Server and Tools Business News Bytes blog : .NET

Developer News Updates

mdingle — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:19:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced one of the most significant updates to its developer offerings and roadmap vision in years. Today's announcements include:

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2 availability - Available to MSDN subscribers today! General availability will follow on October 21^st. To download the beta, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx.
Launch date for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 - The official launch will take place on March 22^nd, 2010.
Visual Studio 2010 packaging and licensing details - Microsoft is announcing a new, streamlined packaging lineup and licensing options for Visual Studio 2010 and MSDN. This includes an "Ultimate Offer" to help customers upgrade to the latest developer tools. For more information on the new packaging and licensing of Visual Studio 2010, visit http://Microsoft.com/VisualStudio.
MSDN redesign; Microsoft's premier developer network - Microsoft is unveiling a drastically improved MSDN, which includes new benefits for all MSDN subscribers. Visit MSDN to see the new improvements!

For more information about this news, visit Microsoft Press Pass or view the fact sheet. In addition, check out today's blog post from S. "Soma" Somasegar for added context on the news.

SQL Server August CTPs Roll Out Continues – Download SQL Azure Database, SQL Server StreamInsight

grantkd — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:47:00 GMT

We are excited to announce today that Microsoft has released the next wave of August community technology previews (CTPs), including SQL Azure Database, SQL Server Driver for PHP 1.1 and SQL Server StreamInsight August CTP for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. The CTPs will be available on August 19^th for public trial.

SQL Server StreamInsight – Enterprise-class scalability

With increasing volume and speed of data, customers are looking for ways to better utilize and act on information in real-time. SQL Server StreamInsight’s ability to derive insights from data streams and act in near real time provides significant business benefits. The key ingredients in SQL Server StreamInsight include low latency, high throughput integration with proven Microsoft development tools such as LINQ, Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework, which provide flexibility for customers and partner to customize the platform to meet their industry and business specific needs. For more information please visit the Data Platform Insider blog at http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/default.aspx .

SQL Azure Database –Data anytime, anywhere

Organizations are seeing an explosion of data and data-driven Web 2.0 applications, as well as the need to extend existing applications to the cloud. With SQL Azure, a cloud-based relational database service, Web 2.0, ASP.NET and PHP developers use familiar tools and data models to develop on a pay-as-you-grow, secure, scalable and highly available database service with business continuity and minimal infrastructure cost. Additionally, the SQL Server Driver for PHP provides new capabilities for building PHP application including support for SQL Azure. For more information please visit the SQL Azure Team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/ssds/.

Microsoft’s JavaOne Keynote & Sun’s participation in Apache “Stonehenge”

mdingle — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:36:00 GMT

During today’s keynote at JavaOne, Microsoft’s Steven Martin and Dan’l Lewin will be joined on stage by Sun Microsystems’ Aisling MacRunnels to talk about the latest work the companies are doing to deliver interoperable application platforms that span on-premise and cloud computing, and enable customers to leverage their existing investments in Microsoft and Sun technologies.

As part of this, the two companies will announce Sun’s participation in the Apache “Stonehenge” project, which was formed by Microsoft, WS02, Red Hat and Progress Software last fall to give customers better examples and more guidance on how to ensure the interoperability of applications across multiple vendor platforms. Sun will also announce its commitment to contribute the Metro-based StockTrader application code to the Stonehenge project. Sun’s participation will help Stonehenge deliver even more value to the community by providing best practice guidelines and reference implementations across an even broader range of scenarios and platforms, including Java, .NET, PHP, etc.

For more details about this announcement, its value for the community and the ongoing collaboration between Microsoft and Sun, please see Steven Martin’s blog posting or view the JavaOne keynote live or on demand at www.java.sun.com.

Tech•Ed: Microsoft Delivers New Wave of Technologies to Help Businesses Thrive in Today’s Economy

mdingle — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Microsoft Tech•Ed North America 2009 kicked off today with announcements of new technologies that enable IT professionals and developers to help their organizations save money and improve efficiencies during difficult economic times. As part of today’s news, Microsoft Corp. announced that the company is anticipating that the next version of its client operating system, Windows 7, will be available to customers in time for the holiday shopping season. In addition, Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (RC) is available today with the final product releasing to market in the same timeframe as Windows 7.

The company also announced that SQL Server 2008 R2 (formerly SQL Server ‘Kilimanjaro’) will release the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) in the second half of 2009 and on track to ship SQL Server 2008 R2 in the first half of calendar year 2010, which will include new feature Master Data Services (MDS).

Please visit the Global Tech•Ed Virtual Press Room to view the full press release, as well as the keynote live at 10am PDT/1pm EDT and for a post keynote Q&A session that will be starting at 12:30pm PDT/3:30 EDT as well.

