Microsoft Delivers Windows 7-Based Windows Embedded Standard 2011 Community Technology Preview

Today, Microsoft Corp. released the Windows 7-based Windows Embedded Standard 2011 (formerly code-named “Quebec”) Community Technology Preview (CTP) to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers of specialized devices worldwide through its immediate public availability at http://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded. Windows Embedded Standard 2011 delivers the latest Windows 7 technologies to OEMs, enabling them to bring high-performing specialized devices to market faster, to differentiate those devices through innovative user experiences, and to delight their customers with devices that extend the Windows user experience to specialized devices from Windows-based PCs, servers and online services.

“To meet the demand for improved user experiences and connectivity among today’s rapidly growing categories of specialized devices, Microsoft has strategically planned the release of Windows 7-based technologies to OEMs in the embedded marketplace,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded Business at Microsoft. “The availability of the Windows Embedded Standard 2011 CTP empowers our worldwide ecosystem of OEMs, partners and developers to take advantage of the next-generation platform’s enhanced Windows 7-based features and provide feedback prior to its general release to manufacturing. We encourage the embedded community to take full advantage of the CTP’s availability and join in our excitement as we look ahead to the future availability of Windows Embedded platforms incorporating Windows 7 technologies.”

Windows 7 Features and Functionality Available in Windows Embedded Standard 2011

Windows Embedded Standard 2011 delivers the power, familiarity and reliability of the Windows 7 operating system in a highly customizable and componentized form, enabling OEMs in industrial automation, entertainment, consumer electronics and other markets to focus on their core competencies and create product differentiation. Instead of investing in platform development, Windows Embedded Standard 2011 allows OEMs to choose only the components they need to tailor the platform to meet the unique requirements of their device. Familiar, easy-to-use development tools and embedded-enabling features help to further reduce development costs and increase speed to market for thin-client, point-of-service (POS), kiosk, medical, multifunction printers and other devices.

Windows Embedded Standard 2011 capabilities and features include these:

•	Enterprise Equipped with the ability for organizations to seamlessly extend existing investments in technology management and infrastructure to devices by using Active Directory group policies and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, as well as increased interoperability for client server scenarios with Microsoft Terminal Services and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
•	Latest Windows technology innovations to enhance user experiences on specialized devices through the security of Internet Explorer 8, enhanced media capabilities of Windows Media Player 12, improved client server with Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 7.0 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
•	Rich, immersive user experiences with support for 64-bit CPUs, Windows Aero user interface, Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Touch (multigesture touch interfaces and context-aware applications) and Windows Flip 3D navigation
•	The ability to develop “green” solutions with smart power management APIs for developers to build applications that can improve CPU idle time and reduce power consumption

ESC Boston

During the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Boston (Sept. 21–24 at the Hynes Convention Center), Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded Business Unit at Microsoft, will deliver an industry keynote address on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 10:30 a.m. Dallas will detail how the Windows Embedded software-plus-services platform enables developers and OEMs to provide the unique value of Windows on specialized devices, as well as sharing a Windows Embedded product road map update.

Microsoft will also be participating in TechInsights’ “Build Your Own Embedded System” seminars, enabling attendees to take home a custom-configured design kit based on Windows Embedded Standard 2011. Conference goers can visit the Microsoft booth (No. 400) or http://esc-boston.techinsightsevents.com for more information.

Community Resources Available Pre- and Post-Launch

A Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification, preparation kit and training courseware will be available for Windows Embedded Standard 2011 during the timeframe of its release to manufacturing (RTM), approximately the second half of 2010. Additional Windows Embedded training opportunities can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/about/training.mspx.

Microsoft will also host a series of five free webinars exploring the enhanced functionality, networking capabilities, improved security and reliability of Windows Embedded Standard 2011. Participants can register at https://swrt.worktankseattle.com/webcast/2672/preview.aspx. A full listing of additional technical events and seminars can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/news/events/default.mspx.

Additional information on Windows Embedded Standard 2011 and the entire Windows Embedded portfolio of platforms and technologies can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded.

