John Alexander's Blog

A Holiday Gift for Windows Azure node.js users

John Alexander — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:32:36 GMT

The awesome Azure team is at it again! Earlier this month, they released an early preview of the new Windows Azure SDK for Node.js. They have just released the December Update with several new features, including:

Windows Azure PowerShell for Node.js 0.5.1 update,
IISNode 0.1.13 update
Node.js 0.6.6 update from Joyent,
Installer in-place upgrade support for all these components
Numerous bug fixes in all three components

Read more about it at the Azure team blog.

Haven’t tried it yet? Get started by downloading the SDK here. Want to start developing? Check out the developer center for Node.js developers!

Great work Glenn and team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Eternal Battle: Rich v. Reach…- Guest Blogger, Billy Hollis

John Alexander — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:34:42 GMT

This post is from a very good friend of mine, Billy Hollis. He’s got some interesting food for thought and I think you’ll enjoy his perspective!

For over 15 years now, our industry has been struggling with a crucial tradeoff. We can get broad reach via standards, or we can get the best possible user experience with applications that take advantage of particular devices or platforms.

It's a stereotype that people in software development tend to be code and technology centric and not user centric. Ideally, we would like "one best way" to write our applications, with that "one best way" optimized to allow us to produce reliable, scalable applications as quickly as possible.

However, I don't think we're anywhere close to a universal "one best way". Until the day that web/cloud bandwidth is roughly equivalent to local bandwidth, that can't happen. Until the day that standards balance the need for security and the need for device access, that can't happen. Which means we won't be seeing it any time soon.

So, until that day, our industry must be open to the idea that the way we expose our applications to users must vary with circumstances and application requirements. Sometimes we are OK with straightforward UI and we need broad reach, so we use web standard technologies (e. g., social media). Other times we must have strong integration with devices and the best user experience we can design and create (e.g. clinical records management for healthcare).

Most applications will fall somewhere in the middle, and then we must make hard decisions on what aspects of our application are most important.

Unfortunately, as the people developing the software, we have a tendency to choose what's easiest *for us*. For example, it's usually much easier for us to produce a centralized application. Our deployment story is simplified, and our maintenance path is reasonably clear.

So, in making our tradeoff decisions, we should always remember this: users outnumber developers. Our applications and systems exist for them to get something done.

Large, diversified, distributed groups of users benefit from standards-based development. They get to use the software with whatever device or system they happen to have. They don't have to bend their lives to our software, and that's good for them. Software for such groups usually has a fairly small core feature set, and we can use standards-based UI technologies to give a more-than-adequate user experience.

Smaller, focused, often professional groups of users benefit from applications that make them as productive as possible. That may mean any of the following:

- Intelligent management of complex task-based workflow
- Heads down data entry
- Management of rich data, including graphics and numbers that require context setting
- Visualization of data and analysis features for decision support
- Interface to various devices that supply information to be managed
- Security needs to comply with regulations such as HIPPA

A tangible example may help clarify. At the beginning of the .NET era, I did some light consulting with a local startup working on clinical records software. They decided it would be browser based, because everything they read by various experts in the industry told them that standards-based development was so important that it basically overrode almost all other considerations.

I was the only person advising them to strongly consider a client-based user interface. I know doctors. They demand usability, clarity, and responsiveness in the software they use. That's completely understandable, given the responsibilities they have.

The company devoted six years and perhaps ten million dollars in trying to make that browser-based software function as a clinical records system. At the end of that time, they threw in the towel on it. The doctors simply refused to use it. It worked, in the sense that it managed all the information the doctors needed. It just was not usable and productive enough to replace paper charts.

After six years, they began shifting to Windows Forms wrapping the browser to get more control over the interface. They had just begun to shift to WPF, but the money ran out.

From what I've seen in HTML5, it still is not ready to give the kind of user experience this sort of application ideally needs. Among other limitations, it lacks the client-based state management to build in enough local intelligence. You could certainly build a better clinical records system in HTML5 than in HTML4, but I still believe it would fall well short of what's possible with other, client-based technologies.

