Ashish Thapliyal's Blog

Today Microsoft Launched WebsiteSpark program. This Program will provides Web professionals with Microsoft software and solutions, together with related tools, training and support, to help their businesses succeed. The WebsiteSpark Program also helps drive new business opportunities by connecting Web professionals and hosters with an ecosystem of customers, partners and other professionals with complementary technologies.

Web development and design companies with up to 10 employees and owners can participate in the WebsiteSpark Program for three years with no up-front cost.  There is only a $100 program offering fee, payable at exit, with no other costs or obligations.  Once approved, these companies can have access to:

• Microsoft Web design and development tools , including three licenses of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, two licenses of  Microsoft Expression Web 3, and one license of Microsoft Expression Studio 3.

• Four processor licenses for production usage of Microsoft Windows Web Server 2008 or R2 (when available) and  four processor licenses for production usage of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Web Edition.

• A third-party premium Website control panel (DotNetPanel).

Participating companies will also receive the following professional support and training:

• Two technical support incidents per company.

• Access to community support through connections with Network Partners, Hosting Partners and peers with complementary services and technologies.

• Unlimited access to technical managed newsgroups on MSDN.

• Unlimited program support for non-technical issues.

In addition to software, solutions, training and support, the program will extend the reach of participating companies by featuring their offerings in a WebsiteSpark marketplace, supported by Microsoft marketing vehicles. This marketplace will help participating companies connect with new prospective customers worldwide via www.microsoft.com/web/websitespark/market coming later this fall.

Program Details:

·         Eligibility: WebsiteSpark is available to Web Development and Design companies that fit the following criteria:

• 10 employees or less.
•  Nominated by a Network Partner/ Microsoft Champ.

•  Participation lasts up to three years.

·         Availability:

•  WebSiteSpark is immediately available worldwide in most countries.

• 82 countries have a WebsiteSpark Program Lead (“WebsiteSpark Champs”) to provide support.

Additional Links:

·         WebsiteSpark Program Site

On November 16th there is a great event planned at PDC called Windows 7 developer boot camp. This is special event for Developers and will focus on

• Kernel  and architectural improvements

• New shell integration points: taskbar, libraries, and search

• Applied tips for getting the most out of today’s hardware with the sensor & location platform, multitouch, and the new graphics libraries (Direct2D, DirectX 11) that take advantage of the GPU

Whether you’re a C++, C# or Visual Basic developer, building a .NET or a Win32 application, we’ll give you actionable tips to get the most out of the Windows platform.

Come join to witness some of the finest Microsoft engineers including Mark Russinovich, Landy Wang, and Arun Kishan who will be delivering the event.

What’s more this event is totally free even if you are not joining the PDC!!!

For more information please see http://microsoftpdc.com/Sessions/WKSP08

The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the technical strategy of the Microsoft developer platform.  Attendees come from around the world to learn about the future of Microsoft developer technology directly from the people who make it happen.  If you’re a developer, architect or technology leader involved in making strategic technology decisions for your company or organization, the PDC is for you.

Since 1991, the PDC has been the epicenter of Microsoft’s biggest platform announcements, including Microsoft .NET, Windows® XP, Windows Vista® and Windows 7®. This year, you’ll hear more details about our services platform, Windows®, the Web, devices, and our next generation of developer tools. 

WHAT YOU’LL GET AT THE PDC

• Microsoft’s vision and roadmap for the future of developer technology.  PDC is where our biggest names make the biggest announcements.  Keynoters Ray Ozzie and Bob Muglia will share their vision for developer technology at PDC09.  More keynoters still to be announced!
• Deep, technical content delivered by Microsoft’s technology leaders.  At the PDC, you’ll have the unique opportunity to learn directly from the people who conceived and built the latest Microsoft developer platform technologies and tools.  Much of what’s featured at the PDC has yet to be released, and as a result, session content comes in ‘hot’ and is published all the way up to the event date.  Subscribe to the New Sessions RSS to stay on top of published sessions.

• Hands-on access to the latest developer technologies and over 1,000 Microsoft product and technology experts available to answer your questions.  The PDC isn’t just about keynotes and sessions – it’s an opportunity for you to get hands-on access to the latest technologies, have your questions answered by Microsoft program managers and developers and plan the features and architecture to support your product and business goals.

• Unique networking opportunities with leading-edge developers and technology leaders just like you. You’ll be among your tribe at PDC09, and we’ve planned a number of special events and places for you to take advantage of the opportunity to connect with and learn from attendees that share your technology interests and business challenges.