WebSphere and Windows together….who knew?

grantkd — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Today Microsoft announced the results of a recent study comparing cost performance on Windows vs. IBM’s Power6, both with WebSphere and the .NET Framework. The study, conducted using publicly available testing applications based upon industry best practices, showed that customers can achieve significant system cost savings as well as improvements to load handling capability by utilizing the .NET Framework and Windows Server 2008.

These results demonstrate that the Microsoft platform offers customers considerable value in performance, scalability and cost efficiency; more than ever in the new economy, organizations are looking for cost effective, high performance solutions.

To read more, please visit Steven Martin’s blog. For detailed information about the study, and to test out the .NET StockTrader for yourself, go to www.websphereloveswindows.com.

Key Study Findings

· Customers can save up to 81% in total system costs by running applications on Microsoft .NET and Windows Server 2008 rather than IBM WebSphere 7 on Power6/AIX.

· Customers who run their IBM WebSphere 7 applications on Windows Server 2008 and Intel® Xeon® 5400 processor-based HP BladeSystem servers can save up to 66% in total system costs when compared to running the same applications on IBM WebSphere 7 on an IBM Power6/AIX platform.

· In examining performance, the Microsoft .NET Framework on Windows Server 2008 handles 57% more load than WebSphere 7 running on IBM Power6/AIX, and IBM WebSphere 7 on Windows Server 2008 handles 37% more load than IBM WebSphere 7 running on Power6.

.NET Services M5 Release

mdingle — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:52:00 GMT

Microsoft released the 5^th coding milestone of .NET Services, a component of the Azure Services Platform. This release further enhances support for web standards and interoperability, making it simpler for developers to connect cloud applications and services across platforms. Specifically, .NET Services M5 includes improved support for web standards such as REST, ATOM, SOAP, and HTTP (full feature list below).

For more information on this announcement, please visit Steven Martin’s blog. .NET Services M5 is available via http://www.microsoft.com/azure/sdk.mspx.

Specific M5 enhancements:

.NET Services M5 introduces enhanced interoperability through expanded support for web standards, to connect applications and federate access control:

· Access Control Service

§ What it is: a service for controlling user access to web applications and services by easily federating with multiple standards-based identity providers.

§ What’s new: All new management service, which now supports REST and ATOM for managing rules.

· Service Bus

§ What it is: a service for securely exposing, connecting, and messaging between endpoints across networks and firewalls.

§ What’s new: Durable queues and routers, which support both SOAP and HTTP.

· Workflow

§ What it is: a service for orchestrating and routing Service Bus messages

§ What’s new: REST-based activities (PUT, GET, POST, DELETE, and custom verbs) for orchestrating messages.

TechEd EMEA- Latest Innovations from Microsoft Help Developers Build Better Applications, Faster

grantkd — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

During the keynote address at Microsoft TechEd EMEA 2008 Developers, Jason Zander, General Manager of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp., highlighted how Microsoft is dramatically simplifying everyday development tasks through recently released technologies, such as Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, and the forthcoming Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 releases.

Designed to simplify and improve the day-to-day experiences for millions of developers, Visual Studio 2010 will deliver:

Windows 7 support
Office Business Applications support
A WPF-based editor
Further C++ investments

More information about Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 is available at www.microsoft.com/vsfutures.

In addition to disclosing more information about Visual Studio 2010, Zander announced new programs and tools modeled after its internal Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) that enable software developers to create more secure and privacy-enhanced applications.

The SDL Optimization Model and the Microsoft SDL Threat Modeling Tool are available for download today at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/aa570309.aspx. More information on the SDL Pro Network is available at www.microsoft.com/sdl.

Microsoft also announced a big step forward in the world of digital identity, unveiling the first public beta of a software platform, code-named “Geneva”, which will help developers create applications across the ‘cloud’, between organizations and on-premises with a single, simplified and open identity model. “Geneva” implements the shared industry vision of an interoperable Identity Metasystem via support for industry standard protocols such as WS-* and SAML and other interoperability capabilities. Additionally, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Orange and eBay on a proof-of-concept customer experience for eBay Powersellers and Orange network users that would use Windows^® Cardspace “Geneva”, the next generation of Microsoft’s identity card selector for users.

For more on these announcements and to view the full press release, please visit the TechEd Global Pressroom.

Jason Zander gives an overview of the announcements in his keynote in this video:

PDC 2008- Microsoft announces its Azure Services Platform

grantkd — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Today, during a keynote at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC 2008), Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Corp.'s chief software architect, announced Windows Azure, the cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform, and highlighted this platform's role in delivering a software plus services approach to computing. The Azure Services Platform is an industry-leading move by Microsoft to help developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and deliver compelling new experiences across the PC, Web and phone.