In the last year or so, I've done consulting for the following scenarios:

- Petroleum management software that must run on a local machine, because it is used at oil wells in the middle of nowhere and manages complex data sets with thousands of measurements

- Medical management software that handles complex images and videos, with annotations, dictation, workflow, interface to devices, and strong security

- Kiosk software with touch for manipulation of 3D images

- Retail software that must run regardless of network connectivity, must be highly productive, must have a touch option, and must directly interface to devices such as credit card readers and cash drawers

- Home healthcare that must allow users to travel to homes in a wide area, with no assurance of connectivity, and work with rich databases that must be on the local machine for complete availability

All of these scenarios require capabilities that would stretch HTML5 to the limit, if they could be accomplished at all.

I go into such depth to try and establish a basic concept that ought not be that controversial: for the foreseeable future, our industry needs technology to create rich, productive applications with interfaces that run on the client machines, and in many cases require access to local resources and devices on the client machine.

That doesn't mean I regard HTML5 as worthless or irrelevant. Far from it - I abhor how miserably bad the user experience is on many websites, even those from major corporations. Anything that gives UI designers better options to create more usable and pleasant sites is AOK with me.

However, it pains me to see a recurring attitude among many developers, especially among enterprise-level thought leaders, which is this: whatever works for me is what everyone should use.

I see it in evangelism around process X, Y, and Z, in open source evangelism, and in standards evangelism. All of those areas are valuable - but not universally. Not for every team and every application.

"One size fits all" doesn't even work very well for hats. I hate those adjustable baseball caps, and you don't see Major League baseball players using them.

One of my guiding principles is that any time someone promotes a "one size fits all" concept or technology, I pretty much pigeonhole that person as lacking experience or perspective, since "one size fits all" doesn't work for anything in life.

So it is with HTML5. As I said, I'm in favor of it. There are applications where it's a clear choice, and I hope to see it promote more and better UI design thinking among the software development community, which has historically been delinquent in that area.

But can the HTML5 advocates please give some respect to the alternatives that are needed for other circumstances and other applications? Can we stop with the "HTML5 is taking over, so X is dead" discussions?

We have a generation of users coming up that grew up on iPods and iPhones. Their usability standard is molded by apps on the iPad.

We developers need to step up and take on the challenge of doing better. Sometimes that will mean using the advanced capabilities of HTML5 to create better web applications. Other times, it will means stretching our imagination to the limit to come up with innovative ways to leverage the capabilities of powerful client platforms.

For that range of needs, we'll need a range of UI technologies. We'll need HTML. We'll need Silverlight. We'll need WPF. We'll need other technologies for other client platforms, such as Objective C.

But most of all, we'll need the attitude that we will do what's best for our users, not simply what's best or most comfortable for us.

Administering Team Foundation Server 2010 Class resource links

John Alexander — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:44:56 GMT

Here are the resource links for the Administering Team Foundation Server 2010 Class from last week in Minneapolis.

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Microsoft® Virtual PC 2007 SP1

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=5e13b15a-fd74-4cd7-b53e-bdf9456855bd

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Windows Virtual PC

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=509c3ba1-4efc-42b5-b6d8-0232b2cbb26e

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0198b64-4acb-4709-b07f-359fb4d523bc

Customizable process guidance

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/allclark/archive/2010/08/12/customizable-process-guidance.aspx

The 5 most read Visual Studio ALM help topics on MSDN

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/allclark/archive/2010/11/12/the-5-most-read-visual-studio-alm-help-topics-on-msdn.aspx

Inside TFS

http://visualstudiomagazine.com/Articles/List/Inside-TFS.aspx

Testing Topics

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd286594.aspx

Blogs

http://community.accentient.com

http://geekswithblogs.net

Branching Guide

http://tfsbranchingguideiii.codeplex.com/

Great VSTS blog

http://geekswithblogs.net/hinshelm/Default.aspx

Visual Studio Forums

http://bit.ly/fE16u3

TFS Migration and Integration Solutions

http://bit.ly/cLaBnT

TFS Migration and Integration Tools (VS ALM Rangers)

http://bit.ly/9tHWdG

TFS Migration and Integration Platform (CodePlex)

