WPF is the future, get over it, post of the day - “Are desktop developers ignoring WPF at their peril?”

Living in the Tech Avalanche Generation - Are desktop developers ignoring WPF at their peril?

“So is 2010 the year when WPF finally starts to make the big-time? Having spent some time now working with the new desktop framework, I find it unlikely that I will find a compelling enough reason to choose Windows Forms for a desktop UI technology choice again.

So what’s holding it (WPF) back? I have read and listened to a lot of stuff online suggesting it’s so complex that it’s turning people off the idea. So what about the issue of so called complexity? …

…

Here is what I advise: don’t be afraid of the technology. If you ever developed desktop applications in the past and considered yourself capable in designing a good user experience, then don’t buy into the scare mongering and be prepared to jump off the cliff.

I don’t doubt that there will be some small percentage of software teams that will bring on a dedicated designer(s) but I would hate to think that the small development teams out there will be put off venturing out into the brave new world. Yes there is a lot of complexity (particularly in WPF) and the learning curve is certainly not shallow by any means, but nothing good in life is easy.

…”

The title of this post struck me as soon as I saw it. I personally believe that WinForm’s days are numbered, in the many hundreds I’m sure, but numbered none the less.

What I find “interesting” is the resistance to WPF. I’m facing it daily and am having a very difficult time getting the message across as to why it’s important to our professional careers, development practices, applications and users. Sure it’s not perfect, and there’s a learning curve, but that was the same story when we started with WinForms. Get over it! sigh…

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that VS2010/.Net 4 will be the WPF watershed release that I hope it will be.

[Now to step up and try to drive WPF into those small areas where I have a little bit of control… Am I willing to walk the walk? I’m willing to try…]

Free 11 page Windows 7 “What you can do before you call Tech Support” eBook

Microsoft Press - Free e-book: Windows 7 troubleshooting tips

“Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and lead author of the just-published (and hot-selling) Windows 7 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 2010; ISBN: 9780735627000; 1760 pages), has created a short e-book called “What You Can Do Before You Call Tech Support.” Here are the opening paragraphs:

…” [GD: Click through for the direct download links… No registration required]

From the PDF:

“Your sound card has stopped working, your computer seems sluggish, the network is down, your hard drive is clicking, you can’t view a website, your monitor is hard to read, your new webcam isn’t working, your favorite program won’t run, and a funny burning smell is coming from your computer. What can you do on your own to try to troubleshoot the issue before you pick up the phone to call tech support?

If you’re running Windows  7, quite a lot. Microsoft has included a lot of self-support tools in Windows  7 that you can try using before you seek the help of others, and we’ll examine these in a moment. Then there are the tools you were born with—your five senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) and most importantly your brain. And by brain I’m including your memory, experience, and capacity for logical reasoning. Finally, there is ancient and sacred lore passed on in secret from Master to Disciple over the millennia. We’ll see shortly how your brain, your senses, and the secrets of the Wise Ones can be very helpful for troubleshooting computer problems. But first let’s look at what troubleshooting tools are built into Windows  7.

Windows  7 Troubleshooting Tools
Windows  7 has a new feature called the Windows Troubleshooting Platform that lets third-party hardware and software vendors create troubleshooting packs (or troubleshooters) you can use to try to resolve computer problems yourself. Microsoft has included about two dozen of these troubleshooters in Windows  7, and if something goes wrong with your computer you can try using these troubleshooters to identify and (hopefully) resolve the problem.

…”

Section titles like “The Sacred Lore of the Hardware Junkies” just kill me… :)

PST File Format Documentation coming…

Interoperability @ Microsoft - Roadmap for Outlook Personal Folders (.pst) Documentation

“Data portability has become an increasing need for our customers and partners as more information is stored and shared in digital formats. One scenario that has come up recently is how to further improve platform-independent access to email, calendar, contacts, and other data generated by Microsoft Outlook.

On desktops, this data is stored in Outlook Personal Folders, in a format called a .pst file. Developers can already access the data stored in the .pst file, using Messaging API (MAPI) and the Outlook Object Model—a rich set of connections to all of the data stored by Outlook and Exchange Server—but only if Outlook is installed on the desktop.

