Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft announced the PDC07 in October 2-5, 2007, with a pre-conference happening from Sept. 30-Oct 1st.  Stay tuned to the URL below for more details.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/pdc/

Sign up for the next Windows Vista Tips & Tricks Webcast
Tuesday, December 19^th – 10:00am PST

This webcast is the third in the series of Windows Vista Tips & Tricks webcasts that will be running monthly through t he end of the fiscal year and is a repeat of the webcast we presented in October.  If you or your customers were not able to attend the October webcast here is your chance to see a live presentation of Windows Vista Tips & Tricks. This is a great introduction to Windows Vista for the non-technical end-user.

This webcast will give you a first look at:

• Great new features in Windows Vista
• New User Interface
• New search and organize features
• Enhanced security
• Great tips on using Internet Explorer 7
• Easy, practical information on desktop tips that will make you more productive right away.

Join us for this informative and fun webcast on the new Windows Vista operating system.

Sign up now at: www.windowsvistatnt.com

Today’s IT environments are complex, and IT Professionals have to deal with managing and operating diverse environments, while continuing to deliver the levels of availability, performance and stability required to run and support the business. To meet the needs of the busy IT Professional we have created a monthly Live Meeting to help answer your questions in a collaborative environment of technical specialists and your peers.

Join this monthly Live Meeting to learn how System Center provides the knowledge and management tools to help IT professionals gain control of their complex environment, helping IT move from being reactive to a proactive, responsive partner to the business, meeting or exceeding the service levels, and keeping pace with the business. This session will be led by SoCal’s Microsoft’s Management Technology Specialist.

What’s new in System Center Operations Manager 2007?

With this release, Operations Manager will:

• Proactively manage business critical IT services, including distributed applications, the supporting infrastructure and hardware, and end-user service delivery.
• Reduce the complexities of managing your IT environment by providing a monitoring solution that is designed with ease of use in mind.
• Provide a highly reliable infrastructure by leveraging Windows Server and SQL 2005 clustering for high availability and through agents that automatically failover to a secondary management server if connectivity to the primary server is lost.
• Include management packs with prescriptive knowledge developed by the application and OS development teams at Microsoft and verified in production deployments to improve monitoring, troubleshooting, and problem resolution for more than 50 Microsoft applications and Windows Server components.

Registration:

Please RSVP for this event by clicking the links below. Call 1.877.MSEVENT (877.673.8366) or visit http://msevents.microsoft.com/ and search on the Event Code.

December 22, 2006: Event Code: 1032309099

January 19, 2007: Event Code: 1032320009

February 16, 2007: Event Code: 1032320011

March 16, 2007: Event Code: 1032320013

April 20, 2007: Event Code: 1032320015

May 18, 2007: Event Code: 1032320137

June 15, 2007: Event Code: 1032320019

TechNet Webcast: Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0 (Level 200)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

In this webcast, we cover Volume Activation 2.0, the flexible solution that enables Microsoft Volume Licensing customers to activate products more securely and easily on computers that are running the Windows Vista operating system and Microsoft Windows Server code-named “Longhorn.” We provide a technical overview of the activation options, planning, reporting, and manageability, and we discuss other aspects of Volume Activation 2.0.

Presenter: Thomas Lindeman, Senior Product Manager, Software Protection Platform, Microsoft Corporation

REGISTER:  http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032318044&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Benjamin Gauthey has created two new gadgets posted for download through his web site.

What is Outlook 2007 Mobile Service?

Outlook 2007 Mobile Service is a feature of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 that enables you to send and receive text messages between Office Outlook 2007 and any mobile phone. By setting Outlook 2007 Mobile Service to send SMS reminders for tasks and contacts, and even SMS messages containing your daily calendar right to your mobile phone, you don’t need to worry about missing an important meeting again.

Outlook 2007 Mobile Service gives you the flexibility and freedom to receive vital, time-sensitive information whether you’re out of the office, or in a meeting with a customer. The enhanced connectivity that Outlook 2007 Mobile Service provides will result in higher customer satisfaction, better team communication, and fewer hassles. It provides the communication tools you need to remain up-to-date in today’s rapidly changing workplace.

Outlook 2007 Mobile Service is easy to use, and requires no additional software or hardware other than your regular mobile phone. Outlook 2007 Mobile Service requires that you register with an Outlook 2007 Mobile service provider. Sign up today with available service provider for your region.

