Windows into Azure, the Azure Storage Viewer

Sergei Meleshchuk – blog - Azure storage viewer

“If you have registered for Azure Services at http://www.microsoft.com/azure/register.mspx, you may want to explore what is in your storage – your queues, blobs and tables. You can use the “Azure storage viewer” to browse your storage. To a limited extent, you can also add and delete objects in Azure storage (under your account, of course).

The two screen shots below show messages in one of the queues, and contents of a small table.

Azure storage viewer supports both mouse and keyboard navigation. It can be used as a learning tool, or as a content browser for small experimental projects.

System requirements

I tested on Windows 2003 SP2, Vista x32 and x64, Windows 2008 x64 (Standard and DC). I was admin on all machines. Viewer doesn’t need to run elevated.

…”

How cool is that?

No source released for it yet (that I found) and for some reason the app, installed via ClickOnce, wasn’t a happy camper on Vista machine.  Yet I still think this is a pretty neat sounding utility, one that makes the Azure cloud a little easer to grasp and manage…

Visual Studio Team System & TFS VPCs Updated – Now all the updates, Power Tools, SP’s, 12/31/2009 expiration AND Hyper-V versions!

PluralSight - Happy Holidays and look what Santa’s brought

“…

I’m happy to report that the VSTS virtual machines are all updated with fresh bits and expiration dates. You now can test and evaluate (since these images are NOT licensed for production use) Team System 2008 with SP1.

First off, the new expiration date is December 31, 2009.

Second, we didn’t produce two images this time. We produced FOUR!

…

What’s different is that we’ve produced both Virtual PC 2007/Virtual Server 2005 R2 compatible images AND Hyper-V compatible images. Download the ones that make you happy!

…

the latest virtual machine additions or integration services components

all of the latest Windows Updates as of December 1, 2008

Team Foundation Server 2008 SP1

Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite SP1

Team System Web Access 2008 SP1

Team Foundation Power Tools, October 2008 update

the latest MSSCCI provider

Team Explorer 2005 (this allows you to work with TFS from Visual Studio 2005 which is installed so that you can edit and customize TFS reports)

the GDR for the product formally known as Visual Studio 2008 Database Edition (aka Data Dude)

current Process Explorer, Process Monitor, and Background Info

…

Naturally at this point, you’re wondering, where are the goods? Here they are:
[GD: Click through for the download links… Didn’t want to leach their traffic ;]

VSTS “all-up” Virtual PC/Virtual Server image (6 GB download, expands to 15 GB)

TFS “only” Virtual PC/Virtual Server image (3 GB download, expands to 8 GB)

VSTS “all-up” Hyper-V image (6 GB download, expands to 15 GB)

TFS “only” Hyper-V image (3 GB download, expands to 8 GB)

…”

If you need a test/eval environment for TFS or VSTS, then these VM’s are a must have. 

Cool to see both Virtual PC/Server and Hyper-V versions. I wonder how long we’ll have to deal with both VM “formats” (i.e. wouldn’t it be cool with Windows 7 had Hyper-V baked in? ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
New Team Foundation Server 2008 VPC Released (with 12/31/2008 Expire date)

Spork – Zork via “M”

Marquee de Sells - If you liked Zork, you'll love Spork!

“Spork is a sample of an end-to-end application using M and the Repository. It starts by defining a set of M types that describe the data needed for a text adventure along the lines of the famous Infocom game Zork (and hence the corporate bad-café-inspired name). …”

Spork ReadMe

“Spork is a sample of an end-to-end application using M and the Repository. It starts by defining a set of M types that describe the data needed for a text adventure along the lines of the famous Infocom game Zork (and hence the corporate bad-café-inspired name). The M instances are generated by running a custom compiler developed with the VBA (Visual Basic for Adventures) MGrammar grammar. We also provide a runtime driven by adventure data loaded into the Repository in multiple versions of the types called AdvRunner.

Follow along with the video to see Spork in action or follow along with the Setup & Usage section of this document.

