Kari Martin's .NET Blogette

It's easy to download the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 beta here:

 http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/download-office-professional-plus/default.aspx 

Microsoft Office 2010 is the best experience across the PC, smartphone and browser. Try it out today! Let us know what you think!

You're in luck... you can see the future of developer technology via live streaming broadcast powered by Silverlight / IIS 7 here: http://microsoftpdc.com/

Watch the live keynotes on Nov 17th & 18th at 8:30am PST.

11/17 - Ray Ozzie & Bob Muglia

11/18 - Scott Guthrie, Kurt Delbene & a special guest!

Enjoy!

Microsoft Office Live Workspace is worth checking out if you want free access to your information anywhere on any PC without even having to install Office. No more having to email documents to yourself or use flash drives when you are not in front of your PC and need access to your documents from anywhere like airports or Internet cafes, etc.  You can collaborate with up to 25 others at the site or document level and store over 1000+ docs! All you need to collaborate on work, school or personal projects is the other folks email addresses. You just need a Windows Live ID to sign up.

Check it out here...

http://workspace.officelive.com/

A lot of us at Microsoft are having fun connecting with friends, family and co-workers on Facebook! 

Microsoft has created a Facebook Dev Tookkit. The kid includes C# and VB wrappers for the Facebook API. You can download it here:  http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/bb510381.aspx

My favorite activities so far include listening to new music on my friend's sites and seeing everyone's great photos! I am also really enjoying the apps "Addicted to the Flight of the Conchords" and "Quotes from The Office".

My feature request is that I'd like to be able to write the same thing on multiple friend's walls at the same time so they can each see my comments within their own profile. For example, I might like to comment to all my family in Miami at the same time, but not everyone in my network. If someone knows how to do this, please comment!

Best, Kari  

Catch the latest ISV Connect “Best in Show” video interviews from the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference show floor in Boston. I interviewed partners and Microsoft employees exhibiting on the show floor to find out what’s most exciting now around new solutions and recent product releases. Check out new offerings from Windows Vista Mobility, take a tour of the Microsoft Hosting Pavilion and also hear what’s new from some of our key solutions partners. I even caught up with Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group, Eduardo Rosini for a quick overview on what the business drivers for partners building on the Microsoft platform are and what the key messages were for the conference overall. 

View the videos here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow/WPC2006/default.aspx

Here’s a link where you can find more information including Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Allison Watson’s five key actions to help drive your business forward next year.

http://www.microsoft.com/partner/events/wwpartnerconference/

See you July 10-12, 2007 in Denver for Worldwide Partner Conference 2007!

Thanks! Kari

I had the great opportunity this month to interview a few of our top executives here at Microsoft about what’s new in the 2007 Microsoft Office System and to discuss opportunities for Microsoft partners.

Check it out here: www.isvconnect.com  

I hosted candid interviews with Chris Capossela, Corporate VP Business Division Product Management Group, and Kurt DelBene, Corporate VP, Office Business Platform Group, about the new look and feel, features, and functionality of the 2007 Microsoft Office System and how it enhances productivity and allows organizations to better capture and use information. I also interview one of our great ISV partners, Tom Jenkins, Chairman and Chief Strategist of OpenText, about how OpenText is making development innovations by integrating with 2007 Microsoft Office System. Hear about some best practices and how the market is changing and growing.

You can test drive the new version of Office here. Give us your feedback!

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx?showIntro=n

Catch the latest ISV Connect “Best in Show” video interviews from the AIIM 2006 Conference and Expo show floor in Philadelphia. We interviewed partners and customers exhibiting on the show floor where we captured a lot of buzz and excitement around new solutions and recent product releases. Check out new offerings from Kodak and my very first interview with a robot! (Plasmon)

Topics include enterprise content management, workflow, archive services for imaging, records management and much more!

