Lync Server 2010, Lync 2010 and the Lync platform SDKs were launched yesterday at the Microsoft Lync Virtual Launch.

Lync Server 2010 and Lync 2010 not only provide a great communications experience, they also provide a great platform for building custom communication experiences via the Lync platform SDKs, including embedding presence and communications into applications.

To help you build communication experiences into your own applications, I’m happy to announce that the Lync Server 2010 Developer Training Kit is now available for download on MSDN Downloads.

This training kit includes the following modules:

1. Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010 Development - In this module, you'll learn about the new platform capabilities shipping in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.
2. Integrating Microsoft Lync 2010 Features with the Lync Controls - In this module, you learn how to integrate Microsoft Lync 2010 features into your WPF and Silverlight clients much in the same way that Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 do, including presence, contact lists and click-to-communicate features.
3. Building Contextual Conversations with the Microsoft Lync 2010 Managed API - In this module, you'll learn how to extend Microsoft Lync 2010 communications to include data and features from your client applications much in the same way that Outlook 2010 does with the "IM" and "Call" features within an email.
4. Building Communications Clients with the Lync 2010 Managed API - In this module, you'll learn how to programmatically control Microsoft Lync 2010 from within your applications using an easy to discover, easy to use managed API.
5. Getting Started with Exchange Web Services Managed API 1.0 - In this module, you'll learn how to integrate Exchange 2010 mailbox data such as mail, calendar and task items as well as Exchange 2010 services such as the free-busy service into your applications using an easy to discover and easy to use managed API.
6. Getting Started with Unified Communications Managed API 3.0 - In this module, you'll get started with the basics of UCMA 3.0 SDK development such as application provisioning, call control, and call transfer.
7. Building Communications Workflows with UCMA 3.0 Workflow SDK - In this module, you'll learn how to use the UCMA 3.0 Workflow SDK to build communications-enabled workflow solutions such as personal virtual assistants.
8. Building Advanced Communications Solutions with UCMA 3.0 - In this module, you'll learn about some of the new capabilities of the UCMA 3.0 SDK, such as back-to-back, conference services, and application endpoint draining.
9. Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010: Architecture and Deployment - In this module, you'll learn about some of the considerations for building and deploying production applications for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2010.

Each module provides a presentation on the topic and hands on labs.

To use this training kit, you’ll need Visual Studio 2010, Lync 2010 and Outlook 2010 installed on your development machine along with the Lync 2010 SDK, UCMA 3.0 SDK and the Exchange Web Services Managed API 1.1.  You’ll also need to be able to connect to Lync Server 2010 and Exchange 2010.