In line with the todays launch of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, I have collected a set of useful resources and links

Developer downloads

Metro style app developer content

Blogs for developers

Social channels for developers

Desktop app developer/partner content

Hardware developer/partner content

New Updates - What’s new

AppHub Integration: Linking your DreamSpark Account with a Microsoft Live ID

I’m very excited to inform you that we’ve completed our “AppHub Integration: Linking DreamSpark Account with Live ID” 

This will now dramatically improve the experience of those students that were having difficulties with App Hub registration.

With the update to DreamSpark students and educators create a new DreamSpark account that is not a Windows Live ID. However for students who wish to produce application for Xbox or Windows Phone require a Windows Live ID, to create apphub accounts via http://create.msdn.com.

We have now enabled the system, to enable educators or students to map their DreamSpark account to new or existing Windows Live ID. 

Here is the workflow:

- Student/Educator visits the page https://www.dreamspark.com/Product/Product.aspx?ProductId=26 and sees [Map your Live ID] button enabled and [Register on AppHub] button disabled.

- Student/Educator Clicks on [Map your Live ID] button.

- Student/Educator Sign in on DreamSpark site with their Verified account (or get the account verified).

- Student/Educator then logs in using Windows Live ID account.

- Student/Educator is shown the message “Are you sure you want your map your DreamSpark login (name@university.com) with your Windows Live ID (myname@hotmail.com) with [Ok] and [Cancel] buttons.

- Student/Educator clicks on [Ok] button a Accounts will be mapped a User automatically signed out from Live ID account à User will be redirected to the page https://www.dreamspark.com/Product/Product.aspx?ProductId=26 with [Map your Live ID] button disabled and [Register on AppHub] button enabled.

Team Foundation Server and what’s is the benefits of using TFS within your teaching labs?

So what is Team Foundation Server 2010.

Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010 provides the code collaboration functionality for your software development students within a single very integrated product.

These functionality provides

• Project management.
• Work item Tracking.
• Version Control.
• Test case management.
• Build automation.
• Reporting.
• Virtual lab management.

 
TFS is separated server product designed specifically for engineering teams with developers, testers, architects, project managers, system analyst and all others who is part of software development life cycle.

Team Foundation Server on premise consist of two parts can be deployed in single / many machines

• Application tier which is a set of web services with which the client machines communicate by using a highly optimized web service- based protocol.
• Data tier which is a SQL server database containing the database logic of TFS application, all data stored in database is used by TFS reporting functionality.

Team Foundation Server 2010 in the cloud – TFS Preview on Azure

I specifically want to discuss the latest preview release of Team Foundation Server which is available on windows Azure cloud as a SaaS service, allowing to quickly adopt TFS with the minimal infrastructure and administration burden. When we discuss the cloud the first questions are over security, compliance and concerns of source code and IPR. A typical comments we see is “I cannot host my source code in Microsoft or codeplex environment since the information we have is valuable to the institution”. This is a misconception that is common when it comes to the “cloud”. Especially there are a private and public cloud options. If you don’t want your source code out of your network firewall you could use a private cloud SAAS,  use the following Cloud assessment tool http://www.cloudassessmenttool.com/Assessment.aspx

To date we are working with a number of UK Universities in relation to this preview release, and have a number of invitation codes available for UK Academics. We have these codes available for you to validate and use a implementation of  Team Foundation Services in the cloud.

So if your interested in testing this solution please send a request to ukfac@microsoft.com from your academic email. The purpose of this preview and invitation codes are to allow you as academics and teaching institutions to

1. Understand the new process and allows you some time to evaluate and become aware of the opportunity of the cloud.

2. It provides a very simply way of proving this new tool to you. So we want to easily demonstrate that TFS Preview offers a solution to many institutions who are looking for a Cloud Hosted TFS or simply even a source code repository for their team working environment.

3. We hope TFS 2010 will be revolution in all aspects such as (Workflow builds, infrastructure, Lab management, Test manager, work items, SharePoint dashboards, project server integration and student performance monitoring).

What are the benefits

Team Foundation Service Preview enables everyone on your team to collaborate more effectively, be more agile, and deliver better quality software.