View the videos here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow/AIIM2006/default.aspx

We also have posted links to great upcoming conferences and training opportunities for partners and developers on the page. You can check it out here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow

Our team will see you at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston in July. Stop by our booth! Here’s a link for more info on WPC 2006:  http://www.microsoft.com/partner/events/wwpartnerconference/

Thanks! Kari

Catch the latest ISV Connect “Best in Show” video interviews from Microsoft Management Summit show floor in San Diego. We captured the “buzz” by interviewing some of our partners and Microsoft experts. Topics include inventory tools and server management, software virtualization, network access protection, group policy, capacity planning, reporting, interoperability, Microsoft Windows Powershell and much more!

View the videos here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow/MMS2006/default.aspx

We also have posted links to great upcoming conferences and training opportunities for ISVs and developers on the page. You can check it out here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow

Our team will see you at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston. Stop by our booth!

Here’s a link for more info: http://www.microsoft.com/partner/events/wwpartnerconference/

Thanks, Kari

My ISV Connect team and I participate in a lot of great partner and technical conferences throughout the year. Everyone knows the experience of feeling the “buzz” of a great event. We wanted to try to capture some of that energy and great content and make it available post event to everyone, not just those who were able to attend in person.

We had a fun team brainstorm and created a new feature of ISV Connect calling it “Best in Show” where we’ve posted v-casts live from the show floor of our most recent partner conference, CA World 2005. We will have videos from Microsoft Convergence posted in the next week or so. (Post a comment if you think you know why we came up with the name “Best in Show”. :-) Click on the "CA World Overview" video and you'll be able to meet some of the team. The video opens with Jennifer Hall. 

There are also 15 other interviews I conducted with CA Executives and technical leads on topics such as: Unicenter Management for Exchange, Unicenter NSM and MOM, Unicenter Job Mgmt and SQL Server Integration, Storage and Recovery Solutions, Smartphone Solutions and more here: 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow/ca

We also have posted links to great upcoming conferences and training opportunities for ISVs and developers on the page. You can check it out here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/bestinshow

Let us know what you think and if you have an upcoming conference ISV Connect should cover. Thanks! Kari

Back in September 2005 I launched the ISV Connect SQL Server 2005 Broadcast featuring a high level overview of SQL Server 2005 and opportunities around this new release for our partners.

Over the past few months, I have received a lot of feedback from developers and partners looking for more in depth information on SQL Server 2005 …so by popular demand my team and I have just posted a 25 minute in depth technical discussion with Francois Ajenstat, Group Product Manager in Microsoft’s SQL Server Product Management team.

You can check out the video here: www.isvconnect.com  , under our “Video Shorts” segment.

Ok... Francois would not want me to share this, but you might find it interesting to know that he is a child prodigy who graduated university at age 17! Francois is very passionate about SQL Server 2005 and how this new release can drive Business Intelligence forward. This is a must see video! Enjoy and I would love your feedback!  

I hosted a quick ISV Connect interview with Ray Winninger and Jennifer Ritzinger, both of Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism, for a preview of what MIX06 is all about and why anyone doing business on the web today should attend this 72 hour conversation in Vegas!

Watch the 5 min video here:  www.isvconnect.com  

Jennifer also tells us how developers can win a special edition XBOX 360! Find contest details here, preview other entries and register today!  www.mix06.com

See you there! Kari

Have you heard about MIX? It’s a 72 hour conversation live in Vegas, March 20-22, to discuss with industry leaders high-fidelity commerce, media, services and security for the World Wide Web. The MIX conference is a LIVE conversation between web developers, designers and business leaders who create consumer-oriented web sites. Why is it called MIX? The event is not only a place where you can Meet, Interact, and eXplore with Microsoft and others about the web, but we are MIXing things up by having a conference for tech geeks as well as business professionals who help make decisions about technologies and strategies for your company’s customer facing web sites. When you attend MIX you’ll hear about Microsoft’s roadmap for the web, and learn the latest about IE7, Windows Media, Windows Live!, as well as "Atlas", Microsoft's new AJAX framework. You'll even hear from Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Bill Gates!

Learn about the web’s next generation of content and commerce, plus the customer experience that is beyond the browser.  Registration is open! www.mix06.com 

Here's a little more detail...

At MIX:

Developers can dive deep into the latest Microsoft web technologies, including Internet Explorer 7, Atlas/AJAX, ASP.NET, InfoCard, the Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Media and others. Want to learn how to code pages for IE7 that render properly in other popular browsers? Interested in building AJAX sites quickly and efficiently?

