VSTS Beta 2 VPC Available on MSDN Subscriber Downloads

sspotts — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 22:13:00 GMT

This is great! Now you don't have to install the tools to do a test drive. Maybe the developer community could develop custom scripts for hands-on labs that can be shared with others since a standard base VPC image is now available. That would be a great way to help others learn the cool stuff you dig into yourself.

From Rob Caron:

The much anticipated download of a fully installed & configured Visual Studio 2005 Team System Beta 2 VPC is now available for download from MSDN Subscriber Downloads.

VPC Contents:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition (expires September 16, 2006)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite Beta 2 (expires May 1, 2006)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Beta 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Redistributable Package Beta 2
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Community Technology Preview
Microsoft Office 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft Live Communication Server 2003

Minimum System Requirements:

PC with 2.0 gigahertz or faster processor
1.5 GB RAM minimum
10 GB available hard disk space
Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher video
DVD-ROM drive
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 SP1 software

Code Camp: Greater PA

sspotts — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 07:35:00 GMT

There was some great stuff done by Thom Robbins, one of my teammates in the East Region (up in Waltham, MA), with Code Camp II (http://weblogs.asp.net/trobbins/archive/2004/10/21/246018.aspx). Forty people presented over 60 sessions over 20 hours in two days.

The goal of the Code Camps series is to provide an intensive developer to developer learning experience that is fun and technically stimulating.

Tonight I brought this up to the PhillyDotNet user group as an event to bring to the Greater PA area, and the whole group was psyched, and so am I. The primary focus for our event will be on delivering programming information and sample code for Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0 as well as Microsoft's other platform servers. The event is free and all slides, manuals and demo code will be provided. I'm planning to do this over a weekend in April 2005.

If you're interested, I'm be looking for speakers. RD's, INETA speakers, Microsoft Partners, authors, MVP's, user group leaders, or developers that just want to show how to do cool coding are all welcome. Any speakers at the Code Camp in Waltham will be most welcome to replicate his/her presentations down here!

I like the idea of the following tracks:

ASP.NET 2.0 Development (including WSS web parts)
Smart Client development (Winforms, mobile apps, tablet PC)
Patterns and Best Practices (focus on Enterprise Library)
SOA (think WSE, BizTalk 2004)
Data Access (SQL Server 2005, ADO.NET, etc.)
Dev Lifecycle (all about VSTS)

Presentations will all be aligned to these tracks. Event planning is work in progress, but it's too cool not to do.

There will be three types of scheduled 90 minute sessions.

Presentations. 200 level (50% code/50% Powerpoint), 300 level (75% code/25% PPT), and 400 level (90%+ code)
Roundtables. 3-4 subject matter experts discussing specific topics.
Chalk Talk. No presentation, just attendee-guided discussions and whiteboarding with a subject matter expert.

If you'd like to present at this event, please send me the following info prior to February 1:

Name, title, company
e-mail address
Phone
Which track (see above)
What level (200/300/400)
Name of session
Format of session (Presentation/Roundtable/Chalk Talk)
Description of session

I'm asking for speakers early so I can resource the best venue for the event. I'll want slides (including speaker notes) and demos by March 15th so we can review them and get them ready for distribution for the event.

There are a few other things I'm trying to connect with this Code Camp, so stay tuned.

.net and other interesting dev stuff in PA : .NET Framework

VSTS Beta 2 VPC Available on MSDN Subscriber Downloads

Code Camp: Greater PA