Based on feedback and my own need for a theme that'll work for a widscreen and a portrait-oriented monitor, I created another theme. This one is a bit larger to work with a wider variety of resolutions. It also includes 6 more backgrounds. I also changed...

To put these all in one place, here are the links to the Visual Studio 2010 trial editions and .NET Framework 4 downloads on the Microsoft Download Center. .NET Framework 4 .NET Framework 4 - Web Install .NET Framework 4 - Redistributable .Net Framework...

This is a simple Visual Studio theme I put together for Windows 7 on my laptop. Enjoy! Okay, I think this should be working now. I wasn't able to host a .themepack file directly on this Web server, so it's in a ZIP. Unfortunately, I'm unable to update...

Keybinding reference cards are now available for the following languages in Visual Studio 2010: Visual Basic Visual C++ Visual C# Visual F# You can download them from here: Visual Studio 2010 Keybinding Cards . 1377

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional will launch on April 12, but you can beat the rush and secure your upgrade today by pre-ordering at the affordable estimated retail price of $549, which is a savings of $250 off the full price of $799. As announced...

Short but sweet, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 will launch on Monday, 12 April 2010. 1375

Today is the fifth anniversary of this blog, and I'm sad to say it's been nearly 7 months since I last posted to it. However, it still amazes me how much traffic posts on this blog still get. So much has happened over the past half-decade. Visual Studio...

You can now follow Team System on Twitter: http://twitter.com/microsoftvsts 1373

I used to get questions about using Team System to manage multiple teams working on the same project. Next month (10/16), NetObjectives is holding a webinar ( Webinar: Managing a Multiple Team Project in Visual Studio Team System ) on that very topic...

Reading this list on What Makes a Good Blog , serves to remind me just how much my blog sucks these days. Once upon a time, I think most of the listed attributes applied to this blog. Ah, well. I'm still hoping to get back into the swing of it. 1371

I'm so far behind on reading blogs that I no longer pretend to actively read them. That said, I was on Martin Woodward's blog today to check out his new site design and came across this post he wrote a couple of months ago on software estimation ( Why...

Last week, I had the privilege of writing the Foreword for Sara Ford's forthcoming book, Microsoft Visual Studio Tips , which is based on her popular Visual Studio Tip of the Day blog posts. Whether you're a veteran of multiple versions of Visual Studio...

If you don't have your Strunk & White handy, this covers some of it. Purdue University maintains an online writing lab and I spent some time digging through it. Originally the goal was to grab some good tips that would help me out at work and on this...

My friend and Team System MVP, Mickey Gousset of Notion Solutions , is now co-authoring with Jeff Levinson the "Inside VSTS" column for Visual Studio Magazine Online. Congratulations, Mickey! I would like to introduce everyone to a new author...

Found this post on The Graphic Design Blog over the weekend with links to a lot of great info: Well it took me a lot longer than I had originally expected but I was able to track down the original links to more than thirty PDF documents that I have collected...

In the US, middle school starts with Grade 6. How would seeing stuff like this when you were about 12 years old have influenced your decision to pursue software development as an occupation? I think back on the first computer course I took in the early...

If you're new to Team System, or if you're ready to use Team Foundation Server for more than version control, you should consider attending the Team System preconference course taught by Brian Randell at PDC 2008: Get More Out of Visual Studio Team System...

Interested in sharing your process template? Would you rather use one someone else created? Check out the Templex project on CodePlex, which will serve as a library of process templates for use with Team Foundation Server. Set your templates free! Share...

Just found some really cool content on the Microsoft profile on Facebook for those learning to create applications for the Web and Windows using the free Visual Studio 2008 Express products. Sam used to work with me on my previous team. It looks like...

Andrew Cook just tipped me to this webcast coming later this month. It's always refreshing to see a webcast presented by someone outside of Microsoft. It feels less like an echo chamber, and I'm more likely to hear something I haven't already heard. I...

One of the books I added to my permanent collection earlier this year is Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) by Garr Reynolds . This was around the time I attended VizThink , which filled my head with...

I just received this notice from VizThnk: Mark your calendars to join us on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 for another VizThink webinar. Join Nancy Duarte, presentation guru and designer of the presentation for Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, as we discuss keys...

If you're going to be in the Seattle area next month, or need a reason to be, consider attending the APLN Seattle Leadership Summit at the Edgewater Hotel on July 17 & 18. The theme this year is, “Advancing the Agile Enterprise.” The APLN...

Brian the Build Bunny rocks. :) Great job, Martin! I'm always keen try new and novel ways to keep in touch with the status of my software projects. Fortunately, Team Foundation Server provides many ways to do this. While the Build Wallboard is fun if...

If you installed any Visual Studio 2008 hotfixes and you're now trying to install the SP1 Beta, you should take heed of this note we just added: Note If you previously installed a Visual Studio 2008 Hotfix, you must run the Hotfix Cleanup Utility before...