• Project management capabilities and improvement in ALM (Agile Project Management).
• Centralize the security administration.
• Team explorer improvements.
• Build improvements.
• Stakeholder Feedback
• Code Review Features.
• Continuous Integration.
• Version control improvements.

How to go about using TFS Preview

• Make sure you are using IE 8 or later.
• Download and install visual studio 2011 developer preview from here or you can use visual studio 2010 SP1 after installing this hotfix KB2581206.
• Open this URL (http://tfspreview.com/)
• Click on create account.

• Click on “Click here to register.” or Enter Invitation Code

• After receiving an email with invitation code continue the process of account creation.
• Open IE and refer to this page https://TFSPREVIENAME.tfspreview.com 

• Register with you Windows Live ID

• Now you are in TFS cloud

Connecting to TFS in the Cloud from Visual Studio 2010

• Ensure you have SP1 for Visual Studio 2010 2010 KB2581206
• Open Visual Studio 2010
• From the start page select Connects To Team Foundation Server.
• Add new server; fill the server name (https://[NAME].tfspreivew.com).

Visual Studio 2011 Beta

If your interested in developing for Windows 8 http://dev.windows.com then you will need to use Visual Studio 2011 which includes a full Windows 8 emulator and Windows 8 Metro solution templates.

You can download and install Visual studio 2011from here

There has been a number of improvements with Visual Studio 2011, I will quickly walk you through connecting Visual Studio 2011 to TFS Preview.

• Open visual studio 2011 developer preview.
• From team explorer connects to Team Foundation Server.

• Here you are this is the new team explorer.

The first thing I will do is create new team project.

A browser window open to create new team project.

• Fill the name ,description and choose the process template. Currently in this version its not possible to customize process template.
• Click create project and wait to finish creating team project.
  

• After finish click Navigate to Project.
• Back to team explorer in the VS 2011 and select created ‘Demo’ team project.
• Click to My Work, as you see below you have list of work items assigned to you and you can quickly do action like ( Finish, Suspend your current work item by move it out of your workspace and into a shelve set)

Normally, if were installing the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 onto a single machine you do it through the web installer located here:

https://www.dreamspark.com/Product/Product.aspx?productid=26

or via Microsoft Download centre at http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=27570

However, if you need to install it on a disconnected machine (VM image) or deploy the SDK to a number of machines within a lab or cluster  it’s helpful to have an .iso of the installation media to install from.

Microsoft also provides a download for the .iso as well. You can get it from here http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=226694

Installing the Windows Phone SDK via ISO

Phone SDK consists of many packages/products and all these are installed on User’s machine as part of Phone SDK installation. Some of these packages are Emulator, XNA, Blend, Visual Studio Add-in for VS Ultimate, etc. Each individual package has got it’s own MSI.

When you extract the ISO (let’s say in dvd folder), you will find Setup.exe at the base level (dvd folder). This is a chainer and invokes all the MSIs one-after-another, the same way you mentioned below. Anyone who wants to install through ISO, should double-click Setup.exe and installation will start. It also gives you the option of Silent install same as MSI (option /q) and thus can be used through automation scripts as well.

WCU\WindowsPhone

This is an important folder which contains most of the package MSIs but they should not be invoked separately. The complete installation is dependent on the sequence in which these MSIs are installed.

Uninstall:

After Uninstall, only Expression Blend entries are left back and this is known. Blend is a separately installed product and many Universities may  therefore have this previously installed, as such we decided not to uninstall Blend in case a licensed version is present on the machine and our uninstall causes any problems with previously installed products.

Summary:

In short, consider Setup.exe as your master MSI and use it in your scripts, everything should work.

Creating an bundled MSI file (This may be requirement for some institutional desktop images)

The creation of MSI is primary used for legacy applications that were written prior to msi technology, and may be unreliable as the "snapshot" technique does not take into account existing software dependencies.

Windows does not natively contain the necessary tools for you to create your own MSI files. Instead, you will have to rely on a third party MSI creation tool. There are several good tools available for free. Two of the more popular choices are MAKEMSI (http://dennisbareis.com/makemsi.htm) and WinInstall LE 2003 (http://www.ondemandsoftware.com/freele.asp).

