For those of you who are tired of using Notepad or an xml editor in order to configure the BDC The August SharePoint SDK is now available and includes the new BDC Definition Editor. Go to Brian’s blog post to read more about it - http://blogs.msdn.com...

Microsoft just launched Tafiti , an experimental Web site that explores the intersection of two trends: the specialization of search and richer experiences on the Web. Tafiti, which means “do research” in Swahili, demonstrates the types of Web applications...

If you wondered what Dynamic languages are and what it means to have a DLR next to the CLR in .NET, read this blog entry from Scott Guthrie about it. The DLR supports Ruby, Python , Javascript and a new Dynamic VB most of it in pre-alpha stage however...

Have you started pre-testing? Remember, pre-testing is available to help your technical team achieve efficiencies of scale by immediately incorporating requirements for Windows 2008 Server into the current dev cycle, rather than having to go back and...

Some of you have asked how to certify their apps for Windows Server 2008 , formerly known as Longhorn Server. http://www.innovateonwindowsserver.com/LearnBuild.aspx This link will give you access to information about certification, technical requirements...

IBF will be supported until the next version of Office comes along. LoBi is being re-designed and will come in a different form as part of the next Office System version. Today you can develop powerfull OBA's with VSTO 2005 SE , web services, etc . Sharepoing...

Windows Longhorn Server introduces major changes which have the potential to affect Server Applications produced by our ISVs: Impact of the Windows Firewall ON by default: As of Beta 3, LH Server has a symbiotic relationship with the Windows Firewall...

Check out microsoft.com/isv – a portal to help ISVs find the relevant Microsoft business and technical resources they need to develop solutions and grow their businesses. The ISV portal was developed for ISVs, based on feedback from ISVs. We’ll use this...

To those who are tempted to try the new browser, be warned that some serious security risks exist. Of course, its an early test version and all the usual precautions with beta software apply but still, I wonder what kind of dev tools they use on Windows...

Some problems have been reported of ISV trying to get a code signing certificate for WinQual from Verisign , "Site temporarily unavailble .." etc . Use this url to start with and you will be fine . http://www.verisign.com/code-signing/msft-organizational...

We no longer have to twist our brains into correctly pronouncing Windows Server codename "Longhorn" because here is the official name of it and you guessed it all. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx I'v already seen a few very positive...

We just annouced Popfly , a fun & easy way to build and share mashups, gadgets, Web pages, and applications. Popfly consists of two parts: 1. Popfly Creator is a set of online visual tools for building Web pages and mashups without coding. 2. Popfly...

Attend the Labcasts and you will be eligible for winning some software and books http://www.microsoft.com/business/vb2005upgrade/default.mspx The Visual Basic 2005 Labcasts make it easy for you to evaluate Visual Basic 2005 in a convenient and virtual...

Those of you who attended the Windows Server codename "Longhorn" Jumpstart training on april 25th got 2 DVD with the compressed VHD images of the DinnerNow.Net demo. If you extract the base image .vhd and the differencing .vhd and run them with Virtual...

Testing Refund Deadline Extended – The testing fee reimbursement is now being extended from 4-30-07 to 6-30-07 . ISVs must complete testing by 6-30-07 to earn the testing fee reimbursement benefit. Free “Hand Held” Support – Keystone’s free support is...

In case you have not yet received this news . http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2007/04/03/listening-to-your-feedback-expression-and-msdn.aspx Philippe

Interested in knowing what the Microsoft Live Team is developing as next generation cloud services platform ? . Ray Ozzie, David Cutler, David Treadwell, Amitabh Srivastava , Elissa Murphy, Abolade Gbadegesin , are a few names of people involved in this...

Brief Description If you are an ISV and are constantly working on refining your toolset, your frameworks or even your software factory, Check out the april 2007 release of Enterprise Library 3.0 , it includes: Caching Application Block, Cryptography Application...

Here a brief update on the Certified for Windows Vista Logo Program. 4-30-07 ( 21 Business Days Remaining ): ISVs must complete the certification process by 4-30-07 to earn the test fee reimbursement benefit. If you want to certify by 4-30-07 , please...

Clemens Vasters just wrote about WCF/WF perf whitepaper that was published on MSDN, this is really impressive, GONE are the days where web services was synonym to SLOW and TOO MUCH OVERHEAD. WCF is absolutely great Microsoft technology part of .NET Framework...

Congratulations to the MedCalc developers team ! Digimizer 3 from MedCalc has successfully completed certification testing at VeriTest for the Microsoft “Certified for Windows Vista” logo program.This is the second application they submitted which got...

February 28 th marked 90 days that Windows Vista had been available to business customers. Has it been a good or a bad 90 days for security vulnerabilities? Click here to read all the details and download the full report . CSO Online blog link: http:...

Just as a reminder I wanted to inform you that for going through the Vista Logo Certification process we can offer you special assistance from Keystone Strategy. They will guide you through it, be the intermediary with the cerification company , etc....

If you missed Scott Guthrie's presentation on Orcas in Brussels, here is the recorded version. Scott is the General Manager of the Developer Division at Microsoft. Video PodCast Short recap of Orcas : - Target .NET 2.0,3.0 or 3.5 - Major HTML/CSS Designer...

If you develop software that needs to exchange data with other applications you are probably going to use XML . But then what specs and schema should your documents be based on to make it as "open" and as rich as possible ? Check out Open XML. There is...