Well, I made it to the conference… Convergence has a different feel to it than the TechEds or the PDCs I’ve attended. For one thing, the attendees seem to be much more international, and for another thing, there seems to be a much better gender balance here. Also, the community here seems to be tighter-knitted than most, with many long time Convergence veterans returning for what’s become an annual event for them. After reading through the event syllabus, I decided that I would attend as many...

The final release of the VS 2005 update for Windows Vista is available for download . Windows Vista improves overall quality, security, and reliability from previous versions of Windows. While there were many investments to ensure backward compatibility of applications running on Windows Vista but an impact on Visual Studio 2005 could not be fully contained. The Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 Update for Windows Vista addresses areas of Visual Studio impacted by Vista enhancements. Please download...

For those of you who are Dynamics inclined, I'll be heading out to Convergence to hear plans for our CRM and ERP product lines (AX, GP, NAV, and SL.) For those of you who aren't familiar with our Dynamics products, you might be surprised to hear that we have robust offerings in the CRM and ERP markets that are the subject of considerable on-going investment, research, and development within Microsoft. When these products meet the broader platform, there's quite a bit about each that remains...

Microsoft just released a few cool new gadgets for your Windows Vista Sidebar. Live Search Gadget You can now search directly from the Sidebar. This gadget uses web services to retrieve the search results and displays them in the gadget. Live Search Traffic Gadget This gadget uses web services to display real-time traffic conditions in your area. Support for major metropolitan areas is available. Take a look and try them out.

I'm going to be hosting a webcast on April 24th on Debugging Crashing Applications. This is a follow-up to my first webcast on the Microsoft Debugging Tools for Windows Package. The webcast will begin at 10am Pacific time and last for 1 hour. Here's a description of the event: Description: When it comes to developing applications, debugging is one essential step. During the development process you can debug the code to your heart's content; but what happens once you sell your application? What...

So, about a week ago I posted an article about our ArcReady & ArcCouncil events. This got me to thinking, what really does make a good architect? Every organization is different for sure, but I believe that there are some common skills that an architect must possess. You have to have a good understanding of technology and how it all fits together. Not a deep understanding per se, just a broad technical understanding. For instance, you need to know enough about WCF and how and where it can be...

What's New for Developers in Windows Mobile 6 The Windows Mobile 6 developer platform release focuses on a few core goals: simplify line of business (LOB) application development and deployment; make the task of building a single application that runs successfully across the many different devices in the Windows Mobile family easier; and provide an enhanced user experience. This paper explains the new Windows Mobile 6 features and their purpose from a developer's perspective. It also describes...

Update your Windows Mobile devices for the Changes to the US Daylight Savings Time In August 2005, the United States Congress passed the Energy Policy Act that changes both the start and end dates of Daylight Savings Time (DST) starting in 2007. Effective this year, Daylight Savings Time will start three weeks earlier and end one week later than in previous years. Download this desktop utility to update your Windows Mobile device’s registry settings to adjust the time on the device to be consistent...

If you are holding back on deployment of Windows Vista here are some tools that will help you to accelerate Vista deployment. Last month Microsoft announced the release of the final versions of six tools that will help businesses accelerate deployment of Windows Vista. The released tools include the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 1.0 tool, the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0, the Volume Activation Management Tool, the Key Management Service for Windows Server 2003,...

Virtual PC 2007 was released on February 19 th . Reminder Virtual PC 2007 is * free* ! Here's a brief list of what's new: Support for Windows Vista 64-bit as a host Support for Windows Vista as a guest operating system AMD-V and Intel VT support Improved performance over Virtual PC 2004 Download available here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=04D26402-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en

I’ve spent most of my career specializing in new releases including .NET Framework (1.0), BizTalk 2000, Site Server, Merchant Server, Systems Management Server 1.0, Windows NT, Project 1.0 and even Windows for Pens (circa 1991)! While I’m no longer on the front lines, I’m privileged to lead the team of ISV Architect Evangelists that are helping software partners understand the next wave of Microsoft technologies. Combining our platform with partner domain-specific knowledge results in net new...

When we discuss Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) with ISV's, many of the questions we often hear relate to interoperability with other platforms, communication technologies, standards, etc. Jorgen Thelin is the Senior Program Manager for Connected Systems Interoperability Standards at Microsoft, and leads our efforts to make sure that our core products like WCF have the best interoperability story in the industry. He has an active blog that discusses the interoperability efforts by Microsoft...