Key components of the Azure Services Platform include the following:

Windows Azure for service hosting and management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking
Microsoft SQL Data Services for a wide range of database services and reporting
Microsoft .NET Services which are service-based implementations of familiar .NET Framework concepts such as workflow and access control
Live Services for a consistent way for users to store, share and synchronize documents, photos, files and information across their PCs, phones, PC applications and Web sites
Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services for business content, collaboration and rapid solution development in the cloud.

For more information about today's news check out the below resources:

Microsoft Announces Updates to Windows Application Server and .NET Framework 4.0

grantkd — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Today, Microsoft announced a set of new enhancements to the .NET Framework and Windows Server. The enhancements include increased functionality to Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), as well as a new set of enhanced app server capabilities codenamed “Dublin.” Together, these enhancements represent a significant step forward for Microsoft’s application server, and will facilitate the role of IT by reducing the complexity of composite applications while providing more deeply integrated process capabilities. Microsoft will also be providing a first CTP of the WCF/WF enhancements and Dublin at PDC, giving customers and partners the opportunity to provide feedback on these new capabilities.

For more information on the Dublin announcement, please visit www.microsoft.com/net/dublin.

Microsoft announces Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0

grantkd — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Microsoft today provided the first look at Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0, as well as an in-depth look at Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) 2010 (previously code named “Rosario”). The Visual Studio 2010 release will focus on several key areas, including: riding the next generation platform wave, inspiring developer delight, powering breakthrough departmental applications, enabling emerging trends, and democratizing application lifecycle management (ALM).

In an effort to increase software team efficiency and integration resulting in higher quality applications that deliver real business value, VSTS 2010 will democratize ALM by delivering improved modeling tools, new efficiencies through the test cycle, and collaboration capabilities. In addition, Microsoft is evolving the market beyond the first generation of ALM tooling by:

Ensuring architectural consistency
Exploring existing code assets for easy re-use
Smoothing build handoffs, check-ins, and higher quality builds
Eliminating “no repro” bugs
Quickening setup and deployment of tests and ensuring that all code changes are properly tested
Focused test planning and progress tracking

For more information about this announcement, visit PressPass.

Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Release

grantkd — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:18:00 GMT

Microsoft announced today the release of Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1. The two service packs make it even easier to develop applications for the latest platforms, with new features such as the .NET Framework Client Profile for faster deployment of Windows applications, multiple enhancements to ASP.NET, and unparalleled support for database application development through the ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services and integration with SQL Server 2008.

For more information, please go to the full press release here.

TechEd 2008 IT Pros: News and Announcements

grantkd — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Today at Tech Ed 2008 IT Pros in Orlando, FL Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools business at Microsoft, delivered a keynote address about how Microsoft is delivering against the Dynamic IT initiative. To read the press release, view the keynote, and get more information about the event, visit the Tech Ed 2008 Virtual Press Room at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/teched/default.mspx or check out TechEd Online.

Other areas Muglia outlined where Microsoft is making progress across Dynamic IT include the following:

· Identity Lifecycle Manager “2”. Delivering on comprehensive identity and access management in the enterprise, ILM “2” changes the current state of the art of identity management. The availability of ILM “2” beta 3, announced today at TechEd, brings powerful self-service capabilities for the end-user through integration in Office as well as rich administrative tools and enhanced automation for IT professionals in addition to .NET and WS-* based extensibility for developers. This Q&A with Microsoft’s Doug Leland offers additional details about the release. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/jun08/06-10QAleland.mspx

· Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Release Candidate. The availability of the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Release Candidate, the data platform which provides the highest levels of scalability, reliability and security for business-critical applications, helps reduce time and cost of development and management of applications, and delivers actionable insights.

· .NET Configuration Service 2.0. The availability of .NET Configuration Service 2.0, a freely downloadable and reusable set of code libraries available to help develop new composite application services across both .NET and Java. As part of Muglia’s keynote address, a demo of the Configuration Service showed how a composite application, running across Windows-, IBM WebSphere- and Apache-distributed components, could be dynamically virtualized against on-premises, physical resources and across the cloud.

· Forefront Security for Office Communications Server Beta 1. The availability of the Forefront Security for Office Communications Server Beta 1 helps provide fast and effective protection against IM-based malware by including multiple scanning engines and helps reduce corporate liability by blocking IM messages containing inappropriate content.