http://tfsintegration.codeplex.com

Team Foundation Server SDK

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/TfsSdk

Migrate and Integration Forum

http://bit.ly/f4Lnps

Team Foundation Server Widgets

http://www.tfswidgets.com

TFS Sdk

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/TfsSdk

TFS Migration and Integration Solutions

http://bit.ly/cLaBnT

TFS Integration Tools Forum

http://bit.ly/f4Lnps

TFS Integration Tools

http://bit.ly/9tHWdG

TFS Integration Platform

http://tfsintegration.codeplex.com

VS Upgrade Guide

http://vs2010upgradeguide.codeplex.com

Updating an Upgraded Team Project to Access New Features

http://bit.ly/9cCcMP

Team Foundation Power Tools

http://bit.ly/dfNVQk

Team Foundation Administration Tool

http://tfsadmin.codeplex.com

Using Team Foundation Server Command-Line Tools

http://bit.ly/hCyozJ

Changing Groups and Permissions with TFSSecurity

http://bit.ly/esIjgw

Unofficial Prep guide for TFS 2010 Administration Exam (70-512)

http://geekswithblogs.net/enriquelima/archive/2010/07/21/unofficial-prep-guide-for-tfs-2010-administration-exam-70-512.aspx

Another Prep Guide

http://bit.ly/bpO30R

Professional Application Lifecycle Management with VS 2010 Book

http://bit.ly/9rCIRj

Search CodePlex for TFS related apps

http://www.codeplex.com/site/search

Visual Studio Gallery

http://visualstudiogallery.com

Migrate from Visual SourceSafe

http://bit.ly/8XPSRh

Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider 2010

http://bit.ly/dst1OQ

Attrice TFS Sidekicks

www.attrice.info/cm/tfs

Hosted TFS

http://bit.ly/cMZdvp

Manually Processing the Team Foundation Server 2010 Data Warehouse and Analysis Services Database

http://bit.ly/aG5oEh

TFS 2005, 2008 and 2010 Compatibility

http://shrinkster.com/1dhj

Silverlight firestarter today!!!!

John Alexander — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:12:21 GMT

If you haven’t already signed up, there is a Silverlight Firestarter event happening today and kicks off in a little under an hour! Sign up here!!!!!

ScottGu starts of with a keynote entitled “The Future of Silverlight”. Sounds like a good thing.

Here is the rest of the agenda(All Times PST):

9:00 am
Scott Guthrie
The Future of Silverlight

10:45 am
Jesse Liberty
Data Binding Strategies with Silverlight and WP7

11:30 am
Yavor Georgiev
Building Compelling Apps with WCF using REST and LINQ

12:15 pm

Lunch

1:00 pm
Dan Wahlin
Building Feature Rich Business Apps Today with RIA Services

1:45 pm
John Papa
MVVM: Why and How? Tips and Patterns using MVVM and Service Patterns with Silverlight and WP7

2:45 pm
Tim Heuer
Tips and Tricks for a Great Installation Experience

3:30 pm
Mike Cook &
Jossef Goldberg
Tune Your Application: Profiling and Performance Tips

4:30 pm
Jaime Rodriguez
Performance Tips for Silverlight Windows Phone 7

I’ll be watching and hope you will too!!! Enjoy.

LightSwitch Presentation Resources

John Alexander — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:53:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who attended the “Flip on LightSwitch!” at the Kansas City Office Geeks User Group last night! Lots of great questions and interaction from the group!

As promised, here are the resources we talked about:

First, you need a place to play with LightSwitch. As it is beta, a vpc is always a good idea.

Currently there are three flavors of the Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate VPC:

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Microsoft® Virtual PC 2007 SP1

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=5e13b15a-fd74-4cd7-b53e-bdf9456855bd&displaylang=en

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Windows Virtual PC

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=509C3BA1-4EFC-42B5-B6D8-0232B2CBB26E&displaylang=en

Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 and Team Foundation Server® 2010 RTM virtual machine for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E0198B64-4ACB-4709-B07F-359FB4D523BC&displaylang=en

Visual Studio LightSwitch Download

Get the bits here.

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/lightswitch

Visual Studio LightSwitch Developer Center

Lots of good stuff here. Check out the how to videos for a great start!