Microsoft hosts quarterly meetings for those who are aspiring to be an architect and for those who are already an architect within their company. These events are called ArcReady and ArcCouncil. The events are held on the same day in the same location in many places around the US. ArcReady is open to anyone who is or wants to be an architect while ArcCouncil is by invitation only. You can find an upcoming ArcReady event near you here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/SearchResults.aspx?culture...

Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the Security Development Lifecycle session at the ISV CTO Summit 06, we are providing an optional pre-event to the ISV CTO Summit 07 entitled: " Security Development Lifecycle Workshop "; covering best practices, guidance around SDL, and how Microsoft has incorporated SDL. Attendees of the SDL Workshop should plan on arriving one day early for this optional event that will take place on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond. Space is limited and registration...

Today we announced the release the web of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2. SP2 is an important deliverable for SQL Server, providing support for Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System in addition to delivering important enhancements for customers. Download it from http://www.microsoft.com/sql/sp2.mspx . In addition to Vista/Office 2007 compatibility, included in this release: • Enhanced BI Capabilities • Interoperability Enhancements • Performance and Manageability Enhancements In addition...

A special Microsoft “WPF/E” (Codename) Deep Dive Developer Lab (a MIX University offering) will be held on the Microsoft Redmond Campus, February 26-28. “WPF/E” is Microsoft’s solution for delivering rich interactive experiences for the Web and beyond. This lab will introduce the “WPF/E” platform and give developers the tools they need to get started. This lab will also include presentations about managed code and “WPF/E” along with a sneak peek at our next “WPF/E” CTP (Community Technical Preview...

There's been a lot of commotion lately around the Government-mandated change to Daylight Savings Time. The energy bill, signed by President Bush in 2005, extends daylight savings by four weeks and will take effect for most U.S. cities at 2:00 AM on March 11 th . This change can have a much broader impact than is immediately apparent, and we'd like to invite our ISVs to participate in an important webcast. This cast will cover Microsoft products affected, updates to apply prior to the change and...

The DPE Architecture Strategy team released the first-ever SaaS architecture guidance/sample application on our platform . The guidance and the sample is based on a HR scenario. Architected as a single instance multi tenant solution, this application embodies many of the architecture principles published in our whitepapers http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479069.aspx ; http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa479086.aspx and show how Microsoft technologies can be used for successfully...

One of the topics in the ISV space that's getting more and more attention is the "Software as a Service model". I have people ask me is Microsoft doing anything in this space. The answer is YES. I have seen many definitions of SaaS. The best and the most simple definition is "Delivering Software over the internet". The two categories where it's getting attention the most attention is enterprise LOB applications and consumer web 2.0 application. If you haven't visited Microsoft's SaaS site here...

The PDC is Microsoft’s ultimate event for developers. It offers great training, access to folks on the product teams and a view of our roadmap for the next several years. The next PDC will be held in LA from September 30 to October 1 2007. SAVE THE DATES! For more information and the latest updates as well as previous PDC snippets, go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/ .

Discover the new UI. The new user interface simplifies the way you work by organizing program features according to the activities you want to do. In addition, you can preview formatting and editing decisions before committing to a change. Or maybe you’ll want to find familiar commands in the new Ribbon. The traditional menus and toolbars have been replaced. Use our interactive guides to find your favorite commands in the 2007 programs. Either way, get results with the ribbon here .

MIX is Microsoft’s premiere conference for web developers, designers and business professionals. MIX07 will explore the next generation web technologies that help consumer-oriented, web-based businesses unlock new revenue opportunities and lower development costs. MIX is a forum for discussing ways to bring technologies such as Atlas, WPF/E, Media Center Edition, IE, and the Expression suite together in a way that enables developers and designers to deliver rich web experiences that drive business...

Window Server “Longhorn” Training Event (Redmond, WA) Microsoft is preparing to release the next generation Windows Server platform for your needs and those of your customers, and we want to enable you to take advantage of it. We invite you to learn about this next-generation application platform and how your company can gain significant competitive advantage from the innovations in Windows Server code named “Longhorn”. As a participant in our Windows Server “Longhorn” early adoption programs...

The February 2007 CTP of WPF/E is now available. This release includes a new SDK and samples, as well as some new features including: better text input and presentation capabilities, mouse cursor support, and better media rendering. The Windows download is available here , while the Mac version is available here . The Mac version is compatible with Firefox 1.5.0.8+ and Safari 2.0+, while the Windows version is compatible with IE 6+ and Firefox 1.5.0.8+.

Last Thursday, I attended an Expression launch event in Chicago. I'm really excited about this new line of tools, because it will allow ISVs to bring designers into the development process , raising the bar for compelling user experiences. Learn more about Expression at http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/ .