The reason why .MSI files are the preferred installer package for Windows is because of the file format’s capabilities. When you install or uninstall an MSI file on a machine running Windows 7, Windows creates a system restore point. Furthermore, MSI files allow the application to be “self healing”. I’ll talk more about this later on, but basically this means that if part of the application is damaged or removed, then Windows has enough information to replace the damaged or missing parts. Finally, MSI files allow the system to automatically perform a rollback to its previous state if an installation should fail.

With MSI files having so many capabilities, it should come as no surprise that MSI files tend to be a bit complex. MSI files are actually database files with information pertaining to every file and setting that the application installs or modifies. Because of this complexity, most of the MSI file creation utilities require you to do at least some scripting when you create an MSI file.

WinInstall LE requires you to have a machine with a clean Windows installation and network connectivity. The software then takes a snapshot of this machine and saves the configuration image. You would then install the application that you want to create the MSI file for and take another snap shot. WinInstall would then compare the snapshots and use the differences between the two images to create an MSI file and the corresponding installation package.

This method is a little time consuming, but is far less tedious than writing scripts. Another advantage to using this method is that it is possible to install multiple applications on to the clean machine prior to taking the second snap shot. This means that you can create a single MSI file and installation package that deploys multiple applications.

Publishing and Assigning Applications

Now that you know how to create an MSI file, there is one last concept that I need to talk about before I show you how to deploy an application thorough the Active Directory.

As you may already know, in an Active Directory environment, group policies are the main component of network security. Group policy objects can be applied either to users or to computers. Deploying applications through the Active Directory is also done through the use of group policies, and therefore applications are deployed either on a per user basis or on a per computer basis.

There are two different ways that you can deploy an application through the Active Directory. You can either publish the application or you can assign the application. You can only publish applications to users, but you can assign applications to either users or to computers. The application is deployed in a different manner depending on which of these methods you use.

Publishing an application doesn’t actually install the application, but rather makes it available to users. For example, suppose that you were to publish the Windows Phone SDK tools. Publishing is a group policy setting, so it would not take effect until the next time that the user logs in. When the user does log in though, they will not initially notice anything different. However, if the user were to open the Control Panel and click on the Add / Remove Programs option, they will find that Microsoft Windows SDK is now on the list. A user can then choose to install Microsoft Windows SDK on their machine.

Assigning an application to a user works differently than publishing an application. Again, assigning an application is a group policy action, so the assignment won’t take effect until the next time that the user logs in. When the user does log in, they will see that the new application has been added to the Start menu and / or to the desktop.

Although a menu option or an icon for the application exists, the software hasn’t actually been installed though. To avoid overwhelming the server containing the installation package, the software is not actually installed until the user attempts to use it for the first time.

This is also where the self healing feature comes in. When ever a user attempts to use the application, Windows always does a quick check to make sure that the application hasn’t been damaged. If files or registry settings are missing, they are automatically replaced.

Assigning an application to a computer works similarly to assigning an application to a user. The main difference is that the assignment is linked to the computer rather than to the user, so it takes effect the next time that the computer is rebooted. Assigning an application to a computer also differs from user assignments in that the deployment process actually installs the application rather than just the application’s icon.

Deploying Applications

Setting up the actual deployment is simple. The biggest thing that you must remember is that the MSI file and the corresponding package must exist within a network share, and everyone must have read permissions for that share.

To perform the deployment, open the Group Policy Editor. To publish or assign an application to a user, navigate through the group policy console to User Configuration | Software Settings | Software Installation. Now, right click on the Software Installation container and select the New | Package commands from the shortcut menu. Select the appropriate MSI file and click Open. You are now asked whether you want to publish or assign the application. Make your selection and click OK.

The process for assigning an application to a computer is almost identical. The only real difference is that you would use the Software Settings | Software Installation container beneath the Computer Configuration container rather than beneath the User Configuration container.

We want to your feedback on the DreamSpark service within the UK

We know a lot of you use DreamSpark but we’d like to know a little more about its value to you. So we are running in conjunction with c3education to get a more detailed understanding.

