jaybaz [MS] WebLog

I have a few thoughts that I'd like to express about Microsoft's software development before I go. Clearest code wins . Most developers at Microsoft haven't yet learned the incredible value of writing the clearest code possible. Once I saw a someone...

Today is my last day at Microsoft. This morning I bike to work & shower. There's a lunch out with the team. In the afternoon there's an "exit interview". Then I leave early for a doctor's appointment, while I'm still insured. :-) Last night...

This can be useful with Windows Home Server in a number of ways. - If you are building your own WHS in a small case, and don't have a DVD drive, you can transfer the WHS software to a USB flash drive of WHS to install from. - If you are building...

I built my own Windows Home Server box. You can buy some decent pre-built units, but I wanted to build my own. I wanted a small, quiet, low-power device. I was willing to compromise on performance & capacity to get it. I decided that my collection...

Here at Microsoft, when we talk about Windows Home Server, one of the things that comes up pretty often is a question about hosting WHS in a virtual machine under Virtual Server. Most often people want this because they already have one always-on machine...

A picture would be helpful in understanding what this script does. dir $pshome | Select-GraphicalFilteredObject.ps1 -title "Jay's blog is the best!" gives this UI:

This is an enhanced version of a script from Lee Holmes' book Windows PowerShell Cookbook (O'Reilly). The original script takes a pipeline & presents a GUI that lets you select which elements to pass on to the next step in the pipeline. That's unchanged...

I'm quite attracted by the idea of domain-specific languages, but so far I haven't found a satisfactory way to create them. For a while I was writing a lot of MSBuild tasks. I found the programming model for a MSBuild tasks to be a bit awkward. You...

Here's an example of a CMD script that is implemented in PowerShell. @@:: This prolog allows a PowerShell script to be embedded in a .CMD file. @@:: Any non-PowerShell content must be preceeded by "@@" @@setlocal @@set POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS...

To figure out whether virtual memory makes sense, you have to look at the following factors: RAM size Disk size RAM speed Disk speed It's the relationship between these values that matter. (All of these are considered in the context...

In Picking a home PC platform I described my requirements for my ideal home PC platform. I've put together a "system formula" - a list of parts to use when building a machine. The first decision to make is to select a CPU socket. This in turn confines...

In my home, I a bunch of computers. ENVY - used by everyone, has the best CPU, RAM, video card, monitor, etc. WRATH - alternate PC for when ENVY is busy. Usually running Age of Mythology for my 5yo. PRIDE - sits OFF most of the time, but is available...

Eric Gunnerson just posted Properties vs public fields redux... It's no secret that I agree with Eric whole-heartedly on this matter. I've posted about this before as well: http://blogs.msdn.com/jaybaz_ms/archive/2004/04/29/123333.aspx . Fundementally...

In his post by the same name , Ben describe a series of steps required in order to manipulate Virtual Server from PowerShell. I'm still a PowerShell novice, so I decided to use this problem as an opportunity to see if I could make things a little easier...

If you want to use PowerShell, but already have a CMD script that you want to keep, and that CMD script sets environment variables, you're in a pickle. Now I like pickles of all kinds, but Lee can help you get out of this one, with a script that exports...

I was cleaning out some old mail and came across this tip. You can tell it was a long time ago, because it really only matters if you're writing COM objects, something I haven't done in a long, long time. Some parts of Visual Studio use COM as a layer...

At work I've been playing with Windows PowerShell . I could try to describe it, but Wikipedia has already done a better job: Windows PowerShell , previously Microsoft Shell or MSH ( codenamed Monad ) is an extensible command line interface (CLI...

First, go read this article by Joel: Book Review: Beyond Java . He mentions this list, of great advances that have address some accidental difficulties in software: Assemblers Algebraic languages (including Fortran) Structured languages (Algol...

I've been engaged in a bunch of discussion about how to keep your personal data safe at home. I hear a lot of people say they want to build a RAID5 array in a server, and put their family photos on it. I can think of many ways to lose my data: ...

From a previous comment: > A copy of the source tree that exactly matches that test VS. Why IDE unable to keep track versions of sources for me ? Why not embed meta-information in PDB's on how and there to retrieve correct source file version...

Quiet here, huh? Been busy , including a 12 week parental leave . Now that I've been back at work a couple weeks, I can tell you what I've been up to. I'm no longer on the C# or Debugger teams. I have a new gig. The neat thing about working on...

We're at the point in the process for VS2005 where there is basically no work left for devs to do. (The product hasn't shipped yet, but devs are not busy.) Before starting the next product cycle, there are a few things that we're doing differently...

After a few years working on the C# IDE, I have moved to a new job. I am now the development lead for the Visual Studio Debugger . This was Andy 's job before he left to work on Windows Media stuff. This sounds like a bigger change than it is. I have...

There was an interesting Ladybug issue suggesting that we release a Beta 3 & slip VS 2005. This is a politically sensitive issue. It has generated some press , so I want to be careful about what I say here. I'm very glad that Clint took the...

Today I got to present a bug in Developer Division shiproom. I haven't gotten to present since Beta 2, as ScottNo has being doing it for C# all this time. He's doing a fine job, but I get a real rush out of it. I like the feeling of having all the answers...