Communications Sector Conversations

IE 8 Beta 1 demonstrated some very interesting features like Web Slices but it was definately a beta. I uninstalled a few weeks ago because I found myself always in compat mode and I had issue debugging with Visual Studio 2008. The uninstall seemed to...

My teammate Michael Scherotter, aka Synergist, is holding a free half-day Silverlight and WPF Workshop in NYC on 9/3/2008. Check out this link for more details.

In case you were wondering or were not aware, SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 does not ship with Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and is only available as a Web download here .  SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 for devices Windows Installer (MSI) file contains the CAB...

Interested in learning more about Windows Mobile and Windows CE ? Come ask the experts at the monthly chats listed at this link . Scroll down the list to find the next Windows Mobile and Windows CE focused chats. The Windows Mobile focused dev chat is...

When you download SQL 2008 Express, the version available currently does not have tools like SQL Management Studio. The tools will be available soon but if you are like me and cannot wait for the tools to become available, you can use Visual Studio 2008...

I had an opportunity to attend HostingCon at the Navy Pier in Chicago this week. Microsoft was a Platinum Sponsor and had a pretty large booth that included an XBox 360 setup with Rock Band. The hosting community is a fun bunch of folks so it was a great...

I don’t know the authors personally and I don’t work for the publisher----I publish with Apress:-) but I have to say LINQ in Action is one of the best technical books I have read in recent years. LINQ in conjunction with the language enhancements in C#...

This is a follow-on webcast to part one that covered Visual C++ 2008 located here .  In this webcast recorded June 20th, I hosted Bill Dunlap who is a Principal Program Manager for Visual C++.  Bill speaks candidly on what's in store for the...

With all of the emphasize on .NET, a C++ developer might not be feeling the love. C++ is still a first class language in Visual Studio 2008. Microsoft is making big investments in C++ starting with the Visual C++ Feature Pack. On June 13th, I hosted...

I recorded a webcast a while back on what's new in Visual Studio for mobile development.  Here's an abstract for the webcast: Learn how the Windows Mobile developer platform and tools help developers build innovative and secure applications and solutions...

Just a quick post before going on vacation... The DevXTra Editor's Blog has an interesting article with the title "Tech Ed 2008---Unifying Everything". First, the article provides a very good and simple explanation on what Tech Ed has for developers versus...

I have spent a lot of time onsite in the trenches with customers who have both the .NET Platform and the Java/Unix platform. Many of these customers are in the telecommunications industry with a heavy focus on Java/Unix. Given that Unix was born at...

Check out how DiscountASP extended the IIS 7 management console to allow remote administration of customer sites via the IIS 7 Management Console.  In addition to enabling remote administration, DiscountASP also extended the IIS 7 manager by adding...

While at NAB, I spent half of my time manning the Expression Studio pod at the Microsoft booth. I spent the other half of my time manning the TM Forum booth. You may not have heard of the TM Forum before, unless you are in the telco industry. The TM...

So, many of my peers (myself included) in Developer and Platform Evangelism have JVC GZ-HD7 camcorders for customer focused user generated content.  I have received a few questions on the equipment and workflow with this camera so here is what has...

I delivered a webcast on April 23rd covering Windows Server 2008 and PHP that includes a step-by-step demonstration on configuring and testing PHP on Windows Server 2008 as well as integrating PHP with .NET services in IIS 7.  Here is the event overview...

I blogged about this application a while back but it is worth mentioning again because of the improvements in the latest version such as voice recognition and better GPS integration.  I have a new Windows Mobile 6 phone that includes a GPS so I have...

This is a question that comes up from time-to-time as well as connecting to the Internet via the device emulator.  I usually send a quick email with steps but that's dumb.  Instead, I decided I'd write a blog post on it that I can refer customers...

Silverlight.net has most of this content and it can be found there or through web search, but to hopefully save you time here are some quick links / tips: Where to get the tools: http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/ All tutorials/HOLs/Samples...

One question that comes up quite a bit when customers first look at Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and InfoPath 2007 development is "what do I need to get started". Here is a quick summary of steps to get started: InfoPath forms can be submitted...

After a long arduous journey, the update to "Building ASP.NET Server Controls" co-authored by myself and Dale Michalk is published .  I mostly wrote the updated version this time around by myself, which made this a much longer and more...

I know I am being a bit demanding in the above title but it was an amazing set of demos and announcements.  Worth watching for yourself instead of reading about it.  Here is the link . The first 30 minutes or so consists of Ray Ozzie followed...

I downloaded it, tried it, and then purchased a license for SpaceMonger.  This tool is very simple to use but will save me time and money by helping me quickly organize the plethera of drives I have with virtual machines, video content, webcasts...

If you don't know what MIX is you are missing out:-) I'm not saying that because I am presenting:-) Mix is the premier web and user experience technologies conference for Microsoft developers. You can learn more about Mix here . Oh, and if you are attending...

Every year at Microsoft most folks "in the field" (i.e. not in Redmond) have a few training events. For technical folks this usually includes as a minimum a week long regional team offsite where we get together with our sales and services counterparts...