We would like to see if it is helping raise attainment levels for educators and students and get general feedback on the programme. We need this so that we have evidence to share with the public and with journalists interested in the story. The ideal situation would be to establish a baseline for the beginning of the programme and to record impact perhaps twice a year, to check whether we are on track.

From today 21st of February 2012,we have a launched two surveys one for students and one for academics.

Below are the links to each of the questionnaires.

DreamSpark – Academics/Educator Survey https://nerp241b2.questionpro.com

DreamSpark –Student Survey https://nerp241b1.questionpro.com c3education who are operating the survey on our behalf will offer an Xbox 360 and a Kinect sensor to one lucky winner who completes the survey by 29th Feb 2012 and gives us their contact details at the end of the survey. You have to be a UK student. The winner will be drawn at random from all completions who fill in their details in the survey.

Your feedback and assistance, in completing these would be greatly appreciated, We will also share top level results through this blog and our Linkedin group.

Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship 2012

We are pleased to announce the final results of this year’s PhD Scholarship Programme. 

In September 2011, Microsoft Research received 110 PhD applications which were reviewed by 148 internal and external reviewers between October and December 2011. Microsoft Research  have now selected 16 applications that will be funded through Microsoft Research Connections starting in the academic year 2012/13.

Four proposals relate to the new Joint Initiative in Informatics with Edinburgh University.

The selected applications are listed below.

Applicants have already been informed of the decision.

Selected applications

Development of an Executable Model Encapsulating Blood Cell Development from Pluripotent Embryonic Stem Cells
Supervisor: Berthold Gottgens, University of Cambridge
MSR Supervisor: Jasmin Fisher

Incremental and Adaptive Symbolic Execution
Supervisor: Cristian Cadar, Imperial College London
MSR Supervisor: Miguel Castro

Supporting a 'Sense of Home' in Care Homes: an Exploration of Digital Design with People Living with Dementia
Supervisor: Jayne Wallace, Northumbria University
MSR Supervisors: Tim Regan, Siân Lindley

Efficient Approximations for Fast Simulations: Application to Building Designs
Supervisor: Leo Liberti, Ecole Polytechnique
MSR Supervisor: Youssef Hamadi

Inferring From Integrity Constraints Through JavaScript Analysis
Supervisor: Michael Benedikt, University of Oxford
MSR Supervisor: Matt Parkinson

Virtualization and High-Productivity for Many-Cores
Supervisor: Mikel Lujan, University of Manchester
MSR Supervisor: Tim Harris

Automated Design of Revenue-Maximizing Ad Auctions
Supervisor: Mingyu Guo, University of Liverpool
MSR Supervisors: Yoram Bachrach, Peter Key 

LumiConSense
Supervisor: Oliver Bimber, Johannes Kepler University
MSR Supervisors: Shahram Izadi, Otmar Hilliges

Content-based Relevance Estimation on the Web

Supervisor: Oren Kurland, Technion
MSR Supervisors: Filip Radlinski, Milad Shokouhi

Developing Novel Computational Methods to Describe and Predict Human Behaviour in Earth System Models

Supervisor: Paul Palmer, University of Edinburgh
MSR Supervisor: Drew Purves

Dynamic Modelling of HIV Recognition by the Immune System

Supervisor: Peter Coveney, University College London
MSR Supervisor: Neil Dalchau

Systematic Assessment of Uncertainty in Couples Carbon-Nitrogen Cycle Models and their Climate Feedbacks

Supervisor: Sönke Zaehle, MPI for Biogeochemistry
MSR Supervisor: Matthew Smith

Joint Initiative in Informatics with Edinburgh University

Machine Learning Markets
Supervisor: Amos Storkey, University of Edinburgh
MSR Supervisors: Peter Key, Thore Graepel

Statistical Language Processing for Programming Language Text
Supervisor: Charles Sutton, University of Edinburgh
MSR Supervisors: Andy Gordon, Thore Graepel

Machine Learning Methods for Formal Dynamical Systems: a Systems Biology Case Study
Supervisor: Jane Hillston/Guido Sanguinetti, University of Edinburgh
MSR Supervisors: Luca Cardelli, Andrew Phillips

Holistic Evaluation in LINQ
Supervisor: Stratis Viglas, University of Edinburgh
MSR Supervisor: Gavin Bierman

Researchers

The Windows Azure Research Engagement project aims to boost scholarly and scientific research by extending computing to the cloud. We provide a cloud computing platform and work with researchers on projects that push the frontiers of client and cloud computing.