Designers can learn how Microsoft’s platform technologies will allow them to create rich experiences that incorporate video, advanced typography, vector graphics, and 3D graphics. Explore new ways to differentiate your sites from those of your competitors, learn how to streamline the designer-developer pipeline and discuss strategies for improving your site’s usability.

Business Decision Makers will get a solid overview of how Windows Vista and the Internet Explorer roadmap can boost site revenues and unlock new business opportunities. Get the latest Vista and IE7 forecasts from Microsoft, discuss the business implications of RSS and pick up insights on how to better monetize your offerings.

What kind of content will be offered at MIX?  Sessions at MIX will be focused on two main scenarios that will help you stay on the cutting edge of technology, while at the same time enable you to further monetize your web offerings!

Next Generation Content & Commerce

A plain old HTML experience is no longer good enough for your most frequent (and most valuable) users—AJAX is setting new standards for responsiveness and usability, visitors are expecting increasingly-sophisticated customization and personalization options, and rich media integration is unlocking new revenue streams. But building these richer sites can be difficult and expensive. Microsoft’s Dean Hachamovitch (General Manager, Internet Explorer team) hosts this exploration of how technologies like IE7, “Atlas” (Microsoft’s new AJAX framework), Windows Live!, the Windows Presentation Foundation and InfoCard can take your browser-based content and commerce experiences to another level and increase earnings, while minimizing development and maintenance costs.

User Experience Beyond the Browser

As web-based content and services become increasingly indispensable, users are expecting to interact with your offerings in new ways and in new locations. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, Vice President, eHome division, hosts this overview of your options for boosting revenues by building “sticky” experiences that follow the user outside the browser, into the living room and on the go. Some of the specific technologies that will be discussed include: RSS, the Windows Sidebar, Office 12, Windows Mobile and Windows Media Center/Xbox 360.

You can view the MIX agenda and top session list at www.mix06.com.  You can also subscribe to the MIX blog to get our regular updates and find out what is new and hot with MIX. 

I’ll be hosting our ISV Connect lounge and have our film crew there as well. Please stop by and MIX!

See you in March in Vegas! 

I had the opportunity to interview one of our great ISV partners, Laura McClure, Vice President of Strategic Alliances CA, together with Microsoft General Manager Worldwide ISV Group, Rob Bernard, on site at CA World 2005 in Vegas.

View the video here on the ISV Connect web site in the "Partner Spotlight" section: http://msdn.microsoft.com/isv/isvconnect/

During the interview, Rob and Laura discussed the value of the Microsoft and CA partnership brings to their joint customers in Enterprise infrastructure and IT management solution set areas to help drive down costs, reduce risks and improve business agility. There was a lot of buzz and energy at the show! I’d highly recommend attending next year. CA even had Jerry Seinfeld on hand one evening to entertain everyone!

Here is a link to CA’s web site where you can find more information on products and solutions running on the Microsoft platform: http://www3.ca.com/partners/SpotLight.aspx?CID=30444

Here are some great resources for more information:

Microsoft's Announcement (Overview):  http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/nov05/11-01PreviewSoftwareBasedPR.mspx

Try the latest Windows Live Beta Services: http://ideas.live.com

Windows Live Favorites: http://favorites.live.com/

Doc Holladay's View:  http://isvchalktalk.com/default.aspx

There is a new series featured in the “Shows” area on Channel 9 that is of particular interest to me called WM_IN (women in technology). This new series features women at Microsoft who work in development, marketing, research, and evangelism who have interesting stories to share about their success in the industry and ideas on how to grow diversity in IT.

See the current WM_IN show featuring Microsoft Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Mary Snapp here: http://channel9.msdn.com

Mary is both a Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, running a group of lawyers and paralegals that support all things legal related to Windows and its set of platforms. Jennifer Ritzinger, the Channel 9 WM_IN correspondent interviewed Mary about her success at Microsoft, the interplay between Law and Product development and why Mary’s stayed at Microsoft for 17 years! Check out the video, Mary Snapp is an inspiration to everyone!