(This has been cross-posted from the Canadian Developer Connection Blog)

Post by Joey ->

We held a Windows 7 Installfest yesterday as part of the cross-Canada EnergizeIT tour. The idea is pretty simple: invite developers, IT pros and early adopters of all stripes to the Microsoft Canada Headquarters in Mississauga, provide them with DVDs of the Windows 7 beta, walk them through the installation process and show them what the upcoming operating system can do!

We held two sessions on Saturday, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. Both sessions were hosted by IT Pro Evangelist extraordinare Rick Claus, who with his signature Tilley hat and friendly delivery style ran them with great fanfare and high praise from many participants. Rick gave a quick presentation walking the crowd through the basics of the installation process, demonstrated a number of Windows 7 features and covered other topics such as creating a bootable USB stick with a Windows 7 installer.

The event wouldn’t have been possible without the able assistance of our proctors. They were volunteers from the local IT community who believed in Windows 7 so much that they were willing to spend a Saturday morning and afternoon helping people install a beta version on their computers. Thanks, guys – without your help, we would’ve been swamped!

I was also there for both sessions, helping Rick out as well as doing my own demonstrations showing all kinds of software than ran “right out of the box” on Windows 7, from Visual Studio 2008 and XNA (I showed them my incredibly simple and incredibly dumb prototype for a game based on the move Zardoz), to Far Cry 2 to the music synthesizer/production app FL Studio, which I used to build a hip-hop backbeat on the fly.

Also present was IT Pro Evangelist Damir Bersinic, who along with Anne Murakami and Cristina Ferreira from our partner company Maritz Canada, made sure that everything ran smoothly, from making sure that the room was set up to signing in the attendees to getting not just enough mini-burgers to feed the crowd, but also enough to haunt Rick’s dreams for the next week.

Most of the people who came brought laptop computers. A couple brought netbooks. Some people who really wanted Windows 7 brought desktop systems, and they weren’t tiny ones, either! Here’s one that got brought in, complete with a decent-sized monitor and webcam! The system was so new that it still had all the feature stickers on it.

The “Flashy Chassis” award goes to this guy, whose pimped-out enclosure got a lot of oohs and ahhs. Speaking as a guy who walks around town and tech conferences with an accordion on his back, I applaud personal expression of all kinds and salute this gentleman with a filet mignon on a flaming sword! I plan to build a gamer/music studio PC rig at some point, and you’d better believe it’s going to be at least this decked out:

Ages ago, a full two years before The Empire hired me, they sent me an Acer Ferrari 1000 as part of program to get prominent Canadian bloggers interested in Vista. I still have it…

…but it no longer has Vista. Under Windows 7, it feels a little snappier. I plan to use the machine, which is now a couple of years old and whose specs are a bit lower than than developer-grade laptops that The Empire provides me, as a “reality check” device, where I’ll test applications that both Microsoft and I develop.

I never thought I’d see the day when people would get jazzed about an upcoming Windows operating system, never mind sign up in droves to get their hands on a pre-release version, but that’s just what happened. The room was filled with geek love and techno-lust for Windows 7.

It was also great to meet new people and make new connections with the tech community at large, and they in turned seemed quite happy to meet some of the actual human faces that make up Microsoft. When we asked the audience if they’d like to see more Saturday events like this, they responded with a resounding “YES!”, and we’re keeping that in mind as we plan events for 2009 and beyond.

All in all, the Toronto Area Windows 7 Installfest was a lot of fun, and from where I stand, it was a great success! Thanks to everyone who attended and helped out!

Take Back The Net is one of the coolest things we do at Microsoft Canada….. it’s all about raising awareness of online safety.  If you have kids or know someone who does check it out here.

“It's time to TAKE BACK THE NET and join forces with your children — or if you are someone's child, help your parents — so that we can all explore the Internet safely. This site has been created to help you work together to make everyone's online experiences as safe as possible. Read on to find out about how easy it is to stay safe online while ensuring everyone continues to have a rewarding and fun time.”

(This is part 4 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here)

Here is the final part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 4 – Certifications Aren’t Worth It”. 