Resources

• About Windows Azure
• FAQ About Azure for Research
• Research Projects

Related Links

• eXtreme Computing Group
• Client Plus Cloud Computing

Quick 3 minute overview videos

• What Is Windows Azure and Why Is It In the Cloud?
• The Windows Azure Development Experience

Hands on Labs, Demos, and Presentations

• Windows Azure Training Kit
• Learn Windows Azure Event Sessions

Contact Us

• Send email to XCG Engagement

Articles

• Innovation via Client Plus Cloud (Dan Reed’s blog)
• Democratizing Research: How “Client Plus Cloud” Computing Can Amplify What’s Possible for Scientists (Microsoft News Center)

Events and Workshops

• Cloud Futures 2012
• Science Cloud 2012
• IEEE Cloud 2012

For more details see http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/community/education/program/overview/

Students

Need access to Windows Azure outside the classroom? Working on a project on cloud computing? Or maybe your master thesis? As a student you can take advantage of the free Windows Azure trial offer and run a Small Windows Azure instance with a 1GB SQL Azure database for 90 days*

Here is what you get (monthly allocations):

• Compute: 750 hours of a Small Compute Instance
• Storage: 20GB with 50k Storage transactions
• Data Transfers: 20GB out / Unlimited inbound data transfer
• Relational Database: 1GB Web Edition SQL Azure database
• Access Control: 100,000 transactions
• Service Bus: 2 connections
• Caching: 128MB cache

Get the free trial

*A Windows Live ID and credit card are required for proof of identity. There is no obligation to purchase at the end of the free trial.

Learning Resources:

Short and interactive learning presentations that provide foundational learning

• Introduction to Microsoft Windows Azure Platform
• Windows Azure Platform and Interoperability
• SQL Server 2012 Cloud On Your Terms

Windows Azure - Step by Step Book

Ideal for those with fundamental programming skills, this tutorial provides practical, learn-by-doing exercises for mastering the entire Windows Azure platform.

Order Now

For more details see http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/community/education/program/overview/

Educators

Microsoft provides grants for educators wanting to use Windows Azure platform in their curricula. These grants are facilitated through Windows Azure academic passes, which provide the following resources for a period of 5 months from the date of redemption:

Windows Azure

• 2 small compute instances
• 3GB of storage
• 250,000 storage transactions
• 100,000 Access Control transactions
• 2 Service Bus connections

SQL Azure

• Two 1GB Web Edition database

Data Transfers

(Per Region)

• 3 GB in
• 3 GB out

Apply for a grant

Grant applications are designated for faculty who are teaching Windows Azure in their curricula as well as faculty preparing to integrate Windows Azure into their curricula. Educator Grant awards are subject to demand and availability.

To apply for an Educator Grant please contact AzureU@Microsoft.com and provide us with:

• Your name
• Your email contact
• Institution/University name
• Course name
• Course description
• Number of students in your course
• Number of Windows Azure platform academic passes needed
• Date when passes will be used

Apply Today!

Windows Azure Educator Grants FAQs

Q: What are the Windows Azure Educator grants?

A: The Windows Azure Education Grants are focused on enabling educators to easily leverage the benefits of the Windows Azure platform for curriculum development and teaching. Through these grants, educators can obtain easy access, with no Credit Card required, to the Windows Azure platform for an extended period of time at no cost for themselves and their students. Access to the Windows Azure platform is made possible through 5 month Windows Azure platform academic passes. Educator Grants may be available up to the number of students within the course, dependent on the volume of requests, pass availability, and the needs of the course.

Q: What resources are available through the Windows Azure platform academic pass?

