Today, Microsoft announced Visual Studio 2013, the next release of is integrated developer tools solution for building modern applications for devices, the cloud and on the client. Visual Studio 2013 Preview software will be released at Build 2013. Visual Studio 2013 will incorporate a wave of new...

For those that aren’t aware, WebMatrix (available for download here ) is a free, lightweight web development tool that was first introduced in 2010 which provides a great, focused web development experience for ASP.NET, PHP, and Node.js. New Features Summary Windows Azure Integration ...

Cloud development is becoming more and more prevalent which is why having the ability to access training and an SDK is something every company in that space should/needs to provide. To that end, the following training kit and SDK created by Microsoft will help you when starting your development journey...

Windows Azure Infrastructure Services, Virtual Machines and Virtual Network are now generally available (GA)! With this announcement these new services make it possible for you to move your applications into the cloud as is. This announcement also comes with a commitment to match Amazon Web Services...

I can't believe almost 6 months has passed since the last Build conference . This year the event will be held between June 26–28 in San Francisco where Microsoft will share what's next for Windows, Windows Server, Windows Azure, Visual Studio, and more. Visit the Build site to get yourself...

January's ALM Summit on the Microsoft Campus brought together some of the greatest minds in application development, methodologies, and application lifecycle management. All of the sessions were recorded and are now available for on-demand viewing on Channel 9 . Watch these videos to learn about the...

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the general availability of System Center 2012 Service Pack 1, which brings the full range of System Center management to Windows Server 2012 for private and hybrid cloud. With this release, you will be able to use Windows Server, System Center 2012 SP1 and Web Sites service...

If you’ve been wanting to use Windows Azure but couldn’t because a particular open source virtual machine (VM) wasn’t available or you didn’t have the time to configure one, well you’re in luck. The newly released preview of VM Depot from Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc...

The holidays are definitely for spending time with family and friends however for me, when there’s an app/dev contest to win I can’t help but think about coding. It started innocently enough as a few members of my team said they had some ideas for an app and that building them and comparing...

If you’re doing any development in the “big data” space then you’ll want to be aware of an update to the .NET SDK for Hadoop . This release contains updated versions (0.2.0.0-prerelease) of Map/Reduce, LINQ To Hive, and a new WebHDFS client. This SDK currently contains an API...

On November 14, 2012, Microsoft will be hosting Windows AzureConf, a free event for the Windows Azure community. This event will feature a keynote presentation by Scott Guthrie , along with numerous sessions executed by Windows Azure community members. Streamed live for an online audience on Channel...

Scalability, reliability and the ability to get access to new/updated features in a short time frame are just a few reasons why I’ve been a huge proponent of Cloud services when it comes to software development. One has to look no further than Windows Azure as there is certainly no shortage of...

I recently attended a local event for the US Launch of Windows Server 2012 , Visual Studio 2012 and Windows Azure. To say there’s a lot to talk about would clearly be an understatement. While I couldn’t do all the new features/enhancements justice in a blog post I will however touch on a...

In January Tim O’Brien, General Manager of Developer & Platform Evangelism outlined the path forward for Microsoft developers in his blog post titled: “ Thinking About Developer Events. ” Today he announced that BUILD 2012 will be held at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond...

Since I mentioned this new release in my other post I figured I’d expand a little bit more on some of the features that it provides. The Azure team recently unveiled the biggest update to Windows Azure since its release, including new Windows Azure services: Web Sites, Virtual Machines, and Media...

To say the past few weeks were chock full of Microsoft announcements would be an understatement. First came the Surface , then Windows Phone 8 and recently the acquisition of Yammer . Add in the fact that there's new entertainment experiences for XBOX along with Gizmodo proclaiming “ Microsoft...

I’ve created a few posts on Windows Server AppFabric as well as Windows Server AppFabric Logging as it provides fantastic functionality if your organization wants full control over the environment and is not ready to move “to the Cloud.” Of course there are hybrid scenarios but the...

While the Team Foundation Service (previously known as TFS Azure) is still in preview mode that doesn’t mean that guidance and best practices should not be addressed. I’ve created quite a few blog posts on the features and capabilities that the TFService provides as well as some components...

It seems nowadays that nothing ever goes down but rather quite the opposite. So when I learned that not only Windows Azure pricing was reduced but also Office 365 I just had to spread the good news. That said, Microsoft has halved the price of its entry-level server for Windows Azure infrastructure as...

Fortunately I’ve had the chance to attend many events dealing with technology but my favorite, for a number of reasons has to be a semi-annual internal Microsoft conference held in Seattle that brings together all ‘softies from all over the world. I recently attended this conference (which...

Cirrus clouds are certainly beautiful but “the cloud” within technology is truly a wonderful thing. It offers so much versatility and almost limitless possibility that it’s now become a focal point when talking about development (new or migration). It’s great to have the ability...

Even though TFS is still a preview I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the work that’s been done to migrate what the server product offers to the cloud. Recently there was an update to this service and while not a major overhaul there’s quite a lot packed into it. Instead of me regurgitating...

For years the Enterprise Library application blocks have helped developers address the typical cross-cutting concerns of enterprise development (such as diagnostic logging, data validation, and exception handing). With over 3.5 million downloads , they take a prominent place in the toolbox of a modern...

Remember when you were a kid and saw the beginnings of snow falling and y ou watched it cover each branch of the big evergreen in your backyard and thought: “SNOW DAY!” Or when the holidays came around and gifts were opened and family and good friends were over to celebrate? Today could count...

The more time I spend using Team Foundation Server (TFS), the more I believe it’s an integral component of the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Framework. Now while most organizations employ some sort of source control and change management system there are those that still “wing it”...