I’ve included a few links from the Microsoft Platform Ready site to get you started developing your Windows Phone 7 applications.  Microsoft Platform Ready is a great program to help you get your application to market faster through technical and marketing support. Microsoft Platform Ready is a great stand alone program and/or complement to the MSDN and BizSpark Programs.  To sign up for Microsoft Platform Ready Please visit this link . MSDN Windows Developer Center Windows 7 in 7 video...

Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition, sponsored by Microsoft. This annual competition inspires students to create innovative solutions that can help solve some of the world’s toughest problems. In addition, it gives universities, colleges, and secondary schools the opportunity to gain international acclaim as technology leaders. To give you some perspective, here are some inspirational words to the finalists of Imagine Cup 2010 from First Lady Michelle Obama .  If...

If you are developing Windows Phone 7 applications please sign up for the Microsoft Platform Ready Program (MPR).  In addition to the standard MPR benefits you’ll also be able to receive a $99 Marketplace rebate after 2 applications are accepted into the Marketplace. The rebate details are still to be determined, but I wanted to provide you this information. Here is a summary of the benefits you receive by joining MPR: Free on-demand technical support Training videos and courses to help development...

Here are some interviews with partners and customers that have created solutions with Windows Azure. These links are part of the “Real World Azure” Series on the Windows Azure Blog . I’ve posted a very brief synopsis of the interviews and the accompanying links. Ravenflow Interview with David Ruiz, Vice President of Products at Ravenflow interviewed about using the Windows Azure platform to deliver the company's cloud-based process analysis and visualization solution. Transactiv Interview with Shekar...

Bring your best ideas, work at your own pace, or join a proctored group lab and create that app you’ve been dreaming about for Windows Phone 7 . Windows Phone 7 Developer Launch The first day takes you inside the all-new Metro interface paradigm with basic fundamentals of Windows Phone 7 application development. The next day is a hands-on app building workshop. Register at MSDN Events . Date City State Venue Name September 29-30 Orange County CA Hilton Orange County October 12-13 Mountain View CA...

Windows Azure AppFabric provides common building blocks required by .NET applications when extending their functionality to the cloud, and specifically, the Windows Azure platform. The Windows Azure AppFabric is a key component of the Windows Azure Platform. It includes two services: AppFabric Access Control and AppFabric Service Bus. This SDK includes API libraries for building connected applications with the Windows Azure AppFabric. It spans the entire spectrum of today’s Internet applications...

Expression Blend 4 Service Pack 1 (SP1) includes support for building Windows Phone 7 apps and improved integration with Adobe design tools through support for the FXG file format, as well as bug fixes and stability enhancements. You can get the download from Microsoft Download Center at Microsoft Expression Blend 4 Service Pack 1 (SP1) . Windows Phone support When you install the Windows Phone Development Tools , you can use the design tools in Expression Blend to create Windows Phone applications...

BizTalk Server 2010 has released to manufacturing and it will be available for purchase starting October 1st, 2010. BizTalk Server 2010 is the seventh major release, which includes new support for Windows Server AppFabric to provide pre-integrated support for developing new composite applications.  This allows customers to maximize the value of existing Line of Business (LOB) systems by integrating and automating their business processes, and putting real-time, end-to-end enterprise integration...

Last week we released the final version of the Windows Phone Developer Tools and this week we are releasing the Visual Basic CTP for Windows Phone Developer Tools. I’ve heard from many Visual Basic developers asking if/when they could build Windows Phone applications using their favorite tool. Within this download there are all the templates, designer support, emulator (and phone) support and intellisense for Visual Basic. Please note that we have not formally announced the schedule for...

PASS Summit 2010 is the single largest gathering of Microsoft SQL Server professionals in the world , bringing together the entire community of SQL Server and BI users. Delivering three full days of in-depth learning, PASS Summit provides unparalleled access to the Microsoft SQL Server development team and face-to-face networking in a fun, focused environment. PASS Summit 2010 provides the perfect opportunity for attendees to sharpen and perfect their SQL Server and business intelligence (BI) technical...

A great way for you to be successful, and to ultimately help drive your company’s growth, is to attend GPUG Summit 2010 - the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics GP Customers, GP User Group Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics GP team members. GPUG Summit will occur October 25 to 28 (with optional training courses on October 25 and 29) at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fl . A jam packed agenda with 125 breakouts sessions, including the traditional roundtables, presentations...