Say what you want about IE, the product team has pulled together this really funny video about the “history of the Net”…..  I particularly like the “developer” chant.  :-)

(and for the record, you really should give IE8 a try…. it’s a whole new ballgame for us)

There are a bunch of shorter video out-takes posted here as well.

You might also want to read Joey’s post “You, Silverlight and Internet Explorer 8: A Hot Threesome of Browsing Fun”

(This is part 3 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here)

Here is the second part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 3 – I have to leave to stay employed”.  Check it out, let me know what you think.

(This is part 2 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here)

Here is the second part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 2 - There aren’t enough Skilled IT people in Canada”.  Check it out, let me know what your thoughts on the topic are.

Working in today’s IT industry comes with a variety of challenges, especially in these tough economic times.  Jobs are becoming more complex, employers expectations are high and employees need more than just technical skills to grow their careers.  I had a chance to sit down with Shane Schick from itWorldCanada to discuss the state of the IT Profession in Canada.  We discussed several “myths” and industry perceptions on the IT skills shortage and lack of IT talent in Canada.

We chatted about what the IT industry as a whole can do to help close the gap between employers and employees expectations.  The key is driving the right demand for IT skills, while meeting this demand with the right supply of talent.  We also highlighted some of the things that Microsoft Canada is doing to address these issues – such as Techdays, EnergizeIT and the Ignite Your Career Series.

Shane and I divided our chat into the discussion of 4 “IT profession myths”.  Shane even had actual comments from his readers that we used as the focal point of the discussion.

Here is the first part of the series, titled “IT Doesn’t Matter” (in Silverlight).  Check it out, let me know what your thoughts on the topic are.

I will post parts 2, 3 and 4 later this week.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the IT skills shortage. According to the Information and Communications Technology Council, from 2008 to 2015, Canadian employers will need to recruit as many as 178,800 technology workers. But based on their projections we’ll likely fall short of hiring requirements in a number of areas.

This is true outside of Canada as well, so it was great to hear Bill Gates today announce the expansion of the DreamSpark program.

If you haven’t already heard of DreamSpark, it's all about giving students access to Microsoft developer and design tools at no charge. The best part is that, as of today, more students than ever can take advantage - originally geared to college and university students, we just made DreamSpark available for high school students as well.

Over the years I’ve seen my share of Imagine Cups and other locally sponsored code awards, and seen students develop some amazing stuff. They have the smarts, the passion and the drive, and DreamSpark is really about giving them the resources they need to take their skills to the next level.

If you read my blog you know that I believe that we all need to step it up when it comes to innovation, an area where despite some impressive examples, Canada still tends to lag. This makes initiatives like DreamSpark even more important because the next generation of innovators are critical to ensuring the strength of local software economies across Canada.

To learn more or sign-up a school, visit the DreamSpark site. Looking forward to seeing students get a head start on their careers, especially given the increasingly competitive environment the recession has created. But that’s a whole other discussion.

(If you are a high school student doing something cool with our development tools, please leave a comment and tell me about it!)

Here is some press from today -

And here is a video of BillG discussing Dreamspark & students from Channel8 -

Check out Liam Lahey’s article over at echannelline titled “User experience is the driving force of innovation: Microsoft Canada”.  This is another piece coming out of MIX09 with a Canadian focus.

“With the kickoff of the MIX09 conference in Las Vegas underway, here at home Microsoft Canada took the opportunity to trot out a couple of customer success stories as it pertains to Microsoft's vision of software-plus-services and its shiny, new browser: Internet Explorer 8.

While speaking about the 'power of the desktop and devices', Daniel Shapiro, product manager, Microsoft Canada, said software-plus-services is all about combining the desktop with the ubiquity and flexibility of the Web.“

Read More - http://www.echannelline.com/canada/story.cfm?item=DLY031809-3

Another good Canadian focused article coming out of MIX09 is in the news:

Microsoft releases Expression Blend 3 - Canadian-based solution provider uses Expression Blend tool for Canada Post office outlet solution

3/19/2009 10:11:00 AM By: Maxine Cheung

“During its MIX09 conference held in Las Vegas yesterday, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MFST) announced its Expression Blend 3 Preview product. Innovapost, a Toronto-based IT solutions and services provider, used this interactive design tool to create a solution for Canada Post office outlets across the country.

