Kurt Shintaku's Blog

[taken from Jason Zander’s MSDN blog]

I’m happy to announce that the Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta is now ready for download! MSDN subscribers may download the beta immediately with general availability on Thursday. Service Pack 1 Beta comes with a “go live” license which means you can start using the product for production related work (see the license agreement with the product for more details).

• Download Service Pack 1 Beta (MSDN Subscribers only)
• The link for Thursday’s general availability download is here.

Since the launch of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 earlier this year and our subsequent Feature Packs, we have been concentrating on your feedback and worked hard on the issues you reported through Connect and our survey. I just recently blogged about the results from our recent survey and called out some of the latest improvements the team has delivered. 

• Read more here:  “Announcing Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta”
  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jasonz/archive/2010/12/07/announcing-visual-studio-2010-service-pack-1-beta.aspx

The 2.0.657.0 version of our antimalware product for Windows XP/Vista/7 is officially released!

(And I’m happy to say that if you’re using version 1.x today, you’ll be able to install right over it and v2.0 will supplant it without needing to uninstall the previous version.)

Besides being an industry leading antivirus/antimalware product, as determined in independent security evaluations by AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, and the VB100, Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 has the following new capabilities: (As per our marketing)

• Windows firewall integration – Includes the option to turn Windows firewall on or off during installation.
• Better protection against web based threats – Integration with Internet Explorer to provide better security against different web based threats.
• New protection engine – Updated malware engine that offers better threat detection and cleanup.
• Network inspection system – Protection against network based exploits. It prevents malicious scripts from running.  NOTE: This feature does not work on Windows XP because it requires the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) which is only available within Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Folks newly installing the product from v1.x will notice the a few differences in addition to the strategic changes above, including the ability to limit CPU usage, create a restore point for changes made, etc.

Product description:

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Security Essentials v2.0
  http://bit.ly/fqebLJ

New whitepaper available for Enterprise IT pros around Windows Phone 7.

WHITEPAPER: Windows Phone 7 Guides for IT Professionals

Windows Phone 7 brings together the information, applications, tools, and services needed to help your workforce accomplish what they most want to do, easier and faster. At home or on the go, people can use powerful solutions such as Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft SharePoint Server to stay up-to-date with colleagues and business associates. Microsoft Outlook Mobile also delivers easy access to email messages and calendars so people can respond quickly and efficiently. And with the intuitive user interface of Windows Phone 7, people can work more efficiently using gestures like tapping and pinching to select content and navigate on their phone.

If you are an IT professional and your business users are asking for Windows Phone 7, this is a good place to start investigating what it takes to integrate and support the phone in your organization. This series of articles explores a variety of topics important to you—from providing how-to guidance on integrating technologies that businesses already use while helping to support corporate security and management requirements, to providing insights into how Windows Phone 7 helps to create compelling applications for phone, web, and PC by using powerful and familiar development tools. Windows Phone 7 is a different kind of phone designed to bring together what people care about most – easier and faster.

• DOWNLOAD: PAGE-DESCRIPTION_WP7_Guides_For_IT_Pros_121010.pdf
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=dfad6c2f-988a-4b09-9e3b-58bfc9ac0447

Please contact me if you’re a customer of mine for registration details.

Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Office 2010
Get the most out of Office 2010! Attend a Live Meeting to learn about timesaving features to help you in your day-to-day work. Suitable for beginner or intermediate users. Everyone will learn something!

The Ribbon
The Microsoft Office Fluent user interface, called ‘the Ribbon’ will help you find the features you need to complete tasks quickly and easily. This presentation will demonstrate useful tips and tricks for Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and help you get familiar with the Ribbon.

Save time
The time you take to attend this session can help save you time later. Past participants reported saving from 15 to over 30 minutes a day after attending a Tips and Tricks session. That adds up! Led by an expert Microsoft presenter, the session is not only informative, but entertaining.

Ask questions
Take advantage of our expert – join the live version of this meeting to ask your burning questions!

Schedule – Tips & Tricks for Microsoft Office 2010
Application specific Tips & Tricks coming in January 2011.
Downloadable/On-demand session available at the same URL 48 hours after event.

• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Tuesday, October 19, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Tuesday, November 09, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Wednesday, December 08, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Outlook 2010 – Tuesday, January 18, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Excel 2010 – Wednesday, February 16, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: PowerPoint 2010 – Tuesday, March 15, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Word 2010 – Wednesday, April 13, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: OneNote & Outlook 2010 – Tuesday, May 17, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Access 2010 – Wednesday, June 15, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST

All Webcasts will be available on-demand via the same links, 48 hours after the session concludes. 