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lightswitch/default.aspx

Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta 1 Training Kit

The Visual Studio LightSwitch Training Kit contains demos and labs to help you learn to use and extend LightSwitch. The introductory materials walk you through the Visual Studio LightSwitch product. By following the hands-on labs, you'll build an application to inventory a library of books.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ac1d8eb5-ac8e-45d5-b1e3-efb8e4e3ebd1&displaylang=en

Walkthrough: Creating the Vision Clinic Application

Here is a great walkthrough to build a more advanced app from stem to stern:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee256749.aspx

Make sure you you get the database and finished sample here:

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/lightswitch

And last but not least, here is the MSDN documentation:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff851953.aspx

That should give you a great start! Look for more posts on Visual Studio LightSwitch from me soon.

Now Available: Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate Virtual Machines with Sample Data and Hands-on-Labs

John Alexander — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:09:54 GMT

From a message from Brian Keller:

“Back in December we posted a set of virtual machines pre-configured with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2, Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 Beta 2, and 7 hands-on-labs. I am pleased to announce that today we have shipped an updated virtual machine using the Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate bits, a brand new sample application, and 9 hands-on-labs.

This VM is customer-ready and includes everything you need to learn and/or deliver demonstrations of many of my favorite application lifecycle management (ALM) capabilities in Visual Studio 2010. This VM is available in the virtualization platform of your choice (Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007 SP1, and Windows [7] Virtual PC). Hyper-V is highly recommended because of the performance benefits and snapshotting capabilities.

Tailspin Toys
The sample application we are using in this virtual machine is a simple ASP.NET MVC 2 storefront called Tailspin Toys. Tailspin Toys sells model airplanes and relies on the application lifecycle management capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 to help them build, test, and maintain their storefront. Major kudos go to Dan Massey for building out this great application for us.

Hands-on-Labs / Demo Scripts
The 9 hands-on-labs / demo scripts which accompany this virtual machine cover several of the core capabilities of conducting application lifecycle management with Visual Studio 2010. Each document can be used by an individual in a hands-on-lab capacity, to learn how to perform a given set of tasks, or used by a presenter to deliver a demonstration or classroom-style training. Unlike the beta 2 release, 100% of these labs target Tailspin Toys to help ensure a consistent storytelling experience.

Software quality:

Authoring and Running Manual Tests using Microsoft Test Manager 2010
Introduction to Test Case Management with Microsoft Test Manager 2010
Introduction to Coded UI Tests with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
Debugging with IntelliTrace using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate

Software architecture:

Code Discovery using the architecture tools in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
Understanding Class Coupling with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
Using the Architecture Explore in Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate to Analyze Your Code

Software Configuration Management:

Planning your Projects with Team Foundation Server 2010
Branching and Merging Visualization with Team Foundation Server 2010 “

Check out Brian’s Post for more info including download instructions…

Guidance and Pricing for MSDN 2010

John Alexander — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:39:55 GMT

Sorry for the rather lengthy post here. I get asked this all the time so I decided to post it…Visual Studio 2010 editions will be available on April 12, 2010.