Microsoft's Expression Blend 3 Preview is aimed at improving the workflow and productivity of designer and developers within an organization. Tracy Alburger, solutions delivery director at Innovapost, said the company worked with Microsoft solutions such as Expression Blend and Visual Studio 2008 to help develop and create a solution for Canada Post office outlets, many of which are located in Shoppers Drug Mart stores across the country.”

Read More Here: http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=52472

Head over to http://live.visitmix.com/ and watch it…. seriously, it’s great.

“Microsoft Corp. revealed the beta version of Silverlight 3.0 and previewed Expression Blend 3 at its MIX09 conference in Las Vegas. Rich-Internet Applications from Canadian customers CTV, Workopolis.com, and Innovapost”

Read More:

http://www.itworldcanada.com/a/Daily-News/e77ebf46-1728-4b99-9434-05ae5063b702.html

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20090317/hd_beta_announced_090317/20090317/

High definition streaming video is now just a click away for online viewers across Canada.

CTV.ca, Canada's online destination for news, sports and entertainment, is bringing high definition video to the computer screens of Canadians with the launch of the CTV HD Beta Player.

CTV becomes the first Canadian network to deliver HD quality content on the web.

• CLICK HERE to watch the CTV HD Beta Player

The CTV HD Beta Player will allow fans of Canada's #1 original comedy "Corner Gas" and hit CTV police drama "Flashpoint" to catch every minute of action in clear, HD streaming video format from the comfort of their home computer. "Malawi's Song," CTV's first-ever, made-for-digital production, will also be available for viewing on the HD Player. The initiative is part of a beta program being conducted in connection with industry leaders Microsoft and Akamai Technologies. In addition to providing CTV and its partners with an opportunity to experiment with HD technology online, the player will also be leveraged to solicit feedback from users that can be used in the future development of the player.

"Being the first Canadian network to offer high definition video online is a reflection of our ongoing efforts to evolve the online space," said Stephan Argent, CTV's Vice-President, Digital Media. "The CTV HD Beta Player allows us to raise the bar even higher in our commitment to delivering premium online content to Canadians on their terms. Experimenting with this technology and incorporating the valuable feedback we receive from our audience will be an excellent learning initiative for us and provide us with significant insights as to how HD video can enhance the overall user experience."

The CTV HD Beta Player will run parallel with the industry-leading CTV video player which, in combination with stellar programming and best-of-breed technology, led to doubling video streams for Canada's online network throughout 2008, a reflection of Canadians' growing appetite for high quality online content.

The HD player will run on a new streaming video innovation called Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, the latest in streaming video technology to come from industry leaders Microsoft and Akamai. This technology is different because it adapts stream quality based on a user's connection speed - so consumers with varying bandwidth connections can experience HD quality streaming with instant start-up times and no buffering. It will mark the first time the technology is being used in Canada.

"We're proud to support the CTV HD Beta Player and help CTV bring stunning HD quality TV programs to Canadians." said Mark Relph, Vice President, Developer Tools and Platform, Microsoft Canada. "It's another demonstration of how Microsoft Silverlight is helping leading Canadian companies deliver an unparalleled online viewing experience to their users."

Powered by Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 Smooth Streaming Technology, Microsoft Silverlight and Akamai's AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight, this solution enables CTV to deliver a high fidelity online viewing experience for the consumer with instant start up times and no buffering.

"Akamai is pleased to be a part of this initiative to bring premium HD programming to CTV.ca," said Tim Napoleon, chief strategist, Digital Media at Akamai. "We believe that Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming has the potential to change the way consumers experience higher quality video online. Showcasing these popular Canadian shows with adaptive streaming is just another step in our long-standing relationship with CTV as they push the envelope to bring viewers the most rewarding viewing experience via the most advanced technology possible."

The trial will run through the end of August and provide access to the full seasons of both "Corner Gas" and "Flashpoint." The CTV HD Beta Player can be viewed at:

http://hdbeta.ctv.ca

National Forum for Women in Technology Builds Momentum with Microsoft Canada and Launch of BC Chapter
CATA WIT Expands its Support to Women in Technology in Challenging Economic Times

Vancouver, March 17 2009 - The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance - Women in Technology (CATA WIT) Forum, today announced Microsoft Canada as its newest national sponsor as well as the launch of its BC chapter. Microsoft Canada's support along with CATA WIT BC will provide more value to women who join the national, community-based network committed to helping women excel in Canada's advanced technology and bio-tech sectors.