Microsoft F#, September 2008 Community Technology Preview Available For Download

Microsoft F#, September 2008 Community Technology Preview Available For Download

The F# September 2008 CTP provides all the tools and resources needed to develop applications with the F# programming language.

F# is a functional programming language for the .NET Framework. It combines the succinct, expressive and compositional style of functional programming with the runtime, libraries, interoperability, and object model of .NET.

F# is well suited to a spectrum of development tasks - from interactive, explorative scripting to component and large-scale software development. The CTP release of F# provides further support for explorative development using F#, as well as improved Visual Studio integration to enable large-scale, tool-based software development.

Download the F# CTP here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=61ad6924-93ad-48dc-8c67-60f7e7803d3c&displaylang=en

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack CTP, February 2008

The Feature Pack is a collection of stand-alone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2008. It includes the latest versions of:

Redistributable components for SQL Server 2008
Add-on providers for SQL Server 2008
Backward compatibility components for SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client (SQL Native Client) is a single dynamic-link library (DLL) containing both the SQL OLE DB provider and SQL ODBC driver. It contains run-time support for applications using native-code APIs (ODBC, OLE DB and ADO) to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, or 2008. SQL Native Client should be used to create new applications or enhance existing applications that need to take advantage of new SQL Server 2008 features. This redistributable installer for SQL Native Client installs the client components needed during run time to take advantage of new SQL Server 2008 features, and optionally installs the header files needed to develop an application that uses the SQL Native Client API.


Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components
The SQL Server Backward Compatibility package includes the latest versions of Data Transformation Services 2000 runtime (DTS), SQL Distributed Management Objects (SQL-DMO), Decision Support Objects (DSO), and SQL Virtual Device Interface (SQLVDI). These versions have been updated for compatibility with both SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 and include all fixes shipped through SQL Server 2000 SP4 and SQL Server 2005 SP2.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies allows you to take advantage of SQL Server 2008 report processing and management capabilities in SharePoint integrated mode. This version also includes data-driven subscriptions. The download provides a Report Viewer web part, web application pages, and support for using standard Windows SharePoint Services or Microsoft Office SharePoint Services.

Get it all here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D68DE3C9-60A9-49C9-A28C-5C46BBC3356F&displaylang=en

SQL Server 2008 February CTP is now available for public download

SQL Server 2008 February CTP is finally here, this CTP is supposed to be feature complete.

Download the February CTP from the Download Center!

What's New in SQL Server 2008 February CTP?

Enter to win an Xbox in the SQL Server 2008 February CTP Bug Bash!

Visual Studio Team System Code Name Rosario November 2007 CTP (VPC Image) Available For Download

Brief Description
Visual Studio® Team System Code Name “Rosario” is the version of Team System that follows Visual Studio Team System 2008. This release provides the earliest public glimpse of the work in progress on the next generation of Team System.

Overview
Visual Studio® Team System code name "Rosario" is an integrated Application Life-Cycle Management (ALM) solution comprising tools, processes, and guidance. It enables members of your team to:

• Collaborate and communicate more effectively with other team members and business stakeholders
  
• Ensure software quality using advanced quality tools at every step of the application life cycle
  
• Gain visibility into project activity and priorities to make informed decisions based on real-time data

This CTP release is available in English only.

This CTP targets early adopters of the Microsoft technology, platform, and tools offerings. It enables developers to experience the upcoming toolset and underlying platform improvements. We designed this release to enable developers to try out new technology and product changes, but not to build production systems. This limitation is fully covered in the License Terms that accompany this CTP.

To learn more about this release, please visit the Visual Studio Team System Code Name “Rosario” home page.

Download Visual Studio Team System Code Name Rosario November 2007 CTP here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=65D0E3BD-9DF3-421A-804F-8F01BD90F0B4&displaylang=en

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP November 2007 Available For Download

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP, November 2007 is available for download from the connect site.

There are several formats available.
DVD image files:
X86 DVD Image
X64 DVD Image
IA64 DVD Image

Self-extracting executables:
X86 Executable
X64 Executable
IA64 Executable
Express 2008 Executable

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3BF4C5CA-B905-4EBC-8901-1D4C1D1DA884&displaylang=en

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 Released

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 has been released 20070831 (yes that is ISO format)
So I have been sleeping for the last couple of days and missed this. Connect didn't email me either ;-(

This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This allows you to trial SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 in a virtual environment.

