integrated ERP Solution
An average of seven exceptions per audit cycle over a four-year period spurred the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB) leaders to search for a single, fully integrated enterprise resource planning system. 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 solution enables employees and business leaders to access and examine business data in one system. 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
Marin County, California 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 are up, integration and extensibility have been enhanced - and the county didn't have to retrain a single worker.
.NET KB Articles
RSS Feeds
.NET Framework 2.0 | .NET Framework 1.1
Visual Studio 2008, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio .NET KB Articles
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Visual Studio 2008 | Visual Studio 2005 | Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition | Visual Studio .NET 2003 | Visual Studio .NET 2002
SQL Server and Data Access KB Articles
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SQL Server 2005 | SQL Server 2000 | SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services
ASP.NET and ASP KB Articles
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ASP.NET 2.0 | ASP.NET 1.0 | ASP 4.0
Web Resources
Join the New OneNote Community Site
Join the world's only community site for Microsoft OneNote lovers and soon-to-be new fans. Learn tips and tricks, share notebooks, join member discussions, ask questions, share your knowledge, and win prizes - all for free - by signing up today and joining this fast growing OneNote community.
In this webcast, you learn about the various shipping activities and how to build in-bound and out-bound solutions using both voice and IM communications.
BenkoTIPS On Demand: Internet Explorer 8 for Developers with Robert Boedigheimer (Level 200)
Learn which current practices you need to change and how the new standards mode affects your development techniques and your existing sites. We review tools that are built into Internet Explorer 8 to help developers debug and create Web pages.
In this webcast, we walk you through each of the Microsoft Project Server Interface (PSI) Web services, identify key usage of each of the Web services, and provide tips and tricks for working with PSI Web services.
Virtual Lab: Introduction to the .NET Framework Client Profile
After completing this lab you will be better able to target your client projects to the .NET Framework 3.5 Client Profile and verify which assembly references are not included in the Client Profile subset.
After completing this lab you will be better able to enable code analysis for managed code, and suppress warnings for classes.
Virtual Lab: A SharePoint Developer Introduction - Content Types
After completing this lab, you will be better able to create a Content Type for managing online events, add customized pages, and create and deploy a Content Type using the SharePoint API.
MSDN Videos:
• Configuring Bindings (Level 100)
• Configuring WAS for TCP Endpoints (Level 100)
• Creating Composite Activities (Level 100)
Security for Developers
You Can't Outrun the Bear, So Let's Make a Deal
You can't outrun the bear. Well, you can, but it's very hard, not worth it, and not necessary, because you can avoid being eaten without having to outrun the bear in the first place. And contrary to popular belief, simply being faster than the other guy won't necessarily protect you.
Watcher: A New Web Security Testing Tool
Announcing "The Id Element" Show on Channel 9
Token Kidnapping Finally Patched!
Media Tagged with Security - Channel 9
Gazelle - Operating System Architecture and Web Browser Security
Training
Find Windows 7 Training Resources from Microsoft Learning
Visit the Windows 7 Learning Portal to get up to speed quickly on Windows 7. You'll find Learning Snacks, learning plans, sample book chapters, and more from Microsoft Learning.
Don't Miss Your Chance to Get a Second Shot
Second Shot provides a free retake offer if you fail your certification exam. Now you'll also get an eLearning collection for just US$35 (usually priced up to US$349). But hurry, offer ends on June 30, 2009.
Be the First to Know: Exchange 2010
Exchange 2010 is coming. Be among the first to learn about the new features and enhancements with free e-learning and more from Microsoft Learning.
Get Trained and Get a Free Software Offer: SQL Server 2008
Procrastinators, take note: time is running out on this offer. Enroll in and attend any one of eight Microsoft SQL Server 2008 courses before June 30, 2009 (while supplies last), and you get a fully licensed copy of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.
Free Download: 6 Hours of SharePoint 2007 Training
Start learning SharePoint with award-winning training from AppDev. Download six hours of learning from our SharePoint 2007 Learning Library, including training for developers, administrators and business users; plus training for Web content management, business processes and portals. You’ll receive step-by-step demonstrations by Microsoft MVPs and expert instructors, plus hands-on lab exercises, sample code, and printable courseware.
Case Studies
Web Technologies Help MTV Networks Create Dynamic Website and Improve Global Workflow
MTV Networks redesigned its enterprise asset management by using the extensive rich Internet application (RIA) capabilities of Microsoft Silverlight, powered by the .NET Framework. The redesigned system delivers vast improvements in performance and user experience.
Food Process ISV Modernizes from System i to .NET, Positioning Quickly for Market Success
Altech Software moved to the .NET Framework in 25 percent of the time and a fraction of the cost of a rewrite and retest.
Innovative Solution Developer Provides Value, Boosts Productivity, and Expands Market
InterKnowlogy has used the .NET Framework 3.5, WPF, Silverlight 2.0, Microsoft Surface touch-computing platform, and other Microsoft technologies to deliver inventive solutions for its customers.
Partner News
Learn more about the basics of agile software development, best practices, tips for selling agile across your organization, basic measurements, and tracking progress.
US$1,000 Contest for the Best Kentico CMS for ASP.NET Add-on
Build the best add-on for Kentico CMS for ASP.NET and win US$1,000.
Free 30-Day Trial of JetBrains ReSharper
Try out on-the-fly, solution-wide code analysis, automated refactorings, and coding assistance for C#, Visual Basic .NET, ASP.NET, XML, and XAML.
40+ Silverlight Samples with Full Source Code
ComponentOne Studio for Silverlight controls are easy to style and packed with built-in features. Get the 30-day free trial.
Get Visual WebGui Release Version at Pre-Release Prices
Buy your copy of Visual WebGui RIA Platform now with a 50% discount and get a free upgrade to the 6.4 release.
Free Trial of ArtinSoft's Visual Basic Upgrade Companion
Cost-effectively migrate your Visual Basic 6.0 applications to high-quality native Visual Basic .NET or C#.