Dave Glover "Down Under (Oz)" : Visual Studio

Visual Studio 2010, Fx 4 Beta 2 Training Kit

dglover — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:09:00 GMT

Hopefully by now you've heard Visual Studio 2010 and Fx 4 Beta have shipped, if you live in Oz and not an MSDN subscriber then the best place to download it from is http://www.microsoft.com/australia/visualstudio/default.mspx.

If you are feeling a bit nervous about installing on your base machine then install it in a Virtual Machine, it works just fine!!

There is a great set of training resources for Visual Studio 2010 & Fx 4 Beta 2 in the form of the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit and check out http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/ for more great learning materials.

You'll find material covering

What's new for Common Language Runtime
ASP.NET 4
Windows
Windows Workflow
Windows Communication Foundation
Silverlight
Data Access
Parallel Computing
Extensibility Framework
Application Lifecycle Management

so check it out and get up to speed fast with the Visual Studio 2010 and Fx 4 Beta 2!!

Ohhh, lol, I have installed VS2010 Beta 2 on my ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-H with 2 gigs of RAM, running Windows 7, that plus TFS 2010 B2 Basic - ok, it's not going to set any speed records but useable and fun for trying stuff out esp when you are on the move.

Cheers Dave

Experience the Zermatt region, Switzerland, with this Windows 7 Touch Solution, inc the help of Silverlight and Deepzoom

dglover — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:20:07 GMT

Wow, just spotted this amazing solution utilising Windows 7 Touch and Silverlight 3 with Deepzoom.

Check out http://rubrik.ch.msn.com/reportagen/zermatt.aspx and click on the Info button and read how it was created, stunning!!

Yes, it works with a mouse too if you don't have Windows 7 with a Touch display (or for that matter Windows 7), but yeah, the experience is not as immersive!!

Check out the Windows 7 Training kit if you want to build amazing stuff too!!

Cheers Dave

Going to PDC09 then keep an eye out for Birds-of-a-Feather

dglover — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:00:17 GMT

You can find more information at www.pdcbof.com and follow them on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/pdcbof

See ya there!!

Cheers Dave

WebsiteSpark Program has launched

dglover — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:24:07 GMT

In case you missed this on other channels, WebsiteSpark Program has arrived and you can find more details at http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/09/24/announcing-the-websitespark-program.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/jorke/archive/2009/09/24/announcing-websitespark-in-australia.aspx

Also, Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2 has shipped and there is a great selection of applications from the Web App Gallery

Cheers Dave

WARDY IT Solutions win Microsoft Data Management Partner of the Year

dglover — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:32:25 GMT

At the Australian Partner Conference gala awards dinner last Thursday (Sept 3rd, 09), WARDY IT Solutions was announced as the winner of the Data Management Solutions Partner of the Year. This award was in recognition of their high level of performance in the design and delivery of Microsoft SQL Server solutions supporting customer's mission-critical applications.

The Awards were presented in 30 categories and WARDY IT Solutions was recognised for superior technology and innovation in Data Management Solutions. The Data Management Solutions Partner of the Year award recognises partners who delivered exemplary solutions using Microsoft technologies to address customer business needs and challenges.

Congratulations to Peter and the crew!!

Cheers Dave

Getting started with Windows Mobile 6.5 Widget Development

dglover — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:13:38 GMT

Nigel was after a few pointers for Widget development for Windows Mobile 6.5, so thought useful to blog as well!!

The model for widget development is similar to that of Apple, Nokia, Opera etc - HTML, JavaScript, CSS - the platform APIs differ for example persisting setting, creating enus etc, but same concepts.

Developing Widgets for Windows Mobile 6.5
Getting started with widgets on Windows Mobile 6.5
Useful info on setting up dev environment - important thing is that the 6.5 is a developers toolkit and must be installed after the 6.0 refresh SDKs - see blog item... SDK, DTK, DRK: WTF?!
Nick Randolph's blog at Nick's .NET Travels - lots of great stuff on Widget Development...
And get yourself signed up on Codemasons site - The Codemasons' Guild
The W3C spec for widgets is at Widgets 1.0: Requirements

Cheers Dave

Excellent Windows 7 Compatibility Video and get the Green Light

dglover — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:57:21 GMT

This is time well spent, check out the Windows 7 Compatibility training session.

Some of the resources referenced are

and finally head to over to "Give your application the green light", get yourself registered, it's free, stacks of resources and support, get ready and get your application in to the online catalogue in time for the Windows 7 Launch on October 22nd.

