Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Cireson, a Microsoft System Center partner, is running an all-day event specifically for folks interested in System Center & Automation.  They highlight the following:

• Service, Asset & Identity Management
  Discover the corners of Service, Asset & Identity Management. Learn business aligned best-practices around Service Catalogs and Life Cycle Management through participation in Microsoft System Center, Azure and Cireson focused workshops which will teach you how to take advantage of core features, customizations, practical use cases and the overall user experience.

• System Center, Azure & Automation
  Uncover how other organizations are maximizing their investment in Microsoft System Center and Cireson by harnessing the private cloud (Microsoft Hyper-V and Azure Stack) and public cloud (Azure), taking process integration beyond IT, and automating processes to drive measurable ROI.

• Connecting Business & Operations
  Learn how companies that incorporate DevOps practices with their business and operational goals & get more done. Understand how you can deploy software and services up to 30 times more frequently and benefit through faster delivery, improved customer satisfaction, and fewer failed deployments.

The event is $99 to attend.  Speakers, sessions & other highlights are available at the registration site:

• REGISTRATION: Cireson Innovate 15
  http://innovate.cireson.com/

As some of you may know, CES 2016 is now $100 no matter what.  They enacted a rule that no longer provides free registration for the expo that has pretty much thrown a surcharge over your CES budget.

Well, now it looks like CES is backing off this new “$100 charge” policy just slightly for alumni for 3 days.  If you went to CES in the past and want to go again as “alumni”, you can use the code below to get in for free – instead of coughing up the $100.  You have until Sept 17^th to do so.

Since you are a valued alumni of CES, we are giving you a 3 day window to register for CES 2016 at no cost.

From Sept. 15-17, you can register for CES by clicking here and using the registration code ALUMNI when prompted. You will enter this code at the end of the registration process. After you apply the code, the $100 registration fee currently in effect will change to $0.

You can use this link to start your registration: https://ces.itnint.com/CES16/RegOnline/RegLogin.aspx

Something from our Application Development Manager, Kamran Bhurgri:

ASP.NET5 Beta 7 is now available which includes native .NET execution environment for Mac and Linux. With this release, Microsoft has completely refactored ASP.NET into a cross-platform, open-source web framework… any app, any platform, any deployment.

Announcing Availability of ASP.NET 5 Beta7

ASP.NET 5 beta7 is now available both on NuGet and as a tooling update to Visual Studio 2015! This release also includes the first public preview of the .NET Execution Environment (DNX) for Mac and Linux based on .NET Core – no Mono required.

Source code is publically available at https://github.com/aspnet/Home

Read more at:

• BLOG: Announcing the availability of ASP .NET 5 Beta7
  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/webdev/archive/2015/09/02/announcing-availability-of-asp-net-5-beta7.aspx

For folks interested in comparisons between Microsoft’s Surface & Apple’s recently announced iPad Pro:

• "Creative industry employees will continue to favor Surface from Microsoft [vs iPad Pro]." – Alcaraz Equity Research http://seekingalpha.com/article/3506976-professionals-will-find-the-499-microsoft-surface-3-more-useful-than-the-ipad-pro
   
• “The biggest difference has to be right at the top: The operating system. One runs a mobile OS, one a full desktop OS.”
  http://www.windowscentral.com/quick-comparison-surface-pro-3-versus-ipad-pro
   
• “Without proper mouse support, users would have to reach out and touch the display, even while in laptop mode, or poke at the display with their pens. This makes it less ergonomic and more imprecise than having a mouse cursor.”
  http://www.techradar.com/us/news/mobile-computing/tablets/5-reasons-surface-pro-is-a-better-tablet-for-businesses-than-ipad-pro-1303955

Just tweeted by Panos Panay, the father & Corp VP of Surface at Microsoft:

We have some exciting news to share about Windows 10 devices.

Watch live Tuesday, October 6, 10:00AM EDT or on your Xbox.

For those of you on the west coast, the event is 7:00AM-9:30AM PDT. 

See you online!

• EVENT: Microsoft Windows 10 Devices Announcement
  http://www.microsoft.com/october2015event
  [Add to Outlook Calendar]

[I originally wrote a following post for Lync 2013, and it still applies to Skype for Business]

Take a look at the snapshot to the right:  This is the new Skype for Business client.  (Formerly Lync Client)  Notice there’s no “gear-like” configuration icon?  There’s the “…” at the bottom of the screen but that doesn’t provide client UI configuration.

