Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft’s next-generation command line based shell codenamed "Monad" reached Beta 1.  The beta is a little like a programmable Unix-like shell for Windows.  Monad will be a core component of several of our products outside of Windows, including Exchange 12, for things like administrative functions, without a GUI.

According to executive interviews, Monad will not ship with Longhorn client but instead will ship after it’s release.

Users interested in trying out Monad can join the beta program by visiting:
– http://www.betaplace.com
– Guest ID: mshPDC

The Microsoft Device Emulator 1.0 Community Preview is a standalone version of the same ARM based Device Emulator that ships as part of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. The standalone emulator is intended for situations when you want to demonstrate or test your application on a computer that does not have Visual Studio 2005 installed. The emulator ships with support for Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.

The new Device Emulator has a number of features that make it significantly better than its predecessor. You will find that it:

• Runs code compiled for ARM processors rather than for x86 processors. In most cases, you can run the same binaries on the emulator as you do on the device.
• Supports synchronizing with ActiveSync. You can use the Device Emulator with a full ActiveSync partnership. This feature allows you to debug applications that are syncing, or be able to use real synchronized data from within the Device Emulator.
• Provides support for more development environments. The emulator has been tested for developing and debugging applications with Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET 2003, and with eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 (eVC4) SP4, all using ActiveSync. No crossover serial cable is required.
• The Device Emulator supports GAPI. You can write and debug GAPI games on the Device Emulator and expect them to work.

The Device Emulator is a pre-release Community Preview. The software is not suitable for use in any critical operating environment. It is not supported by Microsoft Product Support Services.

Documentation, updates, additional images, bug submissions information, and a newsgroup for the Device Emulator are available on the Microsoft Device Emulator Community Preview website:

• Visit http://beta.microsoft.com
• Login using your Passport account, or create one if you don’t have one.
• Use Guest ID MSDEVICE to access the Community Preview website 

Microsoft previews Web services pack
WSE 3.0 features security profiles, interoperability with Indigo

Microsoft (Profile, Products, Articles) reports it has had approximately 15,000 downloads of an early version of its WSE (Web Services Enhancements) 3.0 package, which features turnkey security profiles and interoperability with the company’s upcoming Indigo Web services deployment technology. 
 
A Community Technology Preview of WSE 3.0 was released last week as a precursor to a formal beta version due this summer and a general release due by the end of the year. “It allows people to get access to the bits early, to be able to see what is coming down the pipeline,” and provide feedback, said Rebecca Dias, Web services group product manager at Microsoft.

Serving as an add-on to the .Net Framework for application deployment on Windows, WSE is focused on providing security to Web services solutions, Dias said. Version 3.0 features turnkey security profiles for implementing security technologies such as Kerberos, X.509, and security context tokens, Dias said. The profiles save developers from hand-coding, she said.

DOWNLOAD:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7591DFD2-E1B7-4624-9D5B-29C211D149FE&displaylang=en