Product Features	Professional with MSDN Essentials	Professional with MSDN	Premium with MSDN	Ultimate with MSDN	Test Professional with MSDN
Debugging and Diagnostics
IntelliTrace (Historical Debugger)
Static Code Analysis
Code Metrics
Profiling
Debugger
Testing Tools
Unit Testing
Code Coverage
Test Impact Analysis
Coded UI Test
Web Performance Testing
Load Testing¹
Microsoft Test Manager 2010
Test Case Management²
Manual Test Execution
Fast-Forward for Manual Testing
Lab Management Configuration³
Integrated Development Environment
Multiple Monitor Support
Multi-Targeting
One Click Web Deployment
JavaScript and jQuery Support
Extensible WPF-Based Environment
Database Development
Database Deployment
Database Change Management²
Database Unit Testing
Database Test Data Generation
Data Access
Development Platform Support
Windows Development
Web Development
Office and SharePoint Development
Cloud Development
Customizable Development Experience
Architecture and Modeling
Architecture Explorer
UML^® 2.0 Compliant Diagrams (Activity, Use Case, Sequence, Class, Component)
Layer Diagram and Dependency Validation
Read-only diagrams (UML, Layer, DGML Graphs)
Lab Management
Virtual environment setup & tear down³
Provision environment from template³
Checkpoint environment³
Team Foundation Server
Version Control²
Work Item Tracking²
Build Automation²
Team Portal²
Reporting & Business Intelligence²
Agile Planning Workbook²
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Explorer 2010
Test Case Management²
MSDN Subscription – Software and Services for Production Use
Windows Azure Platform	20 hrs/mo ^†	50 hrs/mo ^†	100 hrs/mo ^†	250 hrs/mo ^†	n/a
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 CAL		1	1	1	1
Microsoft Expression Studio 3
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, Project Professional 2010, Visio Premium 2010 (following Office 2010 launch)
MSDN Subscription – Software for Development and Testing ⁴
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008
Toolkits, Software Development Kits, Driver Development Kits
Previous versions of Windows (client and server operation systems)
Previous versions of Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Dynamics
All other Servers
Windows Embedded operating systems
Teamprise
MSDN Subscription – Other Benefits
Technical support incidents	0	2	4	4	2
Priority support in MSDN Forums
Microsoft e-learning collections (typically 10 courses or 20 hours)	0	1	2	2	1
MSDN Flash newsletter
MSDN Online Concierge
MSDN Magazine
System Requirements	View	View	View	View	View
Buy from (MSRP)	$799	$1,199	$5,469	$11,899	$2,169
Renew from (MSRP)	$549 (upgrade)	$799	$2,299	$3,799	$899

† Availability varies by country and subscription level. Details available on the MSDN site

1. May require one or more Microsoft Visual Studio Load Test Virtual User Pack 2010

2. Requires Team Foundation Server and a Team Foundation Server CAL

3. Requires Microsoft Visual Studio Lab Management 2010

4. Per-user license allows unlimited installations and use for designing, developing, testing, and demonstrating applications.

UML is a registered trademark of Object Management Group, Inc.

Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Windows Azure Boot Camp coming to KC in April

John Alexander — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:22:31 GMT

Interested in getting up to speed on Windows Azure? Then check out this FREE boot camp, all across the US this spring.

What is a Windows Azure Boot Camp?

Windows Azure Boot Camp is a two day deep dive class to get you up to speed on developing for Windows Azure. The class includes a trainer with deep real world experience with Azure, as well as a series of labs so you can practice what you just learned. ABC is more than just a class, it is also an event in a box. If you don't see a class near you, then throw your own. We provide all of the materials and training you need to host your own class. This can be for your company, your customers, your friends, or even your family. Please let us know so we can give you all of the details.

Awesome. How much does it cost?

Thanks to all of our fantabulous sponsors, this two day training event is FREE! We will provide drinks and snacks, but you will be on your own for lunch on both days. This is a training class after all.

How do I attend one?

You can click here to register for the Kansas City event on April 8th and 9th or click here to see where else ABC will be…

WHAT TO BRING – important!!!

Technorati Tags: Azure,Microsoft,Kansas City

Kansas City .NET UG March Meeting – Tonight!!!!

John Alexander — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:58:44 GMT

Meeting tonight!!! Food! Great giveaways including a full license of Infragistics for a year!

See you there!!

Meeting for March 23rd, 2010

WHERE: Centriq Training, 8700 State Line Road, Leawood, KS (Click
WHEN: 6:00 PM
TOPIC: Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle for Agile development

Microsoft recently added secure development guidance for agile methodologies within their SDL. During this presentation, Nick will summarize the new guidance and discuss what makes this guidance successful for Agile development.

SPEAKER: Nick Coblentz

Nick Coblentz is a senior consultant within AT&T Consulting Services' Application Security Practice. He focuses on helping organizations build mature application security programs and secure development processes. Nick has provided consulting services to fortune 500 companies within the retail, financial services, banking, and health care sectors.

SPONSOR: TekSystems

TEKsystems® is the leading IT staffing and services company. Our capabilities span a wide range of services: from technical staff augmentation and direct placement services, to full management of IT projects and comprehensive workforce management solutions.

With over 25 years of experience, we are experts at connecting technical professionals. Whether you are looking for the best IT talent, an experienced IT outsourcing partner, or a career in the IT industry, TEKsystems delivers.

