I’ve added a page to IC for recording details of release schedules for software used by iMIS – for example the next versions of Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Office.
http://www.imiscommunity.com/microsoft_and_other_vendor_software_release...
If you come across any information on release schedules for products that we use or integrate with can you update it here.
I found this here - it is pretty useful
http://weblogs.asp.net/bradleyb/archive/2005/12/09/432802.aspx
This is how to add a command to the shell to open a folder as a web site in Visual Studio 2005 or 2008.
Visual Studio 2005/2008 does not support this by default but you can enable the scenario by writing a macro.
To do this, create a new macro either in an existing module or in a new module. For this example I’m going to add a module call Website to the MyMacros project.
I recently attended a Microsoft MSDN Roadshow. The slides for the presentations are here:
http://www.msdnroadshow.co.uk/
It covered
* ADO.NEXT – Entity Framework & Data Services
* ASP.NEXT – The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions
* Building Rich Internet UI with Silverlight 2
* Getting the most from the Visual Studio Team Suite Toolbox
Probably the most interesting area was all the tools that are now available in Visual Studio Team System for unit testing, SQL refactoring and schema versioning.
I attended a presentation on SQL Server 2008 in Cambridge last night. I'm sure the list of features are available elsewhere so I will just add some comments on things of interest.
The presenter was Dr Andras Belokosztolszki - one of the SQL gurus at Red Gate. This was part of a series of presentations being given by NxtGenUG - coming up are:
Media Centre
ADO.NET data services
F# (presented by the Don Syme - guy who invented it)
Microsoft have just announced that Expression Web and Expression Blend will now be available at no extra charge to all MSDN Premium Subscribers (this includes customers with the "VS Professional with MSDN Premium" subscription). This means many more developers will have these design tools for building ASP.NET, WPF and "WPF/E" solutions.
http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2007/04/03/listening-to-your-fee...
Microsoft recently announced that they have acquired DevBiz Solutions, the makers of Teamplain Web Access for Team System.
Teamplain is a web front end for Visual Studio Team System that enables users to access the majority of TFS functionality from within a web browser.
Teamplain is available as a free download to users of TFS.
Anyone who has read "Rapid Development" or "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell will know he is an excellent author and writes from a lot of experience in the computer industry.
His latest book is "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art" and is a great read, full of important insights and ideas. McConnell argues that whilst the average software organization can struggle with project costs that run double their original estimates, some of the more sophisticated organizations achieve results with estimation errors as low as 5-10%. However these best-in-class organizations use scientific techniques that are not cost-effective for most software development organizations.
I attended a Microsoft MSDN Roadshow yesterday. The presentations were about what they are planning to add to the next Visual Studio, code name "Orcas".
The presentations are all available for download from:
www.roadshowresources.com
This is a list of the presentations:
Session 1 - Language Enhancements and LINQ
Session 2 - AJAX Development
Session 3 - Advances for Data in VS "Orcas"
Session 4 - Rich Client Applications with XAML
Windows CardSpace is a new feature of Microsoft Windows that helps you better manage and control your personal information and helps shield you from many forms of phishing attack as well as some common malware attacks.
This is a good demo of what it can do, plus a look at the code needed to implement it.
Here are some interesting tips on searching in Vista.
Also did you know in Windows XP (as well as Vista) if you just type %APPDATA% in either Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer it will open your application data folder, and if you type shell:sendto it will take you straight to your sendto folder?
Here is the Vista stuff. You can read the full article at http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_05.asp