In order to facilitate interoperability and enable customers and vendors to access the data in .pst files on a variety of platforms, we will be releasing documentation for the .pst file format. [GD:Emphasis added] This will allow developers to read, create, and interoperate with the data in .pst files in server and client scenarios using the programming language and platform of their choice. The technical documentation will detail how the data is stored, along with guidance for accessing that data from other software applications. It also will highlight the structure of the .pst file, provide details like how to navigate the folder hierarchy, and explain how to access the individual data objects and properties.

This documentation is still in its early stages and work is ongoing. …”

Awesome! This will be huge for EDD/Forensic/etc software and service providers.

Yet I can’t help but imagine what a beast this document is going to be. Still better a beast we know, than one we don’t…

(via bink.nu - Microsoft opens up PST file format)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
The Microsoft Office Visualization Tool (OffVis) – Spelunk (view, browse, peek into, etc) Microsoft Office Binary Format files
Microsoft Office (DOC, XLS, PPT) Binary File Format Specifications Released – We’re talking the full technical specification… (The [MS-DOC].pdf alone is 553 pages of very dense specification information)
DOC, XLS and PPT Binary File Format Specifications Released (plus WMF, Windows Compound File [aka OLE 2.0 Structured Storage] and Ink Serialized Format Specifications and Translator to XML news)
Microsoft Office Binary File Format Specifications Coming to a Download Near You...

A Feed You Should Read #9 – 10-4

Today’s “feed you should read” is another one of those “a feed you should watch” feeds and is in honor of this past week’s release of Visual Studio 2010 and /Net 4.0 Beta 2.

Channel 9 - 10-4 Show

Background:

The 10-4 is a semi-regular video cast that focuses on Visual Studio 2010 and .Net 4. From downloading & installing to using the many new features, the whole gambit is covered in short, 30’ish minute, video casts. Visual Studio features, MEF, MVC, ASP.NET, ADO Data Services, WCF, F#, VB, etc, etc are all there.

It might not be the single “one stop shop” for all things VS2010/.Net 4, but more of the “one drive thru” for the good stuff in VS2010/.Net 4. Kind of like the “In-N-Out” for the coming release(s)  ;)

Why do I like this feed and think you might also?

You mean, besides the clever name? Another reason is needed? sigh… ok… 

I dig the shows because they are short, focused on a specific area, are given by people who know their stuff and have a passion for what they are showing.

There’s almost too much in coming release; there’s so much, it is easy to get lost and paralyzed by choices. These shows give you byte sided information chunks to get you started. They are not, currently, in-depth nor are they intended to be, think survey course, overview, wet your appetite shows.

Look. NOW is the time to start getting up to speed on VS2010/.Net4. If you start next March when it’s released, you’ll be buried, you’ll already be too late. Do it a little at a time and by March you’ll be able to hit the ground running.

Snap of the latest post:

Blog Information:

Name:	10-4
URL:	http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/10-4/
Feed:	http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/10-4/RSS/
Post Types:	Video casts related to Visual Studio 2010 and .Net 4.0

Spec Explorer 1.0 – A “Visual tool for modeling software behavior and generating test suites from those models”

Microsoft Downloads - Spec Explorer for Model-Based Testing in Visual Studio

“Spec Explorer is a tool for Model-Based Testing that runs as an add-in to Visual Studio Ultimate/Team Suite editions

Version:	1.0
Date Published:	10/23/2009
Language:	English
Download Size:	62 KB - 12.6 MB*

Spec Explorer is a visual tool for modeling software behavior and generating test suites from those models. Spec Explorer’s approach to model-based testing has been shown to greatly enhance productivity of test case creation, to ensure predictability of requirement coverage, and to support lifecycle management and software updates. Models are typically written in C# and controlled by a configuration language which allows to express scenarios and test purposes. Please see also the Spec Explorer [GD:As of this post, this link does not appear to be active] home page on DevLabs

…

Platform Software

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or 4.0 Beta
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 Professional edition or above for SpecExplorerVS2010.msi
• and/or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional edition or above for SpecExplorerVS2008.msi

…”

Interesting…

Looks like Spec Explorer has been backing since at least 2005, .Net Developers Journal - Using Spec Explorer for Model-Based Test Development. Also see, Microsoft Research - Model-based Testing with SpecExplorer

eBook of the Day(s) - 31 Days of Refactoring

Sean Chambers -  31 Days of Refactoring eBook

“Back in August I did the 31 Days of Refactoring blog series. Fellow LosTechies as well as other community members urged me to convert the series into an eBook. I had intended to (really!), but Simone Chiaretta beat me to it and took it upon himself to create the series into an eBook perfectly formatted and threw in some nice styling.