Cheers Dave

Developing for Windows Mobile Webcast and Useful Links

dglover — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:51:12 GMT

Useful links from today’s www.codemasons.com.au Windows Mobile Developer Session

Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit has SHIPPED
Note, you must first install the Windows Mobile SDK 6.x pro/Std from here.

Application Architecture Guide 2.0

patterns & practices: Mobile Client

SMS Voter 3.0 Meets Software plus Services

MemMaker for the .NET Compact Framework

SharpZipLib

Idempotence

Readify to run .NET Developer Training in Darwin!!

dglover — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:21:13 GMT

I often hear from folk in smaller cities in Oz that there is limited access to solid training!! So great news from the guys from Readify in conjunction with Crimson!!

If you live in or near Darwin or know someone who does then be sure to let them know about these training opportunities!!

Crimson Courses	Dates
5 day professional .NET 3.5	August 10-14
Visual Studio ® 2008 ASP.NET3.5 (6463A)	August 18-19
Visual Studio ® 2008 ADO.NET 3.5 (6464A)	August 20-21
Implementing a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (5061A)	August 31-September 2

Cheers Dave

Silverlight Designer and Developer Network, Melb, June 30th, @shanemo and SketchFlow, not to be missed!!

dglover — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:16:50 GMT

If you are a designer or a developer then make sure you make this SDDN event, tonight, Tuesday the 30th of June in Melbourne.

Blend 3 and SketchFlow absolutely rocks and it'll be time well spent!!

What's on?

Sketch Flow: Don't know what SketchFlow is? Then read this!. Okay, now tell me you dont want Shane Morris, Microsoft UX Evangelist, to run through it live!

Expression Blend 3 - What's new? Expression Blend 3 improves upon the goodness of Blend 2 SP 1 by providing a whole heap of new features and more importantly, the ability to create applications for Silverlight 3. The list of new enhancements is long - Lots of improvements to the way you use the tool, Improvements to how XAML, C# and VB.NET files are edited, Support for importing Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator files, Skinning enhancements, Enhancements for animation, Sample data generation, etc, etc.

Mahesh Krishnan will run through these changes in a fast demo based session (without using Powerpoint!) The session is targeted at both Designers and Developers, so don't miss out

When and Where?

The date and time: Tuesday June 30 at 5:30 PM for a 6:00 PM start.
The venue is Microsoft Theatre, Level 5, 4 Freshwater Place, Southbank.

Attendance is FREE, but please RSVP by entering your details in the registration tool on the site (http://www.sddn.org.au) or send an email to info@sddn.org.au.
Pizza will be provided to keep those tummies from rumbling.

Who will this group interest?

The focus of the group is not just on developers. Traditionally developers have had great community support, whereas designers not so much. now that Silverlight 2 is out we plan to change this.

Silverlight is as interesting for developers as it is for designers. Due in part to Silverlight's excellent separation of design and development concerns we have new problems to solve around finding the best ways to work together.

To this end the SDDN will facilitate an ongoing discussion and promote the development of ideas and best practices for anyone who works with Silverlight.

To register interest head over to http://www.sddn.org.au. Use the registration tool in the header of the site. Registering your interest helps us organise the meetings (and order the right amount of pizza)!

CodeCampSA is happening the weekend of July 18-19th 2009

dglover — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:59:15 GMT

Yeeh hah, the guys in Adelaide are pulling CodeCampSA together, it should be a great few days, so make sure you mark out the days in your diary and get along, meet new people, catch up with mates and learn a new trick or two!! The event is free of charge and is being held at UniSA's City West campus (Between North Tce and Hindley St, Adelaide, South Australia).

For more information keep an eye on http://www.codecampsa.com/

Cheers Dave

Microsoft Support Scam

dglover — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:28:24 GMT

Hmmm, now a mate's mother got one of these calls from this organisation, so be sure to let friends and family know this is a scam, guessing it's mostly about identity theft!!

A company called 'SupportonClick' is randomly calling Australians claiming to know that the person's computer has a 'problem' that they can fix for at a fee. These callers also claim to be calling from Microsoft Support which is not the case. Please inform your family and friends of this scam and direct them to follow Microsoft's Protect Your Computer guidance so they can be confident that their computer is running smoothly. Protect Your Computer.

Windows 7 Software Logo Toolkit Now Publically Available

dglover — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:35:04 GMT

Microsoft is pleased to announce the public availability of the Beta release for the Windows 7 Software Logo Toolkit. The toolkit allows ISVs to submit and receive the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo for their products.