Requirements

You need the Microsoft Oslo SDK October 2008 CTP (aka the PDC08 drop) installed and the repository database created to run this sample. You’ll need Visual Studio 2008 installed to build it.

…”

Interesting…

For me M/Oslo is on a very low priority background thread, one that I’m going to let idle for a while yet, yet still I see a promise in its Textual DSL (TDSL) concept.

I’d love to be able to provide a TDSL for my business processes, allowing my dev team to focus on the actual business problems and not on the underlying goo. API’s/SDK’s/Frameworks only go so far, and, all to often, internal ones don’t go far enough yet add significant overhead, in both code and training. I’m thinking that M and TDSL’s might help with that…

Managed ESENT v1 released – Managed/.Net access to the free embedded database (“Extensible Storage Engine/ESE”) that ships with Windows

ESE/ESENT Database Stuff - Managed interface to Esent released

“I just published the first release of the Esent .NET managed interface on Codeplex.

http://www.codeplex.com/ManagedEsent

This is an interop layer can be used to write managed applications that use esent. There is a straightforward translation of the unmanaged API and some helper methods/objects built on top of those methods. …

…”

CodePlex - ESENT Managed Interface

“…

ESENT is an embeddable database storage engine (ISAM) which is part of Windows. It provides reliable, transacted, concurrent, high-performance data storage with row-level locking, write-ahead logging and snapshot isolation. This is a managed wrapper for the ESENT Win32 API.

Version 1.0 of the ESENT Managed Interop has been released

ESENT is an embedded database storage engine (ISAM) which is part of Windows (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684493(VS.85).aspx) It provides reliable, transacted, concurrent and high-performance data storage. It can be used for small databases (a few MB) or huge datasets (hundreds of GB). The engine provides logging, recovery, transactions and concurrent access with row-level locking and snapshot isolation.

…

The Microsoft.Isam.Esent.Interop namespace provides managed access to ESENT and will be developed with these principles:

• Any program written with this Api should work with the ESENT.dll from either Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.
• A comprehensive test suite for all the interop code.
• The Esent.Interop DLL should only require version 2.0 of the .NET Framework.
• Full and complete documentation. Intellisense should be able to provide useful and extensive help.

…”

If you’re ESE’ing or thinking about it then this project, with its recent release, will help.

Why am I interest in this? A couple reasons.

In relation to work, where I do Electronic Data Discovery, I may one day get one of these databases from an image and be asked to transform it into a “discoverable” form.

On the home front, I think its kind of cool and given there’s no distribution/includes/bin’s/third parties/etc it is something I might want to check out in more detail. Yes, some of the other embedded database solutions might be “better”, but sometimes you just need quick and easy and already in the box… ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Did you know Windows (since Windows Server 2000) comes with a transactional database engine already baked into the OS, which you can use in your applications today, no download required?

Dual Screen, 11 pound desktop replacement (I mean “Mobile workstation”), ThinkPad W700 – Not your father’s ThinkPad…

InfoWorld - Lenovo to release ThinkPad laptop with 2 LCD screens

“Lenovo Group Ltd. Friday announced the release of a ThinkPad laptop that takes the "desktop replacement" category of notebook PCs to a new level.

The ThinkPad W700ds appears to be the first laptop ever to sport two LCD screens -- a 17-inch primary and a 10.6-inch secondary screen.

The souped-up "mobile workstation," as Lenovo calls it, also comes with customers' choice of quad-core Intel Core 2 processors and Nvidia Quadro mobile graphics CPU with as many as 128 cores. It also comes with as much as 8GB of DDR3 memory and a pair of hard drive/solid-state drive bays for up to 960GB of storage.

It's all in an 11-pound brick -- five times the weight of netbooks, such as the Asus Eee 701, and at least double the weight of typical laptops -- that is encased in the ThinkPad's trademark ebony exterior.