On that note, and a HUGE thanks to Simone for doing this task, you can find the link to the eBook below. I'm sure I'll format things or may have missed some spelling errors so if you find anything please let me know. Again, huge thanks to Simone for doing this in his spare time. The community thanks you very much as do I.

…” [GD: Post Leached in Full, click through for the PDF download link]

From the PDF:

“…

Introduction
Refactoring is an integral part of continually improving your code while it moves forward through time. Without refactoring you accrue technical debt, forget what portions of code do and create code that is resistant to any form of testing. It is an easy concept to get started with and opens the door to much better practices such as unit testing, shared code ownership and more reliable, bug-free code in general.

Because of the importance of refactoring, throughout the month of August I will be describing one refactoring a day for the 31 days of August. Before I begin, let me prefix this series with the fact that I am not claiming ownership of the refactorings I will describe, although I will try to bring some additional description and perhaps some discussion around each. I have chosen not to list the full set of refactorings on this first post until I actually post the refactoring. So as the month progresses I will update this post with links to each of the refactorings.

First on the list is credit where it is due. The majority of these refactorings can be found Refactoring.com, some are from Code Complete 2nd Edition and others are refactorings that I find myself doing often and from various other places on the interwebs. I don’t think its important to note on each refactoring where it came from, as you can find refactorings of similar names found on various blogs and articles online.

On that note, I will be publishing the first post starting tomorrow that begins the 31 day marathon of various refactorings. I hope you all enjoy and learn something from the refactorings!

…”

(via .Net DZone - 31 Days of Refactoring eBook)

PowerShell goodness for TFS - PsTFS v1.0.0 Released

PsTFS - PsTFS V1.0.0

“…

• Create Setup MSI

And Add :

• Add-QualityBuild Add a new Quality for a Build Project
• Add-Workspace Add workspace in Team Foundation Server
• Clear-Builds Cancel Build
• Get-Build Get All build for a project
• Get-Label
• Get-AllChangesSinceLabel
• Get-AllWorkspace Get all workspace for a TFS
• Get-Workspace Get workspace for a Name and a owner

…”

CodePlex – PsTFS

“PsTFS is a set of PowerShell commands to manage and use Team Foundation Server. PowerShell effectiveness is combined with the power of TFS API to maximize TFS capabilities.

Samples for each CMDLET are available.

These CMDLETS provide support for :

…

To give you a snapshot of this project…

 

Related Past Post XRef:
How cool would it be if there was a PowerShell Provider for Team Foundation Server? Where you could CD into a Project and DIR its work items? It’s very cool! Check this out…

PsTFS – PowerShell and TFS, better than peanut butter and chocolate? (Okay, maybe not, but it’s close… ;)

Channel 9 makes you smart(er) - Channel 9 Learning Center opens with VS2010/.Net 4 and Windows 7 courses (free of course)

Managed World - Visual Studio 2010 Training Course on Channel 9

“This morning Channel 9 launched the new Channel 9 Learning Center. From Channel 9, here’s a description of what the Learning Center is: “The Channel 9 Learning Center is the destination for free technical training on emerging Microsoft products and technologies. The Learning Center consists of a set of courses with each course including a set of videos, hands-on labs, and source code samples to get you up-to-speed quickly.”

I’m pleased to say that Visual Studio 2010 is one of the first Training Courses that we have launched on Channel 9. Please welcome the Visual Studio 2010 Training Course. 

What is the Visual Studio 2010 Training Course? The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course includes videos and hands-on-labs designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including: C# 4.0, Visual Basic 10, F#, Parallel Computing Platform, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX 4.0, ASP.NET MVC Dynamic Data.