"We are pleased to support CATA WIT's endeavors at both a national and regional level," said Mark Relph, Vice-President, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft Canada. "Microsoft Canada actively encourages women to join the IT industry, and as a corporation that values diversity in the workforce, we will continue to help technical professionals realize their full potential through connections and programs designed to make a positive difference in their professional and personal endeavors."

Through Microsoft Canada's sponsorship, CATA WIT Forum will extend its reach to Microsoft's vast network of customers as well as leverage a Microsoft-based technology platform to bring additional services to CATA WIT Forum's members.

"The launch of the BC chapter with the support of national companies like Microsoft further expand our efforts as an advocator and support network for women in technology." said Joanne Stanley, Co-Founder and Managing Director of CATA WIT Forum. "With 2009 promising to be a challenging year economically, we believe investment in and support for women in technology is a key for Canada's economic advantage."

The new BC chapter is co-chaired by Joanne Hausch, Associate Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP and Tabitha Creighton, Strategy Practice Lead, KnowledgeTech. CATA WIT BC will hold its first public event in June in Vancouver. For more details visit: http://www.catawit.ca.

The other national partners of CATA WIT Forum are Merrill Lynch, MTS Allstream, NRC's Industrial Assistance Program, Helix Commerce International, Highroad Communications, Information Communications Technology Council, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, and Status of Women Canada.

This year we brought together the MSDN and Technet Canada awards to create the IgniteIT Awards.  This is a special award in Canada as it recognizes the hard work and innovation of the members of our IT community across Canada.

The submission periods is close and now we are on to the Voting phase.  It’s all about the community making your voice heard: who are the top IT leaders.

A few details:

• The Ignite IT Awards Voting Phase happens throughout the entire month of March, closing on March 31.
• Through a random draw, participants could win 1 of 10 4GB Microsoft Zunes just for voting
• The community can vote for the top 5 Developer submissions and the top 5 IT Professional submissions. Microsoft judges will then select the winners from those finalists.
• Voters can vote for as many of their favourite submissions as they’d like, but they can only vote for the same submission once a day.
• Voters can vote for their own submission.

Prizes will be awarded in May 2009. WINNERS RECEIVE:

Developer or
Developer Team of the Year

• Prize of $5,000
• MSDN Code Awards Crystal Trophy

IT Professional or IT Professional Team of the Year

• Prize of $5,000
• TechNet Innovation Awards Crystal Trophy

The top 5 Developers and top 5 IT Professionals receive:

• A Microsoft Software Kit including a full edition of Visual Studio Pro - an approximate value of $1,000

We’ve launched a great new set of webcasts called “Ignite Your Career”.  It’s all focused on helping Canada’s ICT professionals be a successful as possible.  So, it’s all about you.  We’ve pulled together 6 great topics and a set of awesome guest speakers.  If you head to the site you will see a list of the sessions and a nice video from yours truly talking about the sessions.

Here is the official pitch:

“Welcome to the Ignite Your Career Webcast Series. The goal of this Webcast series is to support your career development by bringing together experts in the Canadian ICT industry to provide insights and to answer your questions. This year, we have broadened the range of topics and are reaching out to all sorts of audiences – it doesn't matter if you manage infrastructure, development, or IT architects.”

Everything is both live and on-demand…. so you can be a part of the conversation or watch/download it later.

You definitely should read Rick’s post here about how the sessions are being run.

Series Line-up

Industry Insights and Trends - Tuesday, March 3rd - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

Discovering Your Trusted Resources - Tuesday, March 10th - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

How to Establish and Maintain a Healthy Work/Life Balance - Tuesday, March 17th - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

How to Become a Great Leader - Tuesday, March 24th - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

Building, Managing and Strengthening Your Team - Tuesday, March 31st - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

Women in IT Panel Discussion - Tuesday, April 7th - 12PM-1PM EST REGISTER NOW

There is a good post here about the Women in IT session and Shane at itWorldCanada also blogs about the first webcast here.