…”

The ThinkPad W700 series

The ThinkPad W700 series mobile workstation is thoughtfully designed to give users uncompromised performance, stability, and the ultimate visual experience

The ThinkPad W700 is the first mobile workstation to deliver:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme processors
• High-capacity RAID HDDs
• Integrated color calibration
• Onboard digitizer and pen

What's new

• Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q9100 processors
• 10.6-in diagonal second display panel
• Intel Turbo memory 4 GB support
• 4 GB memory DIMM

System features

• RAID DASD high-speed storage
• Integrated color calibration
• Integrated WACOM palm rest digitizer and pen
• Displays
  • 17-in WUXGA with CCFL backlight and 1920 x 1200 resolution
  • 10.6-in WXGA with white LED backlight second display and 768 x 1280 resolution
• High-performance mobile graphics:
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 512 MB dedicated video memory
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M, 1 GB dedicated video memory
• Intel Centrino® 2 with vPro and Core 2 Extreme technologies
• Intel PM45 Express chip set
• PC3-8500 double data rate 3 (DDR3) SDRAM 1067 MHz SODIMM high-speed memory
• Intel Active Management Technology 4.0
• WLAN: Intel WiFi Link 5300 AGN (3 x 3)¹
• 64 GB solid state drive (SSD) for fast, reliable, lightweight, energy-efficient storage
• DisplayPort
• Dual Link DVI
• Integrated camera

…”

Dual monitors on a notebook? Dude, that’s cool. Perfect for developers on the go (or who remote ;)

I wonder if I can talk work into getting me one of these when they ship?

Picture from my walk today… From the top of Mt McCoy looking to the east

Out on my walk and this is a shot of Simi from the top of Mt McCoy…

This picture is direct from my LG Dare and its built in landscape mode. Pretty cool and very easy to use. Have the panorama directly on the phone/camera is cool.  :)

Team Foundation Server Branching Guidance v2 Released

CodePlex - TFS Branching Guide 2.0

“Welcome to the Team Foundation Server Branching Guidance Community Site! The purpose of this project is to build some insightful and practical guidance around branching and merging with Team Foundation Server. It's a collaborative effort by VSTS Rangers in cooperation with VSTS MVPs, Microsoft Services, and VSTS Product Team.

Why the 2nd release?

Since the first release, we have received lots of feedback and change requests. Most feedback indicated a desire for a more practical approach to branching compared to the first release which is more theoretical. With that in mind, we decided to reduce the conceptual part and focus on branching practices with Team Foundation Server.
What is in the package?

• TFS Branching Guide - Main 2.0
  • This is the main article which briefly explains branching concepts and introduces 3 levels of the most common branching scenario
• TFS Branching Guide - Scenarios 2.0
  • A collection of less common branching scenarios
• TFS Branching Guide - Q&A 2.0
  • A set of most frequently asked questions with answers
• TFS Branching Guide - Drawings 2.0
  • A set of branching drawings in different formats including a large branching poster
• TFS Branching Guide - Labs 2.0
  • A couple of examples for hands on labs with step by step instruction for practicing the branching scenarios

…”

TFS Branching Guide 2.0  - TFS Branching Guide 2.0 (Release page)

“…

TFS Branching Guide - Main 2.0.pdf
application, 870K, uploaded Fri - 66 downloads

TFS Branching Guide - Scenarios 2.0.pdf
application, 1289K, uploaded Fri - 46 downloads

TFS Branching Guide - Q&A 2.0.pdf
application, 672K, uploaded Fri - 32 downloads

TFS Branching Guide - Labs - 2.0.zip
application, 1502K, uploaded Fri - 31 downloads

TFS Branching Guide - Drawings 2.0.zip
application, 9778K, uploaded Fri - 34 downloads

…”

“Welcome to the Team Foundation Server Branching guide! Since the original release of this guidance in 2007 we’ve received many encouraging messages confirming the usefulness of this guide in planning, executing and maintaining branches, in allowing TFS users to devise, execute and maintain their branch plans. Using feedback from users, we, a team of Microsoft VSTS Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) and Microsoft Services consultants have refreshed the guidance presented in the original document produced as part of a VSTS Ranger project. While some of the original document has been retained, you will notice 3 new themes through the guide.