Essentially, the Training Course is an online version of our Visual Studio 2010 Training Kit. In this first release of the training course, it contains a subset of the content that is actually present in the training kit. Of course, since it is an online delivery mechanism, we will continue to add more items from the training kit into this training course over the coming weeks and months.

…”

Channel 9 Learning Center Courses

 

Each course breaks out into units…

Channel 9 Learning Center Courses - Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course

And then each unit has lessons and such…

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course - Overview

Free, and easy to access and use training. It’s a mix of hands on, videos and such. Don’t expect to be talked at! Roll up your selves and be prepared to do some coding!  ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit - October Preview (aka VS2010 B2 version) released
Visual Studio 2010/.Net 4.0 B2 now available via MSDN Subscribers Download, new SKU names (Ultimate, Premium, Express Combo) and VS2010 launch dates announced
A little VS2010/.Net 4 Training Kit with your Beta 1?

Busting Visual Studio Myths – or How I learned to counter “that guy’s” anti-VS/.Net comments – or how I convinced my boss that Feature X doesn’t have Problem Y

IUpdateable from Eric Nelson - Visual Studio Myths – busted wide open

“The team and I were having a conversation about developers (we do that from time to time). It went something like:

• “Isn’t it a shame that so many developers are stuck on Visual Studio 2005 when Visual Studio 2008 would be way better for them and Visual Studio 2010 is just around the corner”
• “Why is that?”
• <LONG CONVERSATION LISTING EVERY REASON DEVELOPERS ARE ON 2005 DELETED>
• “And… then there are all these myths that developers believe to be true which hold them back from adopting Visual Studio 2008. For instance many developers believe that …”
• <LONG LIST OF MYTHS DELETED>
• “OK. What can we do to help them?”

Well, after several iterations of ideas on how we could do our little bit to address this, we decided to go with collating:

• All the key feature improvements from Visual Studio 2005 through to Visual Studio 2010 by focus area (web, data etc)
• All the myths we heard in our meetings and events, plus some we made up to pad it out :-)

And then, with a little help from an agency, we created a Silverlight 3 application which presented the information in a way that developers will hopefully find rather useful and a little prettier than the whopping bit word document we created.

The final result is the Visual Studio Myth Busting Matrix.

…”

Visual Studio Myth Busting Matrix

Sure it’s something of a “marketing’ish” site, but there was enough VS2008 myth busting content that made it well worth a mention. I’ve HEARD a bunch of these things said any number of times… Now I have one more, “um… no… Go check out this site” resource.  ;)

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit - October Preview (aka VS2010 B2 version) released

Managed World - Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 Training Kit Published

“The Beta 2 version of DPE’s Visual Studio 2010 Training Kit is now live (you can find it at http://tinyurl.com/Beta2Training).

A training kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize a variety of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 technologies.

The Beta 2 release of the Training Kit contains 15 presentations, 19 hands-on labs, and 13 demos. Many technologies are covered in this release, including: C# 4, VB 10, F#, Parallel Extensions, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow, Windows Presentation Foundation, ASP.NET 4, Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services, Managed Extensibility Framework, and Visual Studio Ultimate.

There’s a lot of content covered here. See for yourself:

…”

Microsoft Downloads - Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit - October Preview

“October Preview of the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit

File Name:	VS2010TrainingKit.Setup.exe
Version:	1.1
Date Published:	10/20/2009
Language:	English
Download Size:	93.3 MB

Overview

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including:

• C# 4.0
• Visual Basic 10
• F#
• Parallel Extensions
• Windows Communication Foundation
• Windows Workflow
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• ASP.NET 4
• Windows 7
• Entity Framework
• ADO.NET Data Services
• Managed Extensibility Framework
• Visual Studio Team System

This version of the Training Kit works with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2.

…”

The download size has grown 12MB (10%+) from the last version of the training kit (A little VS2010/.Net 4 Training Kit with your Beta 1?) so I’m betting there’s at LEAST 20% additional goodness added! (considering compression and all that ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Visual Studio 2010/.Net 4.0 B2 now available via MSDN Subscribers Download, new SKU names (Ultimate, Premium, Express Combo) and VS2010 launch dates announced
A little VS2010/.Net 4 Training Kit with your Beta 1?