PDC is going to be fun event, I look forward to see you in PDC09

The Windows 7 logo help customers in making better purchase decisions by identifying products via the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo that have passed Microsoft-designed tests for compatibility and reliability on Windows 7. In this post I decided to put very simple step by step guide to obtain the logo for your software application.

You can also find this and much more details by downloading Windows 7 logo toolkit 

https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=831

Step 1: Complete Testing with the Windows Software Logo Toolkit

• Download and install the Windows Software Logo Toolkit (WSLK) from the Logo Program’s MS Connect Site:
  https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=831
• Follow the instructions found at the Connect site in the Windows 7 Software Logo Toolkit User’s Guide to test the application and generate the required xml compliance report

Step 2: Log on to the Winqual Website to Submit for Logo

• If your company does not already have a Winqual account, you will need to establish one by following the instructions at: https://winqual.microsoft.com/SignUp
• Once an account is established go to https://winqual.microsoft.com
• Sign in using your username and password:
  
• Go to the Windows 7 Submission Management Page
  >>Windows Logo Programs >>Software >>Self Tested >>Windows 7
  
• Click on the CREATE NEW button
  
• Read the information about the Logo submission process and click START to begin
  
• Click on the BROWSE button and navigate to the xml report file generated by the WSLK. Select the file and click OPEN. Click on NEXT to continue.
  
• Select the application that was tested and is being submitted as a Logo candidate from the list of applications, and click on NEXT to continue.
• Note: This UI will only be displayed if you are submitting reports produced using the Beta 1 version of WSLK, otherwise for Beta 2 reports this UI has been replaced and is currently handled from the UI of WSLK

• Review the Policies and Requirements and click NEXT to continue
• Note: This UI will only be displayed if you are submitting reports produced using the Beta 1 version of WSLK, otherwise for Beta 2 reports this UI has been replaced and is currently handled from the UI of WSLK
• 
• Provide required information about your application (page 1 of 2), click NEXT
• Note: this information will be published in the Windows Compatibility Center
  
• Provide page 2 of optional information about the application, click NEXT to continue
  
• Make note of the instructions about signing the Logo License Agreement to complete the Logo process, also note the address to send a copy of the application to Microsoft. Click FINISH to complete the submission.
  Note: sending a copy of the application to Microsoft is optional, please consult the logo requirement documentation for more details
  
• You are now returned to the Windows 7 Logo submission management page where you can see information for submissions across your company.
  
• If your submission’s status is ‘Pending’ you may need a waiver to complete the Logo process. Action needs to be taken by Microsoft before you can sign the license agreement and receive the Logo.
• Review the information about your submission for accuracy. If you need to set your announcement date to a future date, do so now, as this cannot be changed once the exhibit is signed. If you wish to add alternate marketing information about this application, it can be done now or later, but remember that you must click the APPLY CHANGES button in order to save your changes.
• With a ‘Passed’ status, click the SIGN EXHIBIT link to bind this application to the terms of the Software Logo License Agreement. Type in your name and the date and click on SUBMIT to continue.
• Upon successful signing of the License Agreement, the submission’s status will change to ‘Signed’ and the title officially carries the Logo. You may download the Logo artwork by clicking on the ARTWORK DOWNLOAD link in the submission management page.

Open Text is Microsoft Global ISV partner, in this short video Lynn Elwood talks about how they are planning to use office 2010 to provide more value to Microsoft & Open Text’s joint customers.

Visual studio 2010 provides following key enhancements to the testers

• Create test plans, test suites, test configurations, and test cases with individual test steps
• Gather diagnostic information when running a test, and automatically add it to a bug
• Record manual test steps and replay them during a future test run
• Create automated UI tests
• Create virtual environments that define the set of roles required to run a specific application

In this section I’ve complied some useful demonstrations and documentation from channel9 & msdn

Entry point on msdn:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ms182409(VS.100).aspx

Quick Start Guide for Manual Testers to Get Up and Running:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd380763(VS.100).aspx

Automated User Interface (UI) Testing with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2010

http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX09/T83M

Web test debugging feature in VS2010

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/VisualStudio/New-Web-Test-Debugging-Features-in-Visual-Studio-Team-System-2010/

Test Driven Development in visual studio 2010

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/VisualStudio/Test-Driven-Development-with-Visual-Studio-2010/

Managing New Testing Efforts with Team Test: (Overview of Test and Lab Manager)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286594(VS.100).aspx

Defining your testing effort using test plans:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286581(VS.100).aspx

Creating manual test cases:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286715(VS.100).aspx

How to: Associate an Automated Test With a Manual Test Case and Run It:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd380741(VS.100).aspx

