November, 2012

We’re happy to announce that we have released the final version of this free ebook. FREE DOWNLOAD FORMATS: PDF Introducing Windows 8- An Overview for IT Professionals - PDF ebook Mobi Introducing Windows 8-An Overview for IT Professionals – Mobi format for Kindle ePub Introducing Windows 8-An Overview for IT Professionals – ePub format If you prefer a hard copy of the final book, you can order it here for $14.99 from our official distributor, O’Reilly Media. Is this book for you? Get a headstart evaluating Window 8—guided by a Windows expert who’s worked extensively with the software since the preview releases. Based on final, release-to-manufacturing (RTM) software, this book introduces new features and capabilities, with scenario-based insights demonstrating how to plan for, implement, and...

In case you missed this on the Born to Learn blog, this is a great offer:   Ready to prove or acquire Windows Apps skills? Here are 4 ways to prepare for the demand: Free Exam - Get a free voucher to take exam 70-480: Programming in HTML5 w/ JavaScript + CSS3. Find the voucher code. http://aka.ms/HTML5OfferMVA Free Training - Want to learn HTML5 or brush up before taking the exam? Sign up to access the free online HTML5 course. http://aka.ms/HTML5OfferMVA Free eBook - Courtesy of Microsoft Press, "Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript"  http://aka.ms/win8apps-ebook Free Events - Microsoft Learning Partners are holding #TechShowcase events around the world. Find and attend one near you: http://aka.ms/TechShowcase

We’re happy to announce the availability of Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (ISBN 9780735673106)! Written by Mitch Tulloch, this book helps enterprise administrators build their skills in the area of deploying and managing Windows Server 2012 core services. Readers develop their real-world skills and maximize their on-the-job performance via the book’s many lessons, exercises, and suggested practices. In addition, readers can use this Training Guide as a learning resource, along with on-the-job experience, to help them prepare for the 70-410 exam. Purchase your copy today here or here . In today’s post, please enjoy an excerpt from Chapter 6, “Network administration.” Chapter 6 Network administration The network is the foundation of an organization’s information...

I hear from a lot of you each week asking how to keep up with our free ebook announcements and updates to new versions. I thought I might write this post to give some handy tips. Hope you find it valuable. 1) RSS - Subscribe to our RSS feed (located on the right-hand side of the blog home page) and we’ll always write new posts whether the ebook is new or updated. 2) Tag Cloud - We also have a tag cloud on the right side of our blog page where you can find “ebooks” as a tag. All of our free ebooks are tagged this way. I use the tag cloud all the time to check on our posts for free ebooks. 3) Summary Post - I keep this post from May 2012 updated with all new ebooks. You’ll see if you click through that it was last updated on Nov 5, 2012. This is a handy catalog...

You can now purchase Windows 8 Inside Out , by Tony Northrup. We’re excited to offer a book that has loads of supplemental videos, accessible from both your print book and your ebook. You’re beyond the basics—so dive right into Windows 8 and really put your PC to work! This supremely organized reference is packed with hundreds of timesaving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and workarounds. It’s all muscle and no fluff. Discover how the experts tackle Windows 8—and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery. Buy your copy from here and here . For a view of the table of contents, please visit this previous blog post . Here is an excerpt from Chapter 17, "Creating a Home Theater PC": Chapter 17 Creating a Home Theater PC Chapter 14, “Music...

We’re happy to announce that CLR via C#, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9780735667457) has shipped to the printer! Written by programming expert Jeffrey Richter, a longtime consultant to the Microsoft .NET Framework team, this popular title has been fully updated for the .NET Framework 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012. Like the previous editions, this is an engaging read that provides deep insights into developing robust, reliable, and responsive apps and components. Anyone looking to sharpen and deepen their knowledge of C#—and take their career to the next level—should read this book. It’s also for those wanting a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of the .NET Framework architecture, runtime environment, and other key topics like asynchronous programming and the new Windows Runtime, as well as for...

We’re happy to announce that Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 (ISBN 9780735673106) has shipped to the printer! This book—Microsoft Press’s first offering in the newly-created Training Guide series—will be available at retail stores by the end of the month. Preorder your copy here , here , or here . If you’re an IT professional with a few years’ experience administering previous versions of Windows Server and you need to upgrade your skills to support Windows Server 2012 in your workplace, this is the book for you. It provides detailed technical information as well as practice exercises to help you prepare for deploying, managing, and maintaining servers running Windows Server 2012. This book also includes most of the topics and skills covered in the Microsoft certification...

Here’s the 20th post in our series of guest posts by Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs). (Click the “MVPs” tag in the right column to see the rest.) Since the early 1990s, Microsoft has recognized technology champions around the world with the MVP Award . MVPs freely share their knowledge, real-world experience, and impartial and objective feedback to help people enhance the way they use technology. Of the millions of individuals who participate in technology communities, around 4,000 are recognized as Microsoft MVPs. You can read more original MVP-authored content on the Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog . This post is by Jeremy Likness . Thanks, Jeremy! The end of October 2012 marked a major set of milestones for Microsoft’s mobile computing story. Consumers learned about the availability...