Free (as in direct download, no reg required) ebook - “Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2”

Windows Server 2008 R2 - Windows Server – Training Portal

“…

Free e-book offer that features Windows Server 2008 R2 (XPS file, 28MB)
Free e-book offer that features Windows Server 2008 R2 (PDF file, 11MB)

Learn about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Download Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, written by industry experts Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker along with the Windows Server team at Microsoft.

…”

Been a while (like days! lol) since I’ve blogged about a free ebook, so I guess I’m due.

(via Nathan Mercer's blog - Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2 Microsoft e-book download & TechNet Team Blog Austria - Windows Server 2008 R2: gratis E-Book verfügbar)

Creating Visio Diagrams without Visio – VisioAutomation & VisioVDX

Saveen Reddy's blog - Now on CodePlex – VisioVDX: a library to generate Visio VDX Files (without Visio)

“A follow-up to my previous post, as promised the library is now on CodePlex. You can find it checked in the source tree used by the VisioAutomation project.

If you browse the source code you’ll see a separate folder with the VisioVDX code in it.

…”

CodePlex – VisioAutomation

“…

Project Components

• VisioAutomation - the core low-level library
• VisioAutomation.Scripting - the a higher level library meant to be used by interactive tools
• Visio Power Tools - a .NET Add-In for Visio 2007 that adds a new menu and UI tools to visio
• VisioInteractive - provides a IronPython-based command-line experience (experimental)
• VisioPS - provides a Powershell 2.0-based command-line experience (experimental)

Related Components in the Source Tree

• VisioVDX - Create Visio VDX files without Visio installed

Scenarios

• Writing managed-code Add-Ins for Visio 2007
• Writing tools to automate Visio 2007 from command line
• Use it as a reference to learn how to do common Visio automation tasks

…”

I dig the idea of creating Visio diagrams without using automation (think server-side generation…)

Visual Studio 2010/.Net 4.0 B2 now available via MSDN Subscribers Download, new SKU names (Ultimate, Premium, Express Combo) and VS2010 launch dates announced

MSDN – Subscribers Download

See the new SKU names? Ultimate, Premium, Express Combo? Those are discussed in The Register article below….

(via RT from @regeiger - http://twitter.com/regeiger/statuses/4992975576)

 

The Register - Microsoft names Visual Studio 2010 dates

“…

This time, the company is spicing the packaging mix by throwing in hours of access to its Azure cloud plus upgrades to a new, top-of-the-line Visual Studio ALM package.

The changes will be unveiled today, as Microsoft announces the second Visual Studio 2010 beta and .NET Framework 4 beta two have been released to MSDN subscribers with everyone else getting code on October 21. …

Also, Microsoft will announce Visual Studio 2010 will officially launch on March 22, 2010.

…

Microsoft will chop nine Visual Studio SKUs down to four, with the focus on ALM. Microsoft does not seem to be tampering with the Express editions, which add another five SKUs.

…

What do you get in your new packages?

…” [GD: Click through… you’ll want to read it all in context ;]

Yeah! Both the launch date and a truncation of the SKU madness!

(via @marcot - http://twitter.com/marcot/statuses/4992849141)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
VSTS/TFS2010 Beta 2 coming “real soon” and will have a “Go Live” license (i.e. Now’s the time to start getting ready…)

Microsoft Sync Framework v2.0 SDK and Redistributable RTM/RTW

Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK)

“Microsoft Sync Framework is a comprehensive synchronization platform that enables collaboration and offline scenarios for applications, services, and devices. Using Microsoft Sync Framework, developers can build applications that synchronize data from any source using any protocol over any network.

Version:	V2RTM
Date Published:	10/18/2009
Language:	English
Download Size:	35 KB - 146.3 MB*

Overview

Sync Framework 2.0 Overview
Sync Framework 2.0 expands on the capabilities offered by Sync Framework 1.0:

• Adds features that cater to new scenarios or scenarios that were difficult to support.
• Reduces the amount of work required to develop providers.
• Supports more data sources with new built-in providers.