A great way for you to be successful, and to ultimately help drive your company’s growth, is to attend NAVUG Forum 2010 - the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Customers, NAV User Group Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics NAV team members. NAVUG Forum will occur October 18 to 20 (with optional training courses on October 21 and 22) at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fl . A jam packed agenda with over 75 breakouts sessions, including the traditional roundtables...

A great way for you to be successful, and to ultimately help drive your company’s growth, is to attend AXUG Summit 2010 - the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics Customers, Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics team members. AXUG Summit will occur October 18 to 21 (with optional training courses on October 18 and 22) at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fl . A jam packed agenda with 135 breakouts sessions, including the traditional roundtables, presentations, Microsoft...

This book is the second volume in a planned series about Windows Azure™ technology platform. Volume 1, Moving Applications to the Cloud on the Windows Azure Platform, provides an introduction to Windows Azure, discusses the cost model and application life cycle management for cloud-based applications, and describes how to migrate an existing ASP.NET application to the cloud. This book demonstrates how you can create from scratch a multi-tenant, Software as a Service (SaaS) application to The book...

A great way for you to be successful, and to ultimately help drive your company’s growth, is to attend CRMUG Summit 2010 - the premier annual conference for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customers, CRM User Group Partners and key Microsoft Dynamics CRM team members. CRMUG Summit will occur October 25 to 28 (with optional training courses on October 25 and 29) at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fl . A jam packed agenda with 50 breakouts sessions, including the traditional roundtables...

In first two days, over 2 million people worldwide downloaded IE9 Beta, according to the Windows Team Blog posting Early Customer Enthusiasm for a More Beautiful Web.

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Microsoft announced the availability of Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 today at High Performance Computing Financial Markets Conference.

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 Suite is the third version of Microsoft’s solution for high performance computing (HPC). Built on Windows Server® 2008 R2 64-bit technology, Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 Suite makes it easier than ever for companies to benefit from high-performance computing.

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Introducing Microsoft Advertising Exchange for Mobile, the industry’s first real-time, bidded ad exchange in mobile – leverage superior ad targeting, multiple purchase models and leading resellers including Microsoft’s sales force and large-scale adCenter marketplace.  Microsoft’s simple Ad Control, self-serve developer sign-up, reporting and automated payout ensures a seamless ad monetization experience for developers. Actionable reporting helps developers optimize for best user experience...

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 is the big v3 release. The team has continued to increase performance while adding new features. Windows HPC Server R2 will help enable the next generation of simulations in biology, chemistry, physics, finance, weather and more. The team has made improvements in the developer tools used to create mutli-core applications with Visual Studio 2010. Secondly, the product team partnered with Intel to make sure their parallel performance tools run great in Visual Studio. They...

A new set of developer tools and Software Development Kits (SDKs) make it easier for PHP developers who want to build applications for Windows Azure. The new tool named, Windows Azure Companion, was among other tools that integrate with Eclipse and Windows Azure.

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New MSDEV videos show you how to use SQL Azure Data Sync to synchronize data between the cloud and on premises and between cloud data centers. In addition, two other videos show how to manage the SQL Azure firewall and configure SQL Azure for security.

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The final release of the Windows Phone 7 Developer Tools was released to web (RTW) today. You can download the tools here.

The Windows Phone 7 Developer Tools package includes everything you need to write awesome applications and games for Windows Phone 7.  All of the tools included in it are absolutely free.

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This year we’re providing more ways than ever before for you to experience the Professional Developer’s Conference closer to home. We’re working with Microsoft offices, academic institutions, and 3rd parties around the world to provide you the opportunity to attend a PDC10 event near you. Register for a local event , email us or subscribe to our RSS feed for more information Leading-Edge Content for Leading-Edge Developers Sessions are highly technical, and targeted to the advanced developer. We...

Internet Explorer 9 Beta was shown today at a launch event in Silicon Valley, CA. The beta includes the new user experience, where what you don’t see is key. There’s no branding beyond the logo in the Taskbar. There’s no text or logo in the title bar. The goal is to let the site shine.

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The release candidate of the ‘wave 14’ communications products are now available and have been rebranded as Microsoft Lync. Kirk Gregersen, Senior Director, writes in a TechNet blog post, “Lync – a combination of ‘link’ and ‘sync’ – is about connecting people in new ways, anytime, anywhere.”

More than 400 partners are involved in readiness activities to help customers plan, deploy, manage, and support Lync 2010 when it is generally available later in the fall.

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