Improvements, including self-test for applications, instant approval of passing applications, and a streamlined waiver process dramatically speed up the logo testing and the submission process. Fees for logo submissions have also been eliminated.

As a valued logo partner, the "Compatible with Windows 7" program also offers a variety of benefits including co-branding, MS partner points, and premier placement on a variety of online consumer facing sites.

Here are a few simple steps towards getting started:

1. Download the Beta logo toolkit here: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=831&DownloadID=19072
NOTE: this link also includes the logo requirements document, toolkit release notes, a toolkit user's guide, and an overview of the submission process.

2. Submit the test report from the toolkit via: https://winqual.microsoft.com.

3. If a waiver is needed for a failing test case from the toolkit report, the streamlined waiver process can be initiated by completing the online form at the following link:
https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/CreateFeedbackForm.aspx?FeedbackFormConfigurationID=3419&FeedbackType=3&SiteID=831&wa=wsignin1.0

Some additional information you may find helpful:

· Logo artwork and marketing guides can be downloaded from http://winqual.microsoft.com immediately once the following has been completed:

o The passing logo report is submitted and the logo policies are accepted

o The Software Logo License Agreement is signed online

· Instructions on how to perform the two manual tests can be found in the release notes.

· Windows 7 Logo Waiver/Exception Request: https://connect.microsoft.com/feedback/CreateFeedbackForm.aspx?FeedbackFormConfigurationID=3419&FeedbackType=3&SiteID=831

· Only test results generated by the Beta release of the toolkit can be used to submit for the logo

· Additional frequently asked questions (FAQ) and the corresponding answers are maintained at the following location:

o Technical FAQ:
https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=11911&SiteID=831

o Business FAQ:
https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=11912&SiteID=831

Please note, now that we are now accepting officially logo submissions we are no longer accepting logo prequalifications.

We look forward to your participation in the Windows 7 Software Logo program.

We welcome any feedback you may have on the Windows 7 Software Logo program. Please use the following links to communicate with us:

· Report Logo Toolkit Bugs

· Logo Toolkit/Program Feedback & Suggestions

· Windows 7 Logo Waiver/Exception Request

VSTS Training in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

dglover — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:48:12 GMT

Hey Mr Anthony Borton is running Application Lifecycle Management training centred around Visual Studio Team System, if ya interested in quality and rigour in your software development processes then you'd be pushed to find someone better qualified!!

Great new courses on Visual Studio Team System including;

· VSTS Essentials

· VSTS Essentials for Project Managers and Business Analysts

· Essential Database Development with VSTS

· TFS Admin Essentials

Enhance ALM is offering the following public courses in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this month.

Each of the following courses have been developed to assist development teams gain the most from their investment in Visual Studio Team System.

1. VSTS Essentials

Duration: 2 days Cost: $ 1,195 Course outline

Dates: Melbourne (15 & 16 Jun), Brisbane (22-23 Jun), Sydney (23-30 Jun)

2. VSTS Essentials for Project Managers and Business Analysts

Duration: 1 day Cost: $ 595 Course outline

Dates: Melbourne (17 Jun), Brisbane (24 Jun), Brisbane (1 Jul)

3. Essentials Database Development with VSTS

Duration: 1 day Cost: $ 595 Course outline

Dates: Melbourne (18 Jun), Brisbane (25 Jun), Brisbane (3 Jul)

4. TFS Admin Essentials

Duration: 1 day Cost: $ 595 Course outline

Dates: Melbourne (19 Jun), Brisbane (26 Jun), Brisbane (2 Jul)

More Details

Secure online event registration is available at https://secure.enhancealm.com.au/registration/registrationwizard.aspx

Please direct any queries to Anthony Borton ph: 0408 302 173 or email: anthonyb@enhancealm.com.au

Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit has SHIPPED

dglover — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:39:58 GMT

Ta da, finally the Windows Mobile 6.5 Developer Tool Kit has shipped, well cool!!

Check out http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=20686a1d-97a8-4f80-bc6a-ae010e085a6e

The tool kit adds documentation, sample code, header and library files emulator images and tools to Visual Studio, so you can start building applications for Windows Mobile 6.5 and the new UI. You'll need the Windows Mobile 6 SDK to leverage the Gestures API & samples.

Interested in Windows Mobile Development then check out Windows Mobile for Australia and http://developer.windowsmobile.com/

Cheers Dave