Why do I need Outlook 2007 Mobile Service?

Your busy day probably includes coordinating with customers and colleagues, travelling to client locations, or giving presentations and demonstrations. Managing a hectic schedule is a full-time job. Outlook 2007 Mobile Service helps you stay on track. There’s no need to check in with the office because the office checks in with you!

Reach your contacts, co-workers, and employees instantly:

• Send Short Message Service (SMS) text messages from Office Outlook 2007 to any mobile phone, including your own.
• Receive replies to your sent text messages to your Office Outlook 2007 inbox.
• Forward e-mail as SMS text messages from Office Outlook 2007 to any mobile phone.
• Automatically receive e-mail as SMS text messages to your mobile phone based on the rules you set up.
• Send a single e-mail message to multiple recipients’ phones.

Stay ahead of schedule:

• Automatically receive Office Outlook 2007 reminders as SMS text messages to your mobile phone.
• Send calendar appointments, contacts, or tasks as SMS text messages from Office Outlook 2007 to any mobile phone.
• Automatically receive your daily calendar as an SMS text message to your mobile phone.

Click here to sign-up!
(http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=ES101650331033&CTT=5&Origin=HA101549971033)

Read more here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA101549971033.aspx

It’s a bit early in the morning for all of us, but we wanted to be one of the first to tell you that XNA Game Studio Express has been released!

To download the released product for Windows, head over to: http://msdn.com/xna/gse/. You can now also purchase a subscription to the XNA Creators Club from the Xbox Live Marketplace on your Xbox 360 console if you have an active silver or gold Xbox Live subscription.

Before you purchase a subscription to the XNA Creators Club please take the time to go over the PC and Xbox 360 console requirements in the readme. Once you’ve done that here’s how to get it:

1. On the Xbox Live blade, go to "Xbox Live Marketplace"
2. Select "Games" and then "All Game Downloads"
3. Scroll down the list to find the "XNA Creators Club"
4. Here you’ll be able to go under Memberships to purchase a 4-Mo membership for $49.00 or an Annual (12-mo) membership $99.00. The prices used here reflect the subscription rates for the United States and pricing may differ for your local region or country if outside the USA.
5. You’ll also need to download the XNA Game Launcher from the same area. Having done so, you will find a new XNA Game Launcher program on your Games blade under Demos and More.

Once you’re up and running, please refer to the XNA Documentation to get connected to your Xbox 360 and start creating games. If you run into trouble or can’t get connected, please head over to the XNA Game Studio Express forum and ask your questions.

We’d also like to thank all of you for taking the time to download our betas and give us some great feedback. Many decisions that took place on the final product were based on the feedback that we got from you all. Thank you and we hope that you continue to enjoy using XNA Game Studio Express.

Michael Klucher
Program Manager – XNA Game Studio

Xbox.com had a newsflash about the availability of Shadowrun… a much anticipated game from FASA Studios, the division of Microsoft that are also the makers of MechWarrior.

FASA Studio and Microsoft Game Studios are pleased to announce the beta for their upcoming multiplayer team based FPS title, Shadowrun.  Applications are now being accepted!  The beta will begin in December with a limited number of testers and gradually increase in size over time.  While the retail version of Shadowrun will feature cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and Vista, this beta will be for the Xbox 360 only. Instructions for submitting an application for the beta are below.
Ready to apply?

REGISTER:  http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1128-shadowrunbetainvitation.htm

(BTW:  Before you start asking "what’s the beta code?" like a friend of mine did, RTFW.)

Look at this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15607130/

We at Microsoft talked about this in the middle of this year.  A cellphone acting as a person’s mobile computer.  Lower end versions simply connecting to TVs and leveraging Bluetooth keyboards as input devices.

But this is CRAZY:  Thee Samsung MIT (Samsung calls all it’s devices "MITs" for some reason) cellphone does voice & video calls, contains WiMAX networking, x86 CPU, Windows XP Professional, weighs about a pound and contains a fold-out keyboard, 5-inch screen and 30 gigabyte hard drive. Again, just in case you didn’t read that last line, did I mention it runs the full version of Windows XP and also supports the CDMA cellular networking – the same stuff in use by Verizon & Sprint?   (And South Korea & China… did you hear that you European GSM drum beaters?  Not everyone in the world lives in GSM land!)

Bad news:  Not available in the US.  Yet.