Please use your computer for the audio portion of the presentation for best results.

First Time Users:
To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready
to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Free Seminar and Lab:
Desktop Virtualization Best Practices – Ease the Cost and Complexity of Migrating to Windows 7
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time
(breakfast and lunch will be provided)
Location: Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) Irvine, Calif.

Learn how to simplify your Windows 7 deployment, as well as move your desktop virtualization initiatives forward, during a hands-on lab experience presented by the desktop virtualization experts at Quest Software and Microsoft.

As you plan your migration to Microsoft’s Windows 7, you might discover issues with application compatibility, PC hardware refresh and running applications from non-Windows devices. These issues can make this move more costly and complex than you had expected.

This half-day workshop will introduce you to Quest vWorkspace and Microsoft’s virtualization suite. Our experienced instructors will describe the architectural details and features for both solutions, and then you can try the solutions out for yourself! You will learn best practices to help you efficiently deliver Windows 7, as well as deploy:

• Your own virtual server using Microsoft Hyper-V
• Virtual desktops using vWorkspace
• Virtual applications using Microsoft App-V
• Presentation virtualization using Microsoft RDSH
• Microsoft Office applications and more

We will also show you how to build Windows 2008 servers on Hyper-V, integrate LDAP and Active Directory servers, as well as integrate your back-end storage. You will be among the first to see how Quest EOP Xstream and RDP combine to accelerate virtual desktop displays and improve the user experience.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get instant answers to your most challenging Windows 7 migration questions from the desktop virtualization experts of Quest and Microsoft.

REGISTRATION:
Contact me if you are a customer of mine for details around registration.

UPDATE 2/4/2011:
Yes, this event is over however it’s all be recorded!  Watch the recordings here:
http://pragmaticworks.com/Resources/webinars/Month.aspx/89

—————–

Pragmatic Works and Microsoft Corporation would like to invite you to this month’s free SQL Server Community training.  It’s not often you can get free training from the people that write the books.

REGISTRATION: Contact me for registration details if you are a customer of mine.

Sessions:

Introduction to Performance Tuning Analysis Services 2008
Date: Dec 21, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Chris Webb, co-author Expert Cube Development SSAS 2008

So you’ve gone to all the trouble of building a cube, and your users are complaining that their queries are still too slow? This session will show you how to tune query performance on Analysis Services 2008, looking at partitioning, designing aggregations and identifying MDX-related bottlenecks.

Introduction to Data Mining in SQL Server Analysis Services
Date: Dec 23, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Brian Knight, SQL Server MVP and Author

Data mining is one of the key hidden gems inside of Analysis Services but has a steep learning curve for most.  In this session, you’ll learn how to create a data mining model to predict who is the best customer for you and learn how to use other algorithms to spend your marketing model wisely. You’ll also learn how to integrate data mining into your application.

Using Script Task and Components in SQL Server Integration Services
Date: Dec 28, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Mike Davis, SQL Server  BI Architect and Author

Mike shows you how to build script tasks in the control flow and Script components in the data flow of an SSIS package. If there is not a task in the toolbox that can do what you need, then a script task or component is used to complete these steps. Learn when to use them and when not to use them.

Building a career with SQL Server business intelligence
Date: Dec 29, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Brian Knight and Tim Moolic

The Microsoft Business intelligence market has grown significantly in the past few years.  Today demand is high for experienced SQL Server BI architects, developers, and analyst.  In this session Tim and Brian will review the job market opportunities and explain how you can take your career to the next level.

Unified Communications and Collaboration Ignite – 3 Day Training Event
Seating is limited – Register to save your spot today!

Dates: March 22-24, 2011
Location: Irvine, CA
Register:  Contact me if you are a customer for registration details.

As a valued member of the Microsoft community, we would like to extend to you an official invitation to the 3 day Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Ignite training event.

• Day 1 Essentials of Exchange Server 2010 SP1
• Day 2 Essentials of Lync Server 2010
• Day 3 Collaboration capabilities of Sharepoint 2010, Lync and Exchange Server 2010 SP1 together

Please note that we can only guarantee your seat for a limited time, so please RSVP early!

The UCC Ignite Instructor-led, hands-on technical training is the best way for you to get a first look at the communications and collaboration capabilities of these 3 products! During the event, you will have the opportunity to learn about technical details and key features, complemented by multiple hands-on labs.