I had the chance to chat with Briony Smith at itWorldCanada.  She was doing an article on Cloud computing and the article appears here.

We discussed how the Cloud is evolving, Microsoft’s views on how software will be built in the future, our Software + Services Strategy, Azure, Office Live, Interoperability and the downside of the “pure play” vendors.

Thanks to Briony for taking the time to chat with me.

<< This is a repeat of a post from our new Microsoft Canada Corporate Citizenship Portal >>

Internet Safety - Microsoft Canada and Youthography Online Safety Survey

Posted Feb 24 2009, 11:00 PM by Microsoft Canada Co.

Filed under: Internet Safety, Protecting Canadians Online

As part of Microsoft Canada’s commitment to helping children stay safe online we conduct ongoing research into the online habits of parents and youth.

On February 25, 2009 Microsoft Canada and Youthography released a new survey that provides insight into the way young Canadian ages 9-17 use the Internet.

Education and Awareness

In this, Microsoft Canada's fourth iteration of online safety research, we found that youth rely on the Internet to communicate with friends and family, research information for homework and play games. We also discovered that parents are becoming more engaged in their children’s online activities and take measures to ensure their kids are safe online, such as locating the computer in visible locations like the family room or kitchen, rather than in a child’s room.

Despite this high level of awareness and parental engagement, some youth still engage in risky online behaviour including posting personal information, seeking out adult content and cyberbullying.

Microsoft uses research like this to strengthen our many programs to educate Canadians about the incredible benefits of technology and the Internet, and to help parents and children help keep youth safe online. To view press materials from the launch of the Microsoft Canada and Youthography online safety survey, please click here.

To see a comprehensive list of the Microsoft Canada and Youthography’s research findings, please download our fact sheet: Microsoft Canada - Youthography Survey Fact Sheet.pdf

To watch coverage of the resarch findings on CTV's Canada AM this morning click here and select "Microsoft rep on how kids use the Internet" under the CTV VIDEO PLAYER section.

Video commentary on the survey results:

Over on Ryan’s blog he details some news about the new 25GB storage for Skydrive (our personal storage in the cloud service) and an update on Hotmail’s storage limits (now gone!)

Check it out at his post:  Did you know Skydrive is now 25 GIGABYTES of free online storage and Hotmail is now “ever growing”

If you haven’t already, check out the Ontario in the Creative Age report released last week by Richard Florida and Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management. It’s focused on Ontario, but it applies to every major city in Canada.

It’s fascinating stuff, but also in-depth. Simply put it discusses how Ontario needs to develop an economy based on creative industries, and focus less on traditional, “routine” jobs. To get there, Florida and Martin say we must follow the 3T’s – tolerance, talent and technology.

Hard to argue Canada’s diversity, so in their view we have the tolerance part covered. When it comes to talent we’re better than average, but “Ontario trails leading peer states by a wide margin” on education attainment, according to Florida and Martin. They point out that 37 per cent of people in Massachusetts, for example, work in creative occupations, versus 30 per cent here. So good, but not great.

On the flipside, Ontario shines in technology – at least to a point. High tech employment numbers here are among the biggest in North America. But we still lag in innovation, as seen by the relatively low number of patents. As the report states, talent attracts technology, and vice versa – so both are crucial to building a revitalized economy, and it’s hard to excel in one without the other.

I agree with Florida and Martin – we need to focus continue focusing on innovation. The changes have already started, and it’s time to get ready.

The report also puts a whole new light on the Ignite IT Awards (have you nominated yet?). Making Ontario – and Canada – a better place to live starts with showcasing our creativity. Looking forward to seeing this year’s submissions, and celebrating creativity.  Here’s one great example – a solution that helps track wildfires .

To play our part, my team and I remain focused on supporting innovation and building skilled talent.  This includes the work we do with schools like Waterloo, at events like Mesh, supporting startups with BizSpark and with our programs like EnergizeIT and Techdays.

Here are my slides for the Cloud Conference.  I wish I had more than 15mins, but I will take what I can get.  Let me know if you have questions.

I will be posting additional notes, answers to questions and key links after the presentation.