This guide targets the Microsoft “200-300 level” users of TFS. The target group is considered as intermediate to advanced users of TFS and has in-depth understanding of the product features in a real-world environment. Parts of this guide may be useful to the TFS novices and experts but users at these skill levels are not the focus of this content.

Before executing on your branch plan, pay attention to this cautionary message - every branch you create does have a cost so make sure you get some value from it. …”

51 Pages, combined, of TFS Branching guidance from Microsoft and TFS Community.

If you’re already happy with your TFS Branching scheme, then this guide may not be for you. But if you’re not, or new to branching or when you hear “branch” all you think of is Pine, Oak, Cedar, etc, then you might want to take a few minutes to review this guidance. Look, the Main guide is only 12 pages and very unlikely to melt your brain… ;)

(via Robert Horvick's Weblog - TFS Branching Guidance Version 2 has been Released)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Branching Guidance on CodePlex

“Data Structures and Algorithms” free eBook updated

Granville Barnett - Updated version of the free Data Structures and Algorithms book available!

“Just in time for Christmas ;-)

You can download a revised version of the book Data Structures and Algorithms: Annotated Reference with Examples here!

The last version of the book has had just under 14,000 downloads since we released it.

…”

DotNetSlackers - Data Structures and Algorithms: Annotated Reference with Examples

“This book written by Granville Barnett and Luca Del Tongo is part of an effort to provide all developers with a core understanding of algorithms that operate on various common, and uncommon data structures.

Data Structures and Algorithms: Annotated Reference with Examples is completely free!” [Description Leached in Full]

There’s nothing like curling up next to the fire with 112 pages of “Data Structures and Algorithms”… :)

(via Alvin Ashcraft’s Morning Dew - Free eBook - Data Structures and Algorithms: Annotated Reference with Examples)

The Sueetie idea is Sweet! The “…candy store for .NET Open Source Online Community Development”

Sueetie: The Future in .NET Open Source Online Community Development

• “Sueetie is a movement that promotes the creation of online communities using .NET Open Source software.
• Sueetie developers are dedicated to the success of the .NET Open Source applications that comprise the Sueetie online community suite.
• …”

Sueetie - Sueetie Manifesto

“…

1. Sueetie is a movement that promotes the creation of online communities using .NET Open Source software.

…

2. Sueetie developers are dedicated to the success of the .NET Open Source applications that comprise a Sueetie online community site.

…

3. No commercial or Open Source community application ever meets the requirements of a community without additional custom development.

…

4. All enhancements made to .NET Open Source applications on a Sueetie project are given back to the original application community.

…

5. Sueetie developers write original code or leverage code from Open Source resources. Sueetie developers never use code from source-available commercial .NET products in Sueetie communities.

…

6. The Sueetie feature set grows with the development of each new Sueetie site, as Sueetie developers share their application code in a common Sueetie code library.

…

7. Sueetie development is about freedom and collaboration. All accomplished .NET developers who are dedicated to the principles of Open Source development are welcome to join the Sueetie Movement.

…”

Interesting idea. Added to Tracking/monitoring list…

(via Reflective Perspective - The Morning Brew #248)

10-4, Good Buddy… The weekly VS2010 & .Net 4 show hosted by the Big BK (Brian Keller)

Channel 9 - 10-4

“10-4 is a weekly video podcast which gives you a look at what's coming in Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0. Over and out!”

10-4 - 10-4 Episode 1: Working with the Visual Studio 2010 CTP VPC

“For this first episode of 10-4, we’ll look at how to download and use the Virtual PC image of the Visual Studio 2010 September CTP. We’ll give you tips on how to download this massive (7GB+ compressed) VPC, show you how to get past some pesky expiration issues, and get you started with the CTP walkthroughs. Lastly we’ll cover where to get assistance and provide your feedback about this release.

In future episodes we’ll dive more deeply into the technical underpinnings of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0, but for this first episode we wanted to make sure everybody could get the CTP and follow along at home as we explore new features.