TenYears: The Biggest Product Flops of the Decade

John Alexander — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:03:01 GMT

And for the last post of 2009…

The biggest tech flops of the decade…Enjoy!

a prediction for 2010 – real time, real experiences, real places

John Alexander — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:58:32 GMT

I’ve thought about it. I predict that social aspects of the web will explode in 2010.

http://mashable.com/2009/12/02/farmville-bigger-than-twitter/ This is just one example. From iPhone apps to search services that mine real time status. Hopefully, GeeksWithBlogs will be somewhat in the middle of this. We were an early integrator of twitter as part of our community. I guess we’ll see what happens!

Team Foundation Server 2010 Key Concepts

John Alexander — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:32:19 GMT

Recently I was in a meeting to discuss the new features of Team Foundation Server 2010. The senior management team asked many questions and was duly impressed. Afterwards, I thought that the QA would make a good blog post. It was then I remembered this great post from Brian Harry earlier this year. Read it for a great introduction. Oh and Happy New Year!!

Resources for “Dancing With Sharepoint” presentation at SharePoint Saturday KC

John Alexander — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:16:08 GMT

Hello,

Here are the companion resources for the “Dancing with SharePoint” presentation at SharePoint Saturday Kansas City! We talked about best practices to create a SharePoint virtual development environment, ways to get the most functionality out of the box, and some great development tools. Thanks to all who came!!!!

“Power User Books” – For getting the most out of the box

The SharePoint Shepherd's Guide for End Users

Essential SharePoint 2007: A Practical Guide for Users, Administrators and Developers

Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Virtual PC Resources and Best Practices

Virtual PC Tips by Scott Hanselman

How to Create a MOSS 2007 VPC Image – This is a great series of articles on setting up a virtual environment, especially part 20 which is about creating differencing disks.

Here is another great article on differencing disks by Andrew Connell.

SharePoint Development Tools

Here is a list of the Tools demonstrated during the presentation:

STSDev

WSPBuilder

U2U CAML Query Builder

For the person who asked - “How to Use CAML (with examples)”

Search Query Web Service Test Tool for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007

SharePoint 2007 SDK – includes BDC Editor

Simego MOSS BDC Design Studio

Lightning Tools BDC Meta Man

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions, Version 1.1

A 30 day Virtual PC environment for SharePoint:

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 VHD

just in time for Christmas, part 2…

John Alexander — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:51:21 GMT

Visual Studio Team System 2008 vpcs with new expiration dates!!!!

The last set of images was set to expire December 31, 2009. These images were updated with new expiration dates (January 31, 2011) and all of the latest Windows updates.

This virtual machine is running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, SP2. It contains a full installation of Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1, Team Build 2008 SP1, Team Explorer 2008 SP1, Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite SP1 and all necessary prerequisites. In addition, it has been updated with Office 2007 SP1, current Windows Updates as of December 1, 2008, the October 2008 Release of the TFS Power Tools, Team System Web Access 2008 SP1, and the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider. Team Foundation Server is installed in workgroup authentication mode and thus does not require a domain controller.
This release also contains 38 hands-on labs and sample data. Please examine C:\MSLabs inside the image.
This virtual machine does not have anti-virus installed. It should not be connected to any network until it has anti-virus installed. In addition, the operating system and programs installed were patched with all updates as of December 10, 2009.

Public download locations:

Visual Studio Team Suite 2008 + Team Foundation Server 2008 (Hyper-V)

Visual Studio Team Suite 2008 + Team Foundation Server 2008 (VPC 2007 SP1)

Team Foundation Server 2008 ONLY (Hyper-V)

Team Foundation Server 2008 ONLY (VPC 2007 SP1)

Just in time for Christmas, part 1…

John Alexander — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:44:32 GMT

Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and Team Foundation Server 2010 – Beta 2, WITH SAMPLE DATA

This VM included everything you need to learn and demonstrate the ALM capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 beta 2 (with the exception of Lab Management – the product team is hard at work on a solution for configuring Lab Management in a VM). This VM is available in the virtualization platform of your choice (Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007 SP1, and Windows [7] Virtual PC). Hyper-V is highly recommended because of the performance benefits and snapshotting capabilities.

Available in 3 delicious flavors:

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Hyper-V)

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Windows [7] Virtual PC)

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Virtual PC 2007 SP1)

Merry Christmas!!!