Good news:  This phone looks remarkably like the Samsung i600 which was the highest selling Windows Mobile Smartphone for CDMA networks prior to the Motorola Q releasing.  A US release would be undoubtedly predicated on the adoption of WiMAX by cellular vendors.

I obtained the release dates of all the Computer-Based Training (CBT) courses as well as the availability of free vs Software Assurance vs "at-cost" classes and I went ahead and put together a listing of everything that is available to our Enterprise customers.

IMPORTANT TRAINING FACTOIDS/NOTES:
1) ALL C.B.T. TRAINING CONTENT IS MICROSOFT ELEARNING BASED:
– Microsoft eLearning is hosted/online content that is subscription based – this makes it possible to keep content up to date and highly interactive. The internal inTRAnet-based content, formerly known as "MELL" or Microsoft eLearning Library does not exist for Windows Vista or Office System 2007.
– All Information Worker (end-user) eLearning material is available as a benefit of Software Assurance in an Enterprise Agreement.  Non-EA/SA customers must pay per employee & per course individually.
– For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mls/elearn/default.mspx

2) TRAINING COORDINATOR RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO ORGANIZE PLANNING:
EDUCATION COODINATOR WHITEPAPER: Windows Vista "Learning Windows Vista in the Workplace" whitepaper explained how-to plan and organize training for end-users.
http://www.windowsvistatnt.com/documents/windows_vista_learning_windows_vista_in_the_workplace.doc
EDUCATION COODINATOR WEBCAST: Online presentation on Windows Vista & Office 2007 educational resources:
– Webcast here: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/msevents/view?id=916&role=attend&pw=DHDBGSK
– Powerpoint here: http://www.windowsvistatnt.com/documents/windows_vista_new_resources.ppt)
EDUCATION PLANNING & ROADMAP: Enterprise Learning Framework website tool for planning training curriculum for end-users.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopdeployment/bdd/elf/Welcome.aspx

————————————–
ENTERPRISE TRAINING COURSES:
I have divided the course content available into 4 parts:

• IT PRO INSTRUCTOR LED
• IT PRO ONLINE
• END USER INSTRUCTOR LED
• END USER ONLINE

IT PRO INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING:
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL EDUCATION/TRAINING CENTER FOR ADDITIONAL COURSES TO LEVERAGE SOFTWARE ASSURANCE TRAINING HOURS.

The primary Microsoft-Authorized courses are:
– Course 5056/5057: Windows Vista for IT Professionals (2 days – IT Pro – Help Desk)
– Course 5105: Deploying Windows Vista Business Desktops (2 days – IT Pro – Desktop Support)
– Course 3041: Deploying Microsoft Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System Client Products (IT Pro – Desktop Support)
– Course 3087: Microsoft Windows Vista for Developers

IT PRO ONLINE TRAINING:
I have organized this courselist by first listing how it is Countrywide obtains the right to use it (FREE, SA/Software Assurance, or a $ cost), then listed out the course ID number, the date it will be made available, and the title of the course. Note: Information Worker (end-user) courses are generally either free or the costs are covered by Countrywide’s Software Assurance benefits. IT Professional courses however are generally not covered and are at costs listed. (There are 1 or 2 exceptions)

WINDOWS VISTA TRAINING COURSES AVAILABLE:
Clinic 3041: Deploying Microsoft® Windows Vista™ and the 2007 Office System Client Products (Beta)
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=60546
Course 5348: Installing Microsoft® Windows Vista™ on a New Computer
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70176
Course 5349: Upgrading and Migrating to Windows Vista™
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70376
Course 5350: Configuring Windows Vista™ Post-Installation System Settings
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70239
Course 5351: Maintaining and Optimizing Microsoft® Windows Vista™
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70288
Course 5352: Fundamentals of the Windows Vista™ Startup Process
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70377
Course 5353: Fundamentals of Microsoft® Windows Vista™ File Systems
$39.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=70240
Clinic 5136: Introduction to Developing with Windows® Workflow Foundation and Visual Studio® 2005
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=67819

OFFICE SYSTEM 2007 TRAINING COURSE AVAILABLE:
Clinic 3041: Deploying Microsoft® Windows Vista™ and the 2007 Office System Client Products (Beta)
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=60546
Clinic 3199: Getting Started with the 2007 Microsoft® Office System (Beta)
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=98459
Clinic 3369: Getting Started with Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 (Beta)
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=98491
Clinic 3370: Getting Started with Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 (Beta)
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99057
Clinic 5045: Inside Look at Developing with Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=100739
Clinic 5046: Inside Look at Building and Developing Solutions with Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=100740