…” [Show Description leached in full]

Yes, boys and girls, we’re getting to that time in the release cycle where it’s time to start wrapping our heads around the goodness that will be coming…

(via Martin Woodward - New Visual Studio 2010 Video Podcast 10-4)

While we wait on VSTS2010 and its desktop recording feature, here’s something kind of like it you can use today.

C# Corner - Enhanced Desktop Recorder in .NET using C# and Windows Forms

“Nowadays, Desktop or Application sharing is common to coordinate work properly in IT as well as other fields also. Sometimes, it may require to record the Operations done by us on Desktop for future reference. I have not seen many applications which support Desktop recording, sharing and broadcasting of it. I think it's better to design an application that will do above operations little bit easier. So, I design this application in VS.NET 2005 using C# and windows forms. I will explain features provided by this application, one sample scenario where we can use this application followed by its design and coding.

Features present in this application:

• It allows us to record the Desktop Operations.
• It allows us to view the recordings with an inbuilt Media Player.
• It allows us to view the List of recent recordings.
• Inbuilt Functionality to add Audio to the Desktop recordings.
• Inbuilt Functionality to broadcast Desktop recordings.
• Inbuilt Functionality to see remote Desktop.
• Inbuilt Functionality to play, pause and stop recordings.
• Inbuilt Functionality to start, pause and stop recording.
• Inbuilt Functionality to show recording Duration, number of users connected to broadcast (desktop sharing).
• Easy to use UI.
• Now, Desktop recording and sharing is just a click away from us.

Sample Scenario for using this application:

Normally, software Testers use to prepare lot of descriptive documents for a bug to explain steps to be followed in reproducing it. I believe an image is equal to 1000's word description. So, why can't a tester record the steps for reproducing the bug in a video, instead of complex documents? Around of 50 - 60% of our effort in fixing the bug will be spent in analyzing, reproducing, get clarifications from testers regarding bug. So, in order to compensate it, the best solution is to record the bug's details in a video with audio support for extra information. In this kind of situations, this application will be very handy to use. There are other cases also, where this application will be useful like analyzing complex application's functionalities etc.

…

By using this application, we can record all your Desktop activities. I am attaching source code for further reference. I hope this code will be useful for all.”

 

This is a neat sounding project, one that I think I can use ideas from in the very near future…

New SilverLight Spy release, now with Trees…(visual and logical tree of the UI structure)

First Floor Blog - New version of Silverlight Spy

“The first official company release of Silverlight Spy has made it to the web. This release includes a new feature which allows you to view the visual and the logical tree of the UI structure of your application. Previous versions of Silverlight Spy only provided a visual tree view of the UI. The logical tree view displays the elements that are contained in the same name scope. This comes in handy when you need to know for instance what elements the ImplicitStyleManager in the Silverlight Toolkit will style

…

Read the excellent blogposts 'Using ImplicitStyleManager and Theme Containers' and 'Silverlight and the Logical Tree' by Jafar Husain to get more information on the visual and logical tree in Silverlight.

…”

A cool tool that’s getting cooler by the release… ;)

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Silverlight Spy for Silverlight 2 – RTM Support and new UI Automation feature (think automated testing)
Silverlight Spy – See what that Silverlight application is really all about…

Windows Update Now…

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 – Critical Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714)

“…

Executive Summary

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, and Internet Explorer 7. For information about Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, please see the section, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Related to This Security Update. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way Internet Explorer validates data binding parameters and handles the error resulting in the exploitable condition. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

This security update also addresses the vulnerability first described in Microsoft Security Advisory 961051.

…

”

You’ll want to run Windows Update/Microsoft Update now (yes, like now… and yes, you’ll likely need to reboot).

Microsoft has released out-of-band fixes for the recently found IE7 hole, a hole that’s being actively exploited, “Microsoft Security Advisory (961051), Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution”, Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 – Critical.

Updates are are for IE5,IE6 and IE7.

Update now… And remember to make sure you’re family and friends are updated too…

More free, full and complete, eBooks from Microsoft (Limited time only)

Microsoft Learning | Imagine Cup - Free Books, for reading in the cold days (or warm days for those who are in the southern hemisphere) :)

“… Microsoft Press continues its 25th Anniversary ebook giveaway.  And this month we have books from Joseph Davies, Michael Howard and David LeBlanc.