The major new features and improvements included in Sync Framework 2.0 are:
In Core Components:

• Simple Providers: …
• Flexible Filtering: …
• Improved Conflict Handling: …
• Data Conversion between Providers: …
• Change Application Service:…
• Tracing: …

In Database Providers:

• New Database Providers (SQL Server and SQL Server Compact): Enable hub-and-spoke and peer-to-peer synchronization for SQL Server, SQL Server Express, and SQL Server Compact. …
• Robust Memory-Based Batching: …
• Provisioning and Management APIs: Provisioning and initialization activities that were previously exposed only through Visual Studio tooling have now been added to the database provider APIs….
• Performance Improvements: The new database providers in this release have been thoroughly tested in large-scale scenarios in which a single server supports thousands of clients with hundreds of concurrent synchronization operations. …

…

Redistributable
To download the Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 redistributables and bootstrapper, rather than the SDK package, click on the link: Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 Redistributable Package

…”

Building your own synchronization is hard and that code is rarely a piece of core business functionality (sync may be but the code to do it rarely is). When/if I ever need to create my own sync’ing, this will be one of the first things I look at.

(via ActiveWin - Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK))

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Sync 101 - Samples for the Microsoft Sync Framework
Sync Framework v1 RTM’s (and includes ADO.Net Sync Services v2)
Using Microsoft Sync Framework in Visual Studio 2008 to Sync SQL Databases (SQL CE with SQL Server)
Microsoft Sync Framework CTP1 Released

A Feed You Should Read #8 - msdev

Today’s feed is different from the previous ones, and instead of an individual it is a site/vendor/company sponsored/etc feed from Microsoft.

MS tech is a very slippery eel. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, it twists and slips from your fingers… Today’s feed is a means to help you catch that eel (or at least help you keep a start to get a grip on that twisty basta… :p )

msdev.com – Courses

Background:

The msdev.com site is a free training resource for many things Microsoft. See that snap above? The 1,000? That’s not 1,000 posts, but 1,000 training sessions! See the categories above too? If you’re IT or Dev, there’s got to me something there for you.

Oh, the cost? Free.

Yep, Free.

Not have the time to attend a live session? That’s cool because they are recorded and you can catch on demand them as you can.

Like labs and not lectures/sessions? They have those too.

By the way, don’t let the “solution providers” in the subtitle throw you. We are ALL “solution providers” and so this training is for all of us, professional or hobbyist.

Why do I like this feed and think you might also?

The pace of change from Microsoft is not only not slowing, it is picking up. It’s all we can do to keep our heads above the technology water. And with training budgets slashed/nuked, getting the needed training is harder by the day.

That and the coming wave is going to be one of the biggest ever. .Net 4, VS 2010, TFS 2010, Office 2010, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2, SharePoint 2010 and so on. In the next 12 months we’re going to have more new stuff thrown at us than likely ever in the past.

And it’s all looking like GOOD stuff. Stuff we’re really going to want to use (and not just ignore and hope it goes away). Now’s the time to start getting up to speed on that “stuff”. Time to catch the wave… Because it’s JUST like a tidal wave. Not a normal wave that crests and breaks, but one that keeps coming on and on and on and on…

That’s why I dig this site. It’s going to help me and my team survive the wave.

This site seems a little familiar, like that I might have mentioned it in the past, does it? Yep, An official “bunch” free of SQL Server 2008 R2 / SQL Server 2008 Express web sessions and how-to’s videos coming starting in September and How about 716, or so, free live and on-demand development training courses/web sessions? Then head on over to msdev.com… 

You see I like free training.

So do you use MS tech? In IT or Dev? Doing anything in .Net, SQL Server, Windows Server, Windows 7, Expression, Web, Visual Studio, [insert like a bunch more MS product titles here], etc ? Like free? Then there are 1000+ free, live, on demand and virtual labs just waiting for you…

Snap of the latest post:

Blog Information:

Name:	msdev.com – Microsoft Training for solution providers
URL:	http://www.msdev.com/
Feed:	http://www.msdev.com/rss/courses.aspx
Post Types:	Microsoft Related Training

A fan-dev Team Build Property Reference Guide

.NETicated - Team Build Property Reference Guide

“I’ve been working quite a bit with Team Build lately, and overriding properties is a method of customization I’ve found quite useful in certain scenarios. Along the way, I found Aaron Hallberg’s excellent Team Build 2008 Property Reference blog post, but it didn’t show me where the properties were referenced. In fact, there isn’t an easy way to determine where any particular Property is being used or set other than reading through the 1,500 lines in the Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.targets file. I decided to spend a few hours, read through the file myself, and compile a chart of each Property, what Target it is referenced by, and how it is referenced.