A: Each 5 month Windows Azure platform academic pass provides the following resources:

Windows Azure
2 small compute instances
3GB of storage
250,000 storage transactions

SQL Azure
Two 1GB Web Edition database

AppFabric
100,000 Access Control transactions
2 Service Bus connections
Data Transfers (per region)
3 GB in
3 GB out

1 Hosted Service

Q: What is the Gifting Letter and who needs to sign this?

A: If you are granted a Windows Azure Educator Grant, we require that you sign a “Gifting Letter” in order to ensure compliance with all applicable government gift and ethics rules, which restrict/prohibit government employees. Your ethics officer, (or designated executive/office responsible for your organization’s gifts/ethics policy), or responsible attorney should review and sign this letter.

Q: How do the Windows Azure platform academic passes get redeemed?

A: Each Windows Azure platform academic pass is redeemable through http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/community/education/program/educators/ If you receive an Educator Grant we will send you a PowerPoint deck which will guide you and your students through the easy process of redeeming these passes.

Q: Why is Microsoft offering this?

A: A large percentage of the academic community has developed curricula materials leveraging the Windows Azure platform for teaching Cloud-centric courses. We are experiencing an increase in demand from the academic community for access to the Windows Azure platform. Windows Azure Educator Grants allows us to enable even more members of the academic community to leverage the Windows Azure platform within their courses.

Q: Are Windows Azure Educator Grants available globally?

A: Windows Azure Educator Grants are available worldwide.

Q: Is there an available education discount program for the Windows Azure platform?

A: At this time, we do not offer education discount pricing for the Windows Azure platform.

Q: Who can apply for a Windows Azure platform Educator Grant?

A: Educators at accredited academic institutions can apply for the Windows Azure Educator Grants.

Q: How do I apply for a Windows Azure platform Educator Grant?

A: Applying for a Windows Azure platform academic pass is easy. Simply go to http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/community/education/program/educators/

We will ask you for the following information:

· Your name
· Your email contact
· Country
· Institution/University name
· Course name
· Course description
· Number of students in your course
· Number of Windows Azure platform academic passes needed
· Date when Windows Azure platform academic passes will be used

Q: What factors will Microsoft consider when determining who will receive a Windows Azure Educator Grant?

A: Windows Azure Educator Grants will be awarded based on factors such as purpose of use, number of passes required, and timing requirements for usage of the passes.

Q: I am a student. Can I apply for a pass?

A: Windows Azure Educator Grants are only valid for valid faculty. If your faculty has been awarded a Windows Azure Educator Grant, you will be able to get a pass through him/her for you coursework. If you are interested in learning more about the Windows Azure platform, we encourage you to share these Educator Grants with your faculty or leverage the FREE 90-day trial offer at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/

Q: Does my Windows Azure platform academic pass expire?

A: Yes. The Windows Azure platform academic pass will expire 150 days after it has been activated. You will be receiving email notifications when the expiration date is close, and you will have the opportunity to migrate your data to a paid Windows Azure platform subscription, if you want to continue on using the Windows Azure platform.

Q: What happens to my data application when my pass expires?

A: Shortly prior to the expiration date you will have the opportunity to migrate your data to a paid Windows Azure platform subscription. All of your data will be erased when your pass expires. If you choose to not migrate your Windows Azure account to a paid account, please be sure to back up your data.

Q: Do I have to use a credit card to redeem my pass?

A: No. You do not need to use a credit card to redeem your pass activate your Windows Azure account.

Learning Resources:

Curricula Resources

• Introduction to Cloud Computing
• Cloud Computing with Windows Azure
• Software & Tools
• Microsoft Research Project Hawaii – Cloud Services SDK for Windows Phone
• Software Engineering Innovation Foundation Awards – Request for Proposals
• Course 50466B: Windows Azure Solutions with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 offers an introduction in cloud computing and specifically Microsoft's public cloud offering in Windows Azure in a 3 day class format.

Short and interactive learning presentations that provide foundational learning

• Introduction to Microsoft Windows Azure Platform
• Windows Azure Platform and Interoperability
• SQL Server 2012 Cloud On Your Terms

Windows Azure - Step by Step Book

Ideal for those with fundamental programming skills, this tutorial provides practical, learn-by-doing exercises for mastering the entire Windows Azure platform.

For more details see http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/community/education/program/overview/