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6a39affa-db6e-48a9-82e4-4efd6705f4a6&displaylang=en&tm

Acropolis August CTP (VS 2008 Beta2 Refresh) Release available now

Acropolis August CTP (VS 2008 Beta2 Refresh) Release available now
From the site:

This release is mainly an update so that our customers can continue to evaluate “Acropolis” with the latest VS 2008 Beta. In addition to VS 2008 Beta2 support, we have also added one small feature named “FloatingLayoutPane”. We have gotten feedback from our customers and in our forum that basic functionality like showing a floating window is too hard in the July CTP. Please let us know what you think.

Please note, the Acropolis August CTP depends on VS 2008 Beta2, it will not work with VS 2008 Beta1.

Download the bits:
- Acropolis CTP & Documentation
- Acropolis Samples for August CTP

SQL Server 2008 July CTP Has Been Released, So What Is New?

Download it here: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=5395

What is new?

Enterprise Reporting Engine
Improvements represent the two major infrastructure changes for Reporting Services. Reporting Services enhances the processing engine and rendering extensions to enable new functionality, such as Tablix support, and scalability as well as remove the dependency on IIS. Additionally, new report designer and configuration tool are provided that improve usability and workflow for RS customers.

Analysis Services Time Series
This improvement adds a new time series forecasting algorithm (ARIMA: Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average) to the data mining algorithm suite that provides more stable long term predictions.

T-SQL Improvements
Object Dependencies: The object dependencies improvement provides reliable discovery of dependencies between objects through newly introduced catalog view and dynamic management functions. Dependency information is always up-to-date for both schema-bound and non-schema-bound objects. Dependencies are tracked for stored procedures, tables, views, functions, triggers, user-defined types, XML schema-collections, and more.


Performance Data Collection
Collect data from various sources in SQL Server and OS to help with performance troubleshooting and server maintenance. With this improvement, organizations improve their analysis of common performance issues:
· Define what data is collected and organize the collection into collection sets
· Start/stop/manipulate collection sets programmatically (T-SQL and .NET API)
· Define where data is stored (relational database)
· View data through reports in SQL Server Management Studio.
· Provide platform to plug in more data collectors in the future.


Extended Events
SQL Server Extended Events is a general event-handling system for server systems. The Extended Events infrastructure supports the correlation of data from SQL Server, and under certain conditions, the correlation of data from the operating system and database applications. In the latter case, Extended Events output must be directed to Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) in order to correlate the event data with operating system or application event data.


Database Mirroring Enhancements
SQL Server 2008 builds upon the momentum of SQL Server 2005 by providing a more reliable platform with enhanced database mirroring:

Automatic bad page repair – allows the principal and mirror machines to transparently recover from 823/824 types of data page errors by requesting a fresh copy of the corrupted page from the mirroring partner.

Log stream compression – compression of the outgoing log stream in order to minimize the network bandwidth used by database mirroring.

Miscellaneous performance enhancements:
using asynchronous log write requests on the mirror in order to shorten the log write time and thus speed-up the commit acknowledgement.

better utilization of the mirroring log send buffers in order to pack multiple smaller log blocks into a single network send.

Supportability and diagnosability improvements:
additional performance counters to allow for more granular accounting of the time spent across the different stages of the DBM log processing.

new DMVs and extensions of existing views in order to expose additional information about the mirroring sessions.


ORDPATH Improvement
ORDPATH improvement provides an important new functionality to our customers who use hierarchical data. It provides a superior way of modeling hierarchies in SQL Server by introducing the HierarchyID system data type and corresponding built-in methods which are designed to make it easier to store, query and operate hierarchical data. HierarchyID is also optimized for representing trees, the most common type of hierarchical data.


Large User-Defined Types Improvement
Large user-defined types allows users to expand the size of defined data types by eliminating the 8‑KB limit.