How to: Create Test Cases from an Assembly of Automated Tests:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd465191(VS.100).aspx

Setting Up Machines and Diagnostic Information to be Collected Using Test Settings:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286743(VS.100).aspx

Creating A Diagnostic Data Adapter to Collect Custom Data or Impact a Test System:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286727(VS.100).aspx

Running Manual Tests with Test Runner:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286725(VS.100).aspx

Recording and Playing Back Manual Tests:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286714(VS.100).aspx

Determining Which Builds Have Bug Fixes, New Features or Requirements:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286586(VS.100).aspx

Recommending Tests to Run That are Affected by Code Changes:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dd286589(VS.100).aspx

Today marks an important milestone in the Windows 7 project. We have started to release Windows 7 to PC OEM and manufacturing partners. This means our next major milestone will be the availability of PCs loaded with Windows 7 and store shelves stocked with Windows 7 on October 22, 2009.

When will you get Windows 7 RTM?

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/21/when-will-you-get-windows-7-rtm.aspx

Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, discusses about RTM of Windows 7 including a short video of the RTM sign-off process.

How should developers prepare for WIN 7? is discussed here

http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/05/06/a-developer-s-guide-to-preparing-for-windows-7.aspx

and

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/developers/default.aspx

This blog post from Windows team details out the distribution plan for Windows 7 RTM.

The Windows team has made an announcement on W7 Availability

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/04/24/windows-7-release-candidate-update.aspx

RC is on track for April 30th by MSDN & TechNet Subscribers.  Broader, public availability will begin on May 5th

Thanks,

Ashish 

As you would know we announced the of availability of Windows 7 Beta at CES yesterday. Windows 7 can be download with your msdn or technet subscriptions today and will be widely available for download on Friday at http://microsoft.com/windows7 On this site, you will also find scenario videos which provide great introductions and cool things to try with Windows 7, IE8, and Windows Live.  

I have Windows 7 Beta on all my PCs. Some of my favorite features are the new UI innovations that make navigating, window management, desktop search; and “HomeGroup” which makes it easy to share files and printers across my home network with my other Windows 7 PCs. 

I hope you will try and enjoy the great features of Windows 7 Beta

Silverlight 2 Release Candidate 0 (Silverlight 2 RC0) is now available to developers for testing purposes and to help prepare your Silverlight 2 Beta 2 applications for the release of Silverlight 2. This release should not be used for launching Silverlight 2 applications for the general public

More details at

http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/sl2rc0.aspx

Have you heard that PDC2008 is the place to see the coolest new technology? That's right, at PDC2008, you'll discover what is in store for the future of ASP.NET. Have some fun with XNA and game development, or go in-depth with IronRuby. Other topics include: Live Mesh, Office Communications Server, SQL Server 2008, FAST, Silverlight, Oslo, Visual Studio Team System, Virtualization, SharePoint, Dynamics, Windows 7 and more! You can also network with top developers hang out with your friends and colleagues, and have fun in the L.A. sun!

This is the PDC you won't want to miss!  Register now for PDC2008 at MicrosoftPDC.com.

Here are just a few of the exciting sessions you can attend at PDC2008!

ASP.NET: FUTURE ROADMAP
Come see the roadmap for the next release of ASP.NET. Highlights include: managing control IDs, displaying images using the new Dynamic Image control, better ViewState management in GridView and ListView, and more control over the CSS markup of ASP.NET server controls.

MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT: BUILDING BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
Learn about this exciting new technology that makes business applications for RIA (Rich Internet Applications) much easier to build. Discover how we've made n-tier application development as simple as traditional 2-tier, and more.

A LAP AROUND "OSLO"
"Oslo" is the family of new technologies that enable data-driven development and execution of services and applications. Come and learn how to use "Oslo" directly to drive the execution of deployed applications.

For a complete list of sessions, visit
https://sessions.microsoftpdc.com/public/sessions.aspx

PDC2008 Dates and Location

WHEN:
October 27-30, 2008
Pre-cons October 26, 2008

WHERE:
Los Angeles Convention Center

REGISTER NOW  http://www.microsoftpdc.com/Registration/

The blog post from Keith Cox discussing Silverlight and WPF in Healthcare, featuring a great reference from Epic Systems is now available on our team blog:  http://blogs.msdn.com/msftisvs/default.aspx

After working for 3 years with Microsoft ISV Advisory Services in Bangalore India, I’ve moved to corporate headquarters (Redmond)  to take up the new role with DPE. In my new role I’ll be working with the global ISV’s for the adoption of our platform. I’m very much excited about my new role and would continue to write about the latest and greatest things happening in technology arena.