The point is, there’s no way to reveal a MENU BAR (File, Edit, Tools, etc.) like you used to with previous versions of Lync or even Office Communicator.

Q: So how do you manually save a conversation?

It turns out that the answer is “CTRL-S”.  This is the only way to do so without waiting for the client to ‘auto-save’ the conversation (if you have this set up.  There’s no FILE-SAVE CONVERSATION drop down any more.

For folks that haven’t used Skype for Business or Lync before, the saved conversation will be found in a folder in Outlook called “Conversations History” off the root of your mailbox.

Why this isn’t documented in Skype for Business’ help, I don’t know.  And that’s why I’m typing it up here.

Join us for a FREE 2 two-day technical training event for IT professionals and developers that provides best practices and insight directly from the experts who build and run the cloud services across Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Windows 10 and more. Whether you know your way around the cloud or are just getting started, you’ll learn something new and walk away ready to apply your new skills.

I’m not gonna lie:  REGISTER NOW.  The agenda is massive – it’s like a mini-Ignite/TechEd event – but it’s completely FREE.  Here’s the subject areas addressed:

• Productivity
• Security
• Networking
• Big data
• Storage
• Unified communication
• Identity
• Web
• Mobile
• Collaboration
• Hybrid Cloud
• Containers
• Devops
• Open source
• Management
• Internet of things

And here’s a title list of EVERY ONE of the sessions being offered over the 2-day event:

Day 1:

• Empowering Your Cloud Journey
• Bring your communications to the cloud with Skype for Business
• Build and deploy applications using Microsoft Azure
• Deliver mission critical, highly available and secure data
• Extend your datacenter to the cloud
• Identity Integration is Easy
• Increase productivity and security with enterprise mobility
• Microsoft FastTrack: The customer success service
• Modernize your datacenter
• Office 365 Developer Overview
• The Microsoft Information Protection Story Across EMS, Office 365 & Windows
• Windows IT Pro Session (TBD)
• Bring your communications to the cloud with Skype for Business
• Add identity into your cloud-based apps
• Automate application deployment and orchestration using Docker and containers
• Bring your ideas to life with Visual Studio 2015
• Create a dynamic datacenter with hybrid software-defined networking
• Deploy virtual machines in the cloud part I
• Getting Started with SharePoint in the Cloud
• Getting Started with the Office 365 APIs
• OneDrive for Business product recap and roadmap primer
• Skype for Business Meetings – planning for the cloud
• Tools and Tips for Administering Office 365
• What’s New in Windows 10 Deployment
• Bring the power of data to every user in your organization
• Build always-on, hyper-scalable microservice-based cloud services
• Build leaner, faster web applications with cross platform .NET
• Built-in security and controls in Office 365 to stay protected
• Deploy and manage Windows 10
• Deploy virtual machines in the cloud part II
• Getting Started with Office add-ins
• Getting Started with mobile app development with the Office 365 APIs
• Office 365 ProPlus – What’s new in 2016 and beyond
• What’s new in Exchange Online

Day 2:

• Build cross platform mobile applications
• Build web applications for the cloud using open source stacks: LAMP, MEAN and more
• Developing apps for the Internet of Things
• Getting Started with SharePoint add-ins
• IT Project and Portfolio Management in the Cloud
• Make Internet of Things real in your organization
• Manage and secure identities in a cloud and mobile world
• Managing Change in an Office 365 Rapid Release World
• Office 365 Groups Administration & Extensibility
• Windows 10 & Office 2016: The Cloud Ready Desktop
• Windows 10 Security
• Advanced Office add-in Development with Outlook
• Advanced Windows 10 development with the Office 365 APIs
• Integrate business process and data into web & mobile applications
• Modernize your IT management experience
• Office Graph, Delve, and SharePoint Better Together
• Simplify device management and secure email
• Take enterprise virtualization to the next level
• The Voice of Skype for Business – Cloud and Hybrid
• Transform big data into intelligent action with advanced analytics
• Understanding and Troubleshooting Office 365 end user Performance issues
• What’s New in Windows 10 Management and the Windows Store
• Advanced Web Development with the Office 365 APIs
• Cloud Solution Provider partner program API integration
• Deliver scalable, software-defined storage anywhere
• Integrate, deliver and deploy continuously with cloud devops
• Intelligent, Ready-to-Go NextGen Portals in Office 365
• Leverage the full power of .NET 2015 in your apps
• Optimize your Network for Skype for Business
• Run Azure services in your datacenter
• The Rise of Dynamic Teams: Modern Collaboration & Personalized Insights
• Use secure files to improve sharing with customers and partners
• Advanced Office add-in Development with Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• Advanced Web Development using Angular with Office 365 APIs
• Compliance & Transparency made easier in the cloud with Office 365
• Deliver an elastic data warehouse as a service
• Exchange Hybrid Deployment
• Office 365 ProPlus deployment deep dive
• Rapidly build Web and Mobile apps in the cloud
• Secure anywhere access to Windows apps
• Streamline security and management with a nano-sized operating system
• Take your Linux solutions to the next level with Microsoft
• Advanced SharePoint add-in Development
• Deploy containers for consistency, scale and performance
• Increase your value by learning automation
• Migrate existing applications to Azure for developers
• Rapidly diagnose and solve application problems
• Secure the cloud
• SharePoint and Office 365 Cloud Connected Hybrid Scenarios
• The secret to successful Skype for Business deployments
• Use relational database as a service
• What Really Happens When There Is an Office 365 Service Incident and What’s My Role?