· Forefront Client Security. Forefront Client Security now supports Windows Server 2008, including native integration for Network Access Protection, providing granular access control over network access and maintain compliance

Microsoft disclosed several updates to help ready customers and partners to use virtualization in their infrastructure, including:

· Server Virtualization Validation Program. The Server Virtualization Validation Program is now operational and open to any software vendor to test and validate their virtualization software to run Windows Server 2008 and previous versions of Windows Server. The program enables Microsoft to offer cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Microsoft server virtualization software.

· Certifications. Four new virtualization certifications are being introduced for desktop support technicians, database administrators and Web developers who will work with virtualization technologies. Training resources also include eight instructor-led courses, five e-Learning courses, traditional academic learning courseware, and Microsoft Press training kits.

· Microsoft Application Virtualization. Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 release candidate one (RC1) will be available within the month for customers.

· Forefront security. Microsoft today outlined support for virtualization with the Forefront line of security products, which includes Forefront Client Security support for Hyper-V upon its release, and support within the next-generation Forefront security solution, code-named “Stirling,” with its release in the first half of 2009.

More information on today’s announcements can be found on these blogs:

· Windows Server Division Blog- http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2008/06/10/lone-server-a-new-man.aspx

· Windows Virtualization Team Blog- http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/default.aspx

· The System Center Team Blog- http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/

· Microsoft Assessment and Planning Team Blog – http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog

· Data Platform Insider Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/default.aspx

· Forefront Team Blog- http://blogs.technet.com/forefront/

Sample Download Available for the .NET StockTrader 2.0 and Configuration Services 2.0

Brittany M. — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:45:00 GMT

Microsoft has posted the sample download for the .NET StockTrader 2.0 and Configuration Services 2.0, which includes new benchmarks, tutorials and a full white paper. The .NET StockTrader 2.0 is the updated version of the sample reference application .NET StockTrader 1.0 and based on Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5. More details can be found on the .NET StockTrader site on MSDN or Greg’s blog.

TechEd 2008 Developers: News from the frontlines

grantkd — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Today, at Tech Ed 2008 Developers in Orlando, FL Bill Gates delivered a keynote address in which he reflected on the company’s 33-year history with developers and shared his predictions for the future of application development. He also made several product-related announcements that build on Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, and demonstrate how the company’s integrated toolset and platform help developers build rich, interactive applications from the Web to the desktop, work in heterogeneous environments and much more. The announcements include the following:

· Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) beta 2 will be available this August in 20 languages worldwide.

· Availability this week of Silverlight 2 beta 2, with a commercial Go Live license

· IBM and Microsoft have agreed to work together to integrate IBM DB2 database access with Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition.

· Multiple partner wins and the latest community technology preview (CTP) of the Microsoft Sync Framework.

· The first CTP of the Microsoft project code-named “Velocity,” a distributed, in-memory application cache platform.

· Ongoing momentum for Microsoft code-name “Oslo.”

· A new version of Visual Studio 2008 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 v1.2.

To read the press release, view the full Bill Gates keynote, and get more information about the event, visit the Tech Ed 2008 Virtual Press Room at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/teched/default.mspx

More information on today’s announcements can be found on these blogs:

S. Somasegar, Senior Vice President, Developer Division, Microsoft: http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/

Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President, Developer Division, Microsoft: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/

The Data Platform Insider: http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/

Steven Martin, Director of Product Management, Connected Systems Division: http://blogs.msdn.com/stevemar/default.aspx

Visit TechEd Online for more on the 2008 Developers Conference.

BizTalk Server Gets Updates and a New Name

Brittany M. — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

On the heels of this latest platform wave with Windows Server 2008, .NET Framework 3.5, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008- the Connect Systems Division wants to take advantage of the innovations in these products and align BizTalk Server to the most recent versions. Once SQL Server 2008 (the final of the three to be released) becomes generally available, an updated version of BizTalk Server will follow taking full advantage of the platform’s latest improvements including: scalability for mission-critical workloads, improved support for next-generation web and service oriented applications, improved virtualization support and better business insight through Office. This release will build on existing bits, and therefore the name of this release will be BizTalk Server 2006 R3. Refreshing the bits (instead of applying a large Service Pack) provides for the best update experience and features for customers.

The Division is taking this opportunity to release additional features with this product update including:

New web service registry capabilities with support for UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) version 3.0
Enhanced service enablement of applications (through new and enhanced adapters for LOB applications, databases, and legacy/host systems)
Enhanced service enablement of “edge” devices through BizTalk RFID Mobile
Enhanced interoperability and connectivity support for B2B protocols (like SWIFT, EDI, etc)
SOA patterns and best practices guidance to assist our customer’s implementations
More features disclosure to come……

You should expect to see a CTP of BizTalk Server 2006 R3 later this year (with an RTM planned in H1 CY09). Please visit Steven Martin’s blog post from yesterday evening for additional information.