Greetings, everybody. This is a quick note to tell you that we’ve updated the companion content for Kraig Brockschmidt’s free ebook Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript . So download the companion content again if you’ve already got it: http://go.microsoft.com/FWLink/?Linkid=270057 (59.9 MB) Here are the details of the update from Kraig: This update fixes one bug in the HereMyAm examples for Chapters 8, 9, 13, and 17 in the file pages/home/home.js. The one line within the updateImage function: app.sessionState.fileToken = list.addOrReplace(app.sessionState.fileToken, newFile); is replaced with list.addOrReplace(app.sessionState.fileToken, newFile); This corrects a bug where transient session state was preserved across the suspend...

We are happy to let you know that we have posted sample chapters of Professional Scrum Development with Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 (ISBN 9780735657984), by Richard Hundhausen, to the Microsoft download center here . To purchase a full copy you can order here or here . To support an independent bookstore, order here .

We’re pleased to announce that Exam Ref 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 (ISBN 9780735673045) ,by JC Mackin, has shipped to the printer. Prepare for Exam 70-417—and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of Windows Server 2012 core infrastructure services. Microsoft Exam 70-417 is an upgrade exam that is a composite of three standalone exams: 70-410, 70-411, and 70-412. Exam 70-417 validates skills related to the core technology features and functionality of Windows Server 2012, from the existing knowledge base of a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows Server 2008. The Exam Ref is organized by exam objectives and features challenging, what-if scenarios that focus on the critical skills and knowledge measured by the certification...

We’re excited to announce the availability of CLR via C#, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9780735667457) by Jeffrey Richter! This is a must-have title for developers who want a deep understanding of the tools they’re using and the concepts they’re employing. Learn why C# is the way it is by reading Richter’s deft explanation of how the common language runtime (CLR) works and the facilities that it offers, and about the core parts of the Framework Class Library (FCL). Purchase your own copy here or here . In today’s post, please enjoy an excerpt from Chapter 21, “The Managed Heap and Garbage Collection.” For an excerpt from the Introduction and a look at the book’s contents, take a look at this previous post . Chapter 21 The Managed Heap and Garbage Collection (excerpt) In this chapter, I’ll discuss how...

We are very happy to announce that Windows 8 Inside Out (ISBN 9780735663817), by Tony Northrup, has gone to the printer. Not only will this book give you some crazy-good information on using Windows 8, it includes access to 50 videos in which Tony provides 2.5 hours worth of supplemental lessons and training. This book will be shipped to retailers in just a few weeks. In the meantime, preorder your copy here and here . Here are the Contents at a glance and an excerpt from the Introduction. Contents Part 1: Getting started Chapter 1 What’s new in Windows 8 Chapter 2 Using Windows 8 apps Chapter 3 Buying and installing Windows 8 Chapter 4 Upgrading and migrating to Windows 8 Chapter 5 Personalizing Windows 8 Chapter 6 Adding, removing, and managing apps Chapter 7 Using...

I’ve been chatting with several avid readers about our new certification portfolio that includes Training Guides and Exam Refs (see Where’s my Training Kit for Windows? ). Today we can share news about an additional offering we hope will benefit you. With our new “Microsoft prePress” program, you can order and receive the ebook version of upcoming Microsoft Press titles—as they are being written! When you order the ebook form of a Microsoft prePress title, you get immediate access to all available chapters. We'll post batches of chapters fresh from the oven so that you can get an early look. You’ll have to forgive a few errors and typos along the way—but they can help you get a headstart working with new technologies, topics, and skills. Next, you...

We just posted the links to download the Mobi and ePub formats of Introducing Windows 8: An Overview for IT Professionals You can find the links in the blog post here:  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2012/11/13/free-ebook-introducing-windows-8-an-overview-for-it-professionals-final-edition.aspx

Greetings, everyone. Charles Petzold is writing his final chapter, Chapter 19, “Pen (AKA Stylus)”; Marc Young, the book’s Technical Reviewer, is reviewing Chapter 17, “Share and Print”; and I’m wrapping up my edit of Chapter 14, “Bitmaps.” This means we’re looking very very good for publishing the book in January! If you’d like to get draft e-versions of 13 of the book’s chapters now—and save $10 on the final ebook, which you’ll also receive, by doing so— see this post . And remember:  

Meet your favorite SharePoint authors at the Microsoft Press booth at SharePoint Conference next week. http://www.mssharepointconference.com   Sunday, Nov 11 TIME AUTHORS BOOK 7:00 PM Penelope Coventry, Brett Lonsdale, and Phill Duffy Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Business Connectivity Services   8:00 PM Penelope Coventry   Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Step by Step Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 Step by Step         Monday, Nov 12 TIME AUTHORS BOOK 10:30 AM Bill English and Brian Alderman Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administrator's Companion Ben Curry Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administrator's Pocket Consultant 3:15 PM Norm Warren Business Intelligence in Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Andrew Connell   Inside Microsoft SharePoint 2010   Ted Pattison a nd Scot...