Breakfast & Lunch will be served.

• DATE/TIME:
  January 26 – 27, 2016
• LOCATION:
  The Westin Bonaventure Hotel
  404 South Figueroa Street
  Los Angeles, CA 90071
• REGISTRATION & AGENDA:
  https://microsoftcloudroadshow.com/losangeles/
• OTHER CITIES:
  https://microsoftcloudroadshow.com/cities

Big news – Office 2016 is coming Sept 22nd! And with it, changes to how Office 365 Pro Plus are updated to maintain compatibility with existing applications.

…I’m happy to confirm that Office 2016 will be broadly available starting on September 22^nd. If you have a volume licensing agreement in place, you can download Office 2016 from the Volume Licensing Service Center starting October 1^st.

This post is your one-stop shop for the tools, guidance and resources needed to get ready for Office 2016. We’ve enhanced the upgrade and installation experience, and for Office 365 subscribers, we’ve made changes to how the 2016 apps are updated moving forward. We’re also delivering new tools and resources to help you prepare, deploy and manage Office.

…

Read more at the Office Blog:

• OFFICE BLOG: Admins—get ready for Office 2016, rollout begins September 22!
  https://blogs.office.com/2015/09/10/admins-get-ready-for-office-2016-rollout-begins-september-22/

Interested in Azure?  This online conference is for you!

Hear from the experts about the latest Azure innovation and easy-to-adopt solutions. Listen as customers take the stage to share their stories. Join live Q&As and interact with the architects and engineers who are building the latest features. Choose from more than 50 technical sessions—and accelerate your journey to the cloud.

Keynotes & Speaking Sessions from:

• Scott Guthrie – Executive Vice President, Cloud + Enterprise

• Jason Zander – Corporate Vice President, Cloud + Enterprise

• Bill Staples – Corporate Vice President, Cloud + Enterprise

• Mark Russinovich – Chief Technology Officer, Azure

• Scott Hanselman – Principal Program Manager, Application Platform

DATE/TIME:
September 29, 2015 9:00AM PST

REGISTRATION:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/azurecon/

For a limited time, get Monster’s Inc. FREE for linking your Disney Movies Anywhere account to Microsoft Movies & TV. (a.k.a. Xbox Video)

If you have an existing Disney Movies Anywhere account and a Microsoft Account, visit the following web site to take advantage of this offer:

With Disney Movies Anywhere and Microsoft Movies & TV, you can buy your favorite Disney, Disney•Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars movies once, then watch them instantly on a wide variety of devices, at home or on the go. Start building your collection today! PLUS, for a limited time you can get Monsters, Inc. FREE*! Simply connect your Microsoft Movies & TV account to your Disney Movies Anywhere account, and the movie will be added to your digital collection for free.

Visit this site to begin the process of getting your free copy of Monsters Inc. for use across all your Microsoft devices:

• MICROSOFT: Introducing Disney Movies Anywhere
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/movies-and-tv/disney-movies-anywhere

Read more about the new partnership between Disney & Microsoft here:

• Microsoft Movies & TV Now Supports Disney Movies Anywhere
  http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/09/08/microsoft-movies-tv-now-supports-disney-movies-anywhere/