For those for who are not on the Microsoft Press Connection newsletter list, below are links to download.  Please note that these download are only good till 24th of December.  So do it soon! :-)

Understanding IPv6, by Joseph Davies
Writing Secure Code for Vista, by Michael Howard and David LeBlanc

…” [Post Leach Level: 95%]

Free eBooks make my heart warm… ;)

 

Remember you only have until December 24th to get them.

Java for .Net? Ja!

InfoQ - Java 1.5 for the .NET Platform

“Ja.NET is a port of Java 1.5 SE to the .NET platform. The compiler is based on the Eclipse JDT, which has been modified to generate IL as well as Java Byte Code. Java traditionally compiles each class into a separate file, but this creates an unacceptable overhead for .NET. To address this, a tool based on Cecil is used to create larger assemblies much in the same way Jar files are created for Java.

In order to get a head-start on library support, the Ja.NET JDK is based on the open source project Apache Harmony …”

Ja.NET - Java Development Tools for .NET

“Welcome to Ja.NET -- a new web site building an open community dedicated to enabling Java as a first class development and runtime environment for .NET.  Our vision is simple: Establish a community of interest, together with a set of projects, focused on delivering the tools and middleware required to leverage the enormous investments that exist today in Java software on the .NET platform.

Our first project is the development of a Java 5 JDK for .NET. We've named it "Ja.NET SE", and we are making good progress towards delivering our first release. We are posting builds regularly, so feel free to download a build and give it a try. If you run into any problems, please let us know.

…

So if you have a need for Java on .NET, then we’d encourage you to get involved by joining the Ja.NET SE project or starting one of your own. Whether you have a specific Java on .NET need, or you just have an opinion you'd like to share with us, provide us some feedback below, or start up a forum discussion.

…”

Ja.NET - Java Development Tools for .NET - Ja.NET SE Overview

“…

Developer Scenerios

Ultimately, the goal of the Ja.NET SE project is to provide developers with the tools and runtime environment to support the following developer scenarios:

• Take existing Java class library source code and recompile it using the Ja.NET SE JDK producing .NET versions of those libraries. The new libraries should be easily incorporated into new or existing .NET-based applications (likely written in other .NET languages). The existing Java-based source could be reused as is, or it could be extended to incorporate or integrate new capabilities found in other .NET-based class libraries.
• Take an existing Java-based application, recompile the source code using the Ja.NET SE JDK, and incorporate other .NET-based class libraries. This will create a new version of the application which can be run on .NET. Using the Ja.NET SE-provided launcher, the new .NET version of the Java application runs on .NET and behaves as it did on the Java RI, yet also provides new functionality derived from incorporating the new .NET class libraries.

…”

Interesting…

Use the Sysinternals Utilities? The EULA bug dialog you? Then try this…

Ask the Performance Team - Batch Files, Task Scheduler and PSTools – and a EULA?

“… The problem that he was running into was that the task never executed the query when run from Task Scheduler, but they ran fine when executed manually.

In these instances, the immediate assumption is that the problem must be due to permissions.  However, in this instance, the task was running in the context of a service account with administrative privileges.  Thus, the immediate culprit was ruled out.  When reproducing the problem, we noticed that when we ran the batch file manually that both PsService and PsTools have a EULA that has to be accepted before the tool(s) will execute:

…

The service account currently had no way to “click” the Agree button to allow the task to process.  However, all was not lost.  There were a couple of workarounds that we could use to get past this …

Workaround 1: Via the registry – using the REG ADD command in the custom script to ensure that the EULA was flagged as being accepted

…

Workaround 2: Use the –accepteula switch when running the tools so that the EULA acceptance is not displayed when the script is launched via Task Scheduler.