…

  ”

I dig how people are willing to share their time and effort, for no personal gain or profit. Just to share for the good of it, to pay it forward…

Anyway, I’m not TeamBuild script editing much now, which means when/if I do again I’ll need all the memory/reference help, like this one, that I can get.

You know, if you look closely at this you can see a redhead, blond… (LOL Sorry, watched The Matrix last night…  ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
TFS 2008 (Team Build) Reference Desksheet – Ton’s of TeamBuild Properties, one little sheet…
Ever wondered what a diagram of the TFS 2008 Team Build Process would look like? Wonder no more...

One step toward becoming a Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcut Ninja – ShortcutVisualizer Visual Studio Addin

Visual Studio Gallery – ShortcutVisualizer

“ShortcutVisualizer, visualize your Visual Studio commands.

Allows you to search for Visual Studio commands on the fly while pressing any or combination of the key modifiers (Shift, Alt, Ctrl).

It provides a way to learn the Visual Studio shortcuts as you code.

”

I’m not near the VS keyboard ninja that I’d like to be. All to often I’m grabbing the mouse where I know there’s a shortcut but for the life of me I can’t remember what it is…

Once you install it, fire up Visual Studio and press and hold the Shift, Alt, Ctrl (or Shift+Ctrl, etc) keys and the Shortcut Visualizer will list all the shortcuts that match.

It’s a simple addin, but still kind of cool…

Straight from the Windows 7 Resource Kit, PowerShellPack Released - 1.97 billion… (okay 600+, but that’s still allot) of PowerShell scripts to help you “think PowerShell”

MSDN Code Gallery – PowerShellPack

“Windows PowerShell Pack contains 10 modules to help supercharge your Windows PowerShell scripting. The PowerShellPack lets you write user interfaces in PowerShell script, manage RSS feeds, schedule operating system tasks, and much more.

The PowerShell Pack is also available as part of the Windows 7 Resource Kit.

…

About the Windows 7 Resource Kit PowerShell Pack

The Windows 7 Resource Kit PowersShell Pack is a collection of Windows PowerShell scripts included with the Resource Kit. The PowerShell Pack comes in the form of several Windows PowerShell modules, each containing anywhere from 3 to 600 functions.

To get started with the PowerShell pack, run InstallPowerShellPack.cmd from the directory on the CD, open up Windows PowerShell, and run Import-Module PowerShellPack . After you run this command, you will have hundreds of PowerShell scripts loaded to play with.

The Windows 7 Resource Kit PowerShell Pack contains 10 modules to do all sorts of interesting things with PowerShell. Import-Module PowerShellPack actually imports 10 modules for you to use. Here’s a brief overview of each of the modules.

WPK
Create rich user interfaces quick and easily from Windows PowerShell. Think HTA, but easy. Over 600 scripts to help you build quick user interfaces

TaskScheduler
List scheduled tasks, create or delete tasks

FileSystem
Monitor files and folders, check for duplicate files, and check disk space

IsePack
Supercharge your scripting in the Integrated Scripting Environment with over 35 shortcuts

DotNet
Explore loaded types, find commands that can work with a type, and explore how you can use PowerShell, DotNet and COM together

PSImageTools
Convert, rotate, scale, and crop images and get image metadata

PSRSS
Harness the FeedStore from PowerShell

PSSystemTools
Get Operating System or Hardware Information

PSUserTools
Get the users on a system, check for elevation, and start-processaadministrator

PSCodeGen
Generates PowerShell scripts, C# code, and P/Invoke

While you might not use all of these modules in every situation, they represent solid families of commands you can use in any PowerShell scripts you like. The examples below should also help you start to “think in PowerShell”. Most of the tasks you will do in Powershell will not use a single command, but will instead combine many commands in one or more pipelines to get the job done. Each step of these pipelines is a rich object, with properties, methods, and events. This set of commands gives you a number of tools for working with some rich objects that were already lying in the operating system, just waiting for you to discover.

