December 1, 2010, 9:00 AM Pacific Time -- In this webcast you will see several demos of the new features introduced in the Windows Azure November 2010 Release (DPE110CAL), including Virtual Machine Role and Elevated Privileges which can make it easier to move existing applications to the cloud, Windows Azure Connect which can enable you to connect on-premises systems to the cloud, and core enhancements such as a new Windows Azure platform portal experience.

Register for the Webcast.

For more on the new enhancements, and information about the new Windows Azure SDK 1.3, check out the Windows Azure Team Blog.

More to come,

Mitch

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Microsoft yesterday released an update for Windows Internet Explorer 9 Beta. This update improves the reliability of Internet Explorer 9 Beta in various scenarios.

For more on what’s in the update and to download the update package, view this knowledge base article.

More to come,

Mitch

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Microsoft yesterday released the latest preview of Internet Explorer 9, featuring dramatic performance gains in its Chakra JavaScript engine.

Since first demonstrated at PDC in 2009, Chakra in Internet Explorer has increased JavaScript performance by 345 percent according to WebKit SunSpider. The Exploring IE blog has much on the JavaScript engine and the performance gains, and includes a test drive demo.

Since the beta launch in September, Internet Explorer 9 beta has had more than 13 million downloads.

Download Internet Explorer 9

More to come,

Mitch

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Download the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 trial and see how Lync delivers a connected experience that transforms communication into more collaborative, engaging and accessible interaction from virtually anywhere your users may be.   

With Lync Server 2010 and the Lync 2010 client application, users benefit from a single user interface that unites voice, IM, audio-, video-, and web-conferencing that is more efficient for users and works consistently with familiar Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Word, Outlook, and SharePoint.

More to come,

Mitch

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Be sure to check out the new design on the TechNet home page. Last week, we described the upcoming changes and they are now live on TechNet. The new page enables us to update more content, more often. And speaking of new content, the new edition of TechNet ON, “Building BI into Your Organization,” is now available in the new design.

More to come,

Mitch

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