…”

This is a tip I know I’ll need. I want to use BGInfo so that all of our ‘workhorse” machines (over 140) have the cool and very useful wallpaper that the utility provides. But I didn’t want my users to have to accept the EULA. Sure they would only have to do it once per machine, but still, it would be lame. Which this tip, I should be able to automate the acceptance and remove one more deployment and usage barrier.

As noted in the post not all the utilities may support the “accepteula” switch. Some may require both. YMMV..

Five Minute Guide to Live Framework – What is it and why should you care in eight pages…

Microsoft Health and Life Sciences Evangelism Team - Live Framework and why should you care?

“The Live Framework team recently published a short (but to the point) white paper entitled The Live Framework: What is it and Why Should I Care?

…

Contents include:

• From My Computer to My Mesh
• For what scenarios is the Live Framework relevant?
• What problems does the Live Framework help you solve?
• What is a cloud / client symmetric programming model?
• How do application developers benefit from the Live Framework?
• What is the programming model exposed by the Live Framework?
• What application types are supported by the Live Framework?
• What are the different flavors of Live Operating Environment available today?
• Do I need the Client Live Operating Environment for creating client side applications?
• What is the Live Framework Resource Model? How can applications interact with it?

…”

A quick overview for those of us trying to explain, or wrap our own heads around, the Live Framework

Microsoft P&P App Arch Guide 2.0 (The Book) Released

J.D. Meier's Blog - Application Architecture Guide 2.0 Final Release

“We released our final release of the patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0 on Codeplex.  It's the "Microsoft playbook for application architecture."  This is our guide to help solution architects and developers make the most of the Microsoft platform.  It's a distillation of many lessons learned.  It’s principle-based and pattern-oriented to provide a durable, evolvable backdrop for application architecture.  It's a collaborative effort among product team members, field, industry experts, MVPs, and customers.

Key Links

• Application Architecture Guide 2.0 - http://www.codeplex.com/AppArchGuide
• Application Architecture Knowledge Base – http://www.codeplex.com/AppArch

Key Changes Since Beta 2

• Added a foreword by Scott Guthrie.
• Incorporated feedback from internal and external reviewers.
• Tuned and pruned the recommendations across the entire guide.

Architecture Meta Frame (AMF)
The Architecture Meta Frame integrates context, application types, architecture styles, and an architecture frame to help map out the application architecture space. 

The Architecture Meta Frame serves as a durable, evolvable backdrop for the guidance in the patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0.

Key Scenarios for the Guide

• Choose the right architecture for your application.
• Choose the right technologies.
• Make more effective choices for key engineering decisions.
• Map appropriate strategies and patterns.
• Map relevant patterns & practices solution assets.

…”

CodePlex - patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0

“Welcome to the patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0 project site! provides design-level guidance for the architecture and design of applications built on the .NET Framework. It focuses on the most common types of applications, partitioning application functionality into layers, components, and services, and walks through their key design characteristics.This guide is a collaborative effort between patterns & practices, product teams, and industry experts. This guide is related to our Application Architecture Guide v2.0 Knowledge Base Project.

…”

381 pages of Application Architecture guidance from Microsoft.

Now I’m not going to say I’m going to drop everything, read this and re-architect my apps, but I AM going to say that every bit of shared knowledge and wisdom helps. Seems silly to re-invent the wheel doesn’t it?

 

Related Past Post XRef:
Patterns and Practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0 Pocket Guides Released

We don’t need no stink’n WPF in our Line of Business apps.. right? Wrong! Here’s ten reasons to consider WPF in your next LOB application

The Joy of Code - 10 reasons you should consider WPF for your next desktop application

“…

I'm going to try and prove this with 10 short posts offering 10 reasons why you should consider WPF for your next desktop application, even a Line of Business one.

Note that I said "Consider" not "Must use". Therefore, let me start with an important disclaimer: 2 reasons why you might consider WinForms over and above WPF.