…

”

One word, cool…

Note: Windows  7 = PowerShell v2.

BTW, When you install this via the MSI from MSDN Code Gallery, the scripts are put into your \My Documents\WindowsPowerShell\ folder

(via Development in a Blink - Introducing the Windows 7 Resource Kit PowerShell Pack)

Microsoft SharedView 1.0 RTM/RTW

Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft SharedView

“Connect with up to 15 people in different locations and get your point across by showing them what's on your screen. Share, review, and update documents with multiple people in real time. A Windows Live ID (Passport, Hotmail, or MSN) is required to start sessions, but not to join sessions. New in version 1.0: we have added a web based join experience to make SharedView even easier.

File Name:	SharedView.msi
Version:	8.0.5725.0
Date Published:	10/14/2009
Language:	English
Download Size:	3.2 MB

Overview

Hold more effective meetings and conference calls
Connect with up to 15 people in different locations and get your point across by showing them what's on your screen.

Work together in real time
Share, review, and update documents with multiple people in real time.

Use when and where you want
SharedView is easy to use, from anywhere, at a moment's notice.

Click here to learn more about the Microsoft SharedView.

…”

ZOMG. Has it really shipped/RTM’ed? Only after being in beta for two years? :p All kidding aside, I’m glad it made it out of beta and wasn’t killed. But I have to wonder about the future of it… (Right? This isn’t a refresh is it but the 1.0 RTM isn’t it? Or did I miss the original RTW/RTM?)

Anyway, installed just fine on Win7 (x86) and the price for this utility is just right.

The EULA made me chuckle (note the “Last updated” date).

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Microsoft SharedView Beta 2 Released
Microsoft SharedView (fka "Tahiti") Beta Download Available

A Feed You Should Read #7 – A Continuous Learner’s Weblog, Links

Links, links, links. Links here, links there, links everywhere. From Email, tweets, IM’s, text messages, TV, snail mail, friends, family, coworkers, links from all sides. Sometimes it feels we’re drowning in links.

Yet there are those who are our link lifeguards, providing life preservers, acting as our silent yet thoughtful guides, day in and out.

Today’s feed is from one such person, Steve Pietrek’s and his A Continuous Learner’s Weblog

A Continuous Learner’s Weblog – Links

Background:

A Continuous Learner’s Weblog has been going concern for five years now, making it one of the few, the proud, a Five Year survivor. As we all know, blogs come and go, with few passing the test of time. And that’s okay. Blogs have their own lifespan, some exploding into light, shining bright but burning out quickly. While others, maybe not as powerful or “shiny,” have an inner foundational strength that provides for a fuller and more stable existence  [insert star analogy here, or tortoise and hare, or… lol ;]

Anyway, posts are generally not daily, but that’s okay. Heck, that’s the power of feed subscription (I love async attention focusing and direction that feed subscriptions provide… subscribe and forget and you only need to focus when there’s something to actually focus ON! I love that.). And a link blog does not have to be daily to be informational, in some cases it’s even better that it’s not. By not being daily, it acts as a second look at items you might have missed in a more frequently updated blog.

Topics covered are generally in the Microsoft dev/tech space, with general trend toward web dev.

Why do I like this feed and think you might also?

What draws me to this feed is its simplicity. No fuss, no muss, no ad’s, no flowery text (or lame attempts at it like I do ;), simple, short, streamlined and fast.

In the end I think for me it’s the speed in which I can review it. The straight forward layout, streamlined categorization and limited content makes it very fast and easy to scan and read.

Development? Check

.Net? Check

Web Dev? Check

This a feed you should read? Check

[On a related note, if you would like a ton SharePoint/Silverlight links, make sure you check out his other blog at Steve Pietrek – Everything SharePoint]

Snap of the latest post:

Blog Information:

Name:	A Continuous Learner’s Weblog
URL:	http://spietrek.blogspot.com, http://spietrek.blogspot.com/search/label/links
Feed:	http://spietrek.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Post Types:	Web, .Net, General Development Links