END USER INSTRUCTOR LED TRAINING:
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL EDUCATION/TRAINING CENTER FOR ADDITIONAL COURSES TO LEVERAGE SOFTWARE ASSURANCE TRAINING HOURS.
– Course 5062: First Look Using Windows Vista – An introduction to Windows Vista (End users)

WINDOWS VISTA TIPS & TRICKS:
If you are are one of my customers, I can organize/fund a Windows Vista Tips & Tricks presentation delivered by our technology/training specialists. These are 1 hour presentations that review the key features that people find most valuable out of the Windows Vista operating system. If you’re interested in seeing playback of the course content, this is a webcast recording of the presentation generally given, although it can be customized:
Windows Vista Tips & Tricks Webcast:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032308409&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

OFFICE SYSTEM 2007 TIPS & TRICKS:
 If you are are one of my customers, Ican organize/fund a Office System 2007 Tips & Tricks presentation to be delivered by our technology/training specialists. These are similar to the Windows Vista presentations and a 1 hour long. Here is a webcast of the general content.
Office System 2007 Tips & Tricks Webcast:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032313120&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

END USER ONLINE TRAINING:
I have organized this courselist by first listing how it is Countrywide obtains the right to use it (FREE, SA/Software Assurance, or a $ cost), then listed out the course ID number, the date it will be made available, and the title of the course. Note: Information Worker (end-user) courses are generally either free or the costs are covered by Countrywide’s Software Assurance benefits. IT Professional courses however are generally not covered and are at costs listed. (There are 1 or 2 exceptions)

WINDOWS VISTA TRAINING COURSES AVAILABLE:
(THESE ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE – SEE ASSOCIATED DATES FOR AVAILABILITY)
FREE: IW06-02934AE 11/15/06 What’s New in Microsoft Windows Vista (1 hours) available at http://www.microsoftelearning.com (Delayed from 11/15… to be posted soon)
CERTIFICATION EXAM: IW06-0308:100 3/1/2007 Using Microsoft Windows Vista – Level 1
CERTIFICATION EXAM: 70-600:100 5/1/2007 Windows Vista for the Information Worker
?: 5257AE 2/9/2007 Core Training for Windows Vista (12 hours) <still trying to figure out if this is covered by SA – stay tuned>
SA: 3392AE 12/22/06 Getting Started with Windows Vista (2 hours) – Designed for first 30-60 days of using Windows Vista

OFFICE SYSTEM 2007 TRAINING ("What’s New" series – Over 60 hours of content)
Course 4622: What’s New in Microsoft® Office Access 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99485
Course 4623: What’s New in Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99487
Course 4624: What’s New in Microsoft® Office InfoPath® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99488
Course 4625: What’s New in Microsoft® Office OneNote® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99489
Course 4626: What’s New in Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99490
Course 4627: What’s New in Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99491
Course 4628: What’s New in Microsoft® Office Word 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99492
Course 4629: What’s New in Microsoft® Office Visio® 2007
$29.99: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99493
Course 4697: Introduction to the New Microsoft® Office User Interface
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99494
Course 4698: Getting Started with Microsoft® Office Groove® 2007
FREE: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=99495

("Core Training" Series – THESE ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE – SEE ASSOCIATED DATES FOR AVAILABILITY)
SA: 5262AE 3/27/07 What’s New in Microsoft 2007 Office System (9 hours)
SA: 5258AE 1/25/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Word 2007 (6 hours)
SA: 5259AE 2/8/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Excel 2007 (6 hours)
SA: 5261AE 3/6/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Outlook 2007 (6 hours)
SA: 5260AE 2/20/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007 (6 hours)
SA: 5263AE 4/13/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Access 2007 (6 hours)
SA: 5267AE 5/29/2007 Core Training for Microsoft OneNote 2007 (4 hours)
SA: 5265AE 4/17/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Visio 2007 (4 hours)
SA: 5264AE 4/17/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Project 2007 (4 hours)
SA: 5266AE 5/15/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Sharepoint Designer 2007 (4 hours)
SA: 5268AE 6/12/2007 Core Training for Microsoft Office Infopath 2007 (4 hours)