Workshop Agenda

Daily 8:30AM Check-in / 9:00AM Start

DAY 1: Exchange Server 2010 SP1

• Lecture: Overview New Features
• Lecture and Lab: Client Access
• Lecture and Lab: Information Leakage Protection and Control
• Lecture and Lab: Management Tools and Role-Based Access Control
• Lecture and Lab: Transport and Routing
• Lecture and Lab: High Availability

DAY 2: Lync Server 2010

• Lecture: Overview of Lync Server 2010
• Lecture and Lab: Architecture, Planning & Deployment
• Lecture and Lab: Presence and Unified Client
• Lecture and Lab: Voice Features
• Lecture and Lab: Unified Messaging Integration – Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 and Lync Server 2010
• Lecture and Lab: New Features of Lync Server 2010

DAY 3: Collaboration using Sharepoint 2010, Exchange Server 2010 SP1, & Lync Server 2010

• Lecture: Overview Sharepoint 2010 Integration Features
• Lecture and Lab: Sharepoint with Exchange
• Lecture and Lab: Sharepoint Workspaces with Outlook and Exchange
• Lecture and Lab: Sharepoint with Lync Server 2010
• Lecture and Lab: Exchange and Lync Server 2010

Note: Lunch will be provided each day.

We look forward to having you participate in this exciting training event!

• Location:  Microsoft Office
  3 Park Plaza
  Suite 1800
  Irvine, CA 92614
  (949) 263-3000
• Date/Time:
  March 22, 2011
  9:00am- 5:00pm (PST)

DAY 1 Exchange Server 2010 SP1

• New Features
• Client Access
• Information Leakage Protection
• Transport and Routing
• High Availability
• Management Tools and Access Control

DAY 2 Lync Server 2010

• Architecture, Plan & Deploy
• Presence and UM
• Voice Features
• UM Integration with Exchange
• New Features

DAY 3 Collaboration with Sharepoint 2010

• Sharepoint 2010 Integration Features
• Sharepoint w/ Exchange
• Sharepoint Workspaces
• Sharepoint w/ Lync
• Exchange w/ Lync

Huge news.  Developers using the world’s most popular development language can now write Windows Phone 7 applications!  As taken from the Windows Blog:

Back in September, we released the CTP of Visual Basic for the Windows Phone Developer Tools. Today we’re pleased to announce the immediate availability of the RTW version of the Visual Basic add-on. You can immediately download VB support for the Windows Phone developer tools.

The big news is that you can now build and release Silverlight applications and games for Windows Phone built in Visual Basic to the Windows Phone Marketplace.

In addition, we’ve spent time beefing up our VB for WP sample code. Check out new VB versions of our released samples on MSDN.

We’re extremely excited to officially add support for Visual Basic to Windows Phone, and we can’t wait to see all of the new apps and games you’ll create with it.

For more information about this release, check out the following resources:

• The Visual Basic team’s blog
• Soma’s announcement of the release on his blog
• Jason Zander’s blog post on the release

Please note the following:

• This initial release of the Visual Basic add-on for the Windows Phone Developer Tools requires Visual Studio 2010 Professional or higher; Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone is not supported. If you do not have VS 2010 Pro or higher, you can download a trial version here.

• This release is only for Silverlight projects only; the Visual Basic add on for the Windows Phone Developer Tools does not support projects built on the XNA Framework.

Larry Lieberman, Product Manager, Windows Phone Developer Experience

• DOWNLOAD: Visual Basic for the Windows Phone Developer Tools
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=206790

The Windows Server Information Experience (WSiX) team has two new guides that are now available both on the Web and in the Microsoft Download Center:

Accomplish Goals with Windows Server Networking
In the guide "Accomplish Goals with Windows Server Networking," you’ll find networking goals that are presented in plain English so that you can find the right documentation, even if you aren’t yet familiar with all of the great Windows Server networking technologies.

You can find the guide in the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library, at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=194635. And it’s now available in Word format at the Microsoft Download Center, at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=204707.

Network and Sharing Center Operations Guide
Also ready for viewing now is the “Network and Sharing Center Operations Guide” for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. Network and Sharing Center provides a centralized location where you can view, create, and modify local area network (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), virtual private network (VPN), dial-up, and Broadband connections on your client and server computers. In addition, you can configure connections to the local computer, as well as  sharing options that specify the content that is available to other computers and devices on the network.

You can find the guide in the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Library, at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=63530. This guide is also available in Word format at the Microsoft Download Center, at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=204708.