1. Learning Curve.
   WPF is huge and different. It offers the best of both worlds, taking ideas from both traditional desktop development and the web and combines the two. It then goes further. Much further. It takes a while to get used to all this functionality - don't expect to be as productive with WPF as you are with your current UX platform without putting some effort in first.
2. Tooling.
   Don't expect to open Cider (the Visual Studio WPF designer) and to start banging out forms in exactly the same way as you did with the fantastic WinForms designer. For one, it's just not reached the high standards of the older WinForms designer yet and, as David Chappell points out, these designers currently have a different focus.

Having said all that, I am a fan of WPF and I've found myself to be at least as productive with this platform once I'd cleared the learning curve.

Let the reasons begin...

• Reason 1: Rich Content Model
• Reason 2. Databinding
• Reason 3. DataTemplates
• My dirty little secret from reason 3
• Reason 4. Triggers
• Reason 5. Styles
• Reason 6. Layout
• Reason 7. The ListView
• Reason 8. Interop
• Reason 9. Printing
• Reason 10. Validation

…”

I’m currently fighting a like battle, “We don’t need WPF, all we do are LOB apps…” “WPF? No, we don’t need to spend any time or training on that. Why would you need it? We do internal app’s and WPF isn’t for that…” “How does WPF add to the value of the app? Where’s the payback when we’re not doing a flashy consumer application?” etc, etc.

Personally, with what I’ve heard and read, I think WPF is the future, but I’m just one voice.

Which is why this article caught my eye. Any help I can get to sell WPF, to prove that it’s not just dev porn, but will allow us to provide better applications faster to our users, is welcome.

 

Now to walk the walk and stop using WPF in my personal projects…  :/

(via UK Application Development Consulting - 10 reasons to consider WPF for your next desktop application - Reason 10. Validation)

IronPython 2.0 Released - Now built on top the DLR

CodePlex – IronPython- IronPython 2.0 Release

Released:	Dec 10 2008
Updated:	Dec 10 2008 by dfugate
Dev status:	Stable
Downloaded:	6149 downloads

IronPython-2.0-Bin.zip
application, 2122K, uploaded Wed - 1102 downloads

IronPython.msi
application, 5137K, uploaded Wed - 2750 downloads

IronPython-2.0-Src.zip
source code, 2881K, uploaded Wed - 743 downloads

IronPython-2.0-Samples.zip
example, 639K, uploaded Wed - 1554 downloads

Release Notes

The IronPython and Dynamic Language Runtime teams are proud to announce the release of IronPython 2.0 final. IronPython 2.0 is the culmination of nearly two years worth of work resulting in a CPython 2.5 compatible release on .NET 2.0 SP1. By far, the biggest change to 2.0 is that our 1.1 codebase was refactored to run on top of the Dynamic Language Runtime. With this we automatically get improvements in many feature areas such as better .NET interop support and hosting Python from managed code. There have been many other major improvements as well. The most notable are:

• An MSI installer for Windows platforms which includes parts of the CPython 2.5 standard library
• IronPython assemblies targeting Silverlight and tools such as Chiron to improve the Silverlight dynamic development experience
• The addition of more C-based standard modules such as cmath and _winreg
• Significant improvements in importing compatibility and features
• Distribution of IronPython under the Microsoft Public License which has been approved by OSI
• Performance improvements. On that note, a new Wiki page has been created for IronPython performance reports - see http://www.codeplex.com/IronPython/Wiki/View.aspx?title=IronPython%20Performance
• Over 500 bugs have been closed in 2.0. 453 of these were reported on CodePlex
• Support for precompilation of Python source files into a single dll

This seems like an opportune time to remind everyone that we fix bugs based on the number of votes they have on CodePlex. As we’re planning on releasing IronPython 2.0.1 fairly soon, please vote for your favorite bugs at http://www.codeplex.com/IronPython/WorkItem/AdvancedList.aspx to help ensure they get fixed in time for the next release.

…”

I don’t Python, yet, but I still think this is an important milestone for .Net developers

(via less than dot - IronPython 2.0 has been released, now runs on top of the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR))

 

Related Past Post XRef:
IronPython Studio 1.0 released with both Isolated and (Visual Studio) Integrated versions
Visual Studio 2005 SDK V3 (September 2006) Released
IronPython 1.0 Beta