DATE/TIME Data Types
SQL Server 2008 introduces new date and time data types. The new data types enable applications to have separate date and time types, larger year ranges for date value, larger fractional seconds precision for time value, time-zone offset aware datetime type that containing date, time and time zone offset portion, user defined option on fractional seconds precision of time related types and datetime2 and datetimeoffset provide standards conformant semantics. Along with the T-SQL support on the new types, both native (ODBC, OLEDB) and managed (SqlClient) providers also provide the full support through the client driver APIs.


Improved XML Support
To leverages the new date and time types, SQL Server’s XML Schema collection now provides full support for the xs:date, xs:time and xs:dateTime data types. Support for union types is also enhanced by returning correct results for “instance of” queries when union types are involved, and adding support for lists of unions and unions of lists constructs in XML Schemas.

Acropolis July Community Technology Preview Released

Microsoft Code Name "Acropolis" July Community Technology Preview

Brief Description
Microsoft Code Name “Acropolis” is a set of components and tools intended to make it easier for developers to build and manage modular, business focused, client applications for Microsoft Windows on the .NET Framework

Overview
Building on the vision of software + services, Microsoft Code Name “Acropolis” makes it easier to build and manage modular, business-focused, client applications for Microsoft Windows with the .NET Framework. It builds on the rich capabilities of Microsoft Windows and the .NET Framework, including the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), by providing tools and pre-built components that help developers quickly assemble an application from loosely-coupled parts and services. Code Name “Acropolis” reduces the complexities of building occasionally connected client applications and provides the ability to assemble and reconfigure systems without having to write as much code. It is part of the .NET Client Futures release, Microsoft’s preview of upcoming technologies in Microsoft Windows client development, available now at www.windowsclient.net.



There are three downloads. One is an .MSI file that includes the July Community Technology Preview product, and the second download is the set of samples that accompanies this Community Technology Preview. You can also download a .CHM file with the Help documentation.


AcropolisMSI The July Community Technology Preview version of Microsoft Code Name "Acropolis".


AcropolisSamples The July Community Technology Preview version of Microsoft Code Name "Acropolis" Samples.


Acropolis_Help The July Community Technology Preview version of Microsoft Code Name "Acropolis" Help documentation.

Download it all here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=44977885-86B5-4AA0-9F20-DB365BFB9D10&displaylang=en

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 June 2007 Community Technology Preview Released

Brief Description
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 contains many new features that are compatible with both .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0. .NET Framework 3.5 includes servicing for .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0.

Overview
.NET Framework 3.5 builds incrementally on the new features added in .NET Framework 3.0, for example, Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows CardSpace. In addition, .NET Framework 3.5 contains a number of new features in several technology areas. These new features have been added as new assemblies to avoid breaking changes. They include the following:
Deep integration of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) and data awareness. This new feature will let you write code written in LINQ-enabled languages to filter, enumerate, and create projections of several types of SQL data, collections, XML, and DataSets by using the same syntax.
ASP.NET AJAX lets you create more efficient, more interactive, and highly-personalized Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers.
New Web protocol support for building WCF services including AJAX, JSON, REST, POX, RSS, ATOM, and several new WS-* standards.
Full tooling support for WF, WCF, and WPF, including the new workflow-enabled services technology.
New classes in .NET Framework 3.5 base class library (BCL) address the most common customer requests.

Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e6fd8663-8b77-4649-8d36-3830e18528fa&DisplayLang=en

Acropolis Community Technology Preview 1

The Microsoft code name “Acropolis” Community Technology Preview 1 is a set of components and tools that make it easier for developers to build and manage modular, business focused, client .NET applications. Acropolis is part of the “.NET Client Futures” wave of releases, our preview of upcoming technologies for Windows client development.
Acropolis builds on the rich capabilities of Microsoft Windows and the .NET Framework, including Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), by providing tools and pre-built components that help developers quickly assemble applications from loosely-coupled parts and services. With Acropolis you will be able to:

• Quickly create WPF enabled user experiences for your client applications.


• Build client applications from reusable, connectable, modules that allow you to easily create complex, business-focused applications in less time.


• Integrate and host your modules in applications such as Microsoft Office, or quickly build stand-alone client interfaces.


• Change the look and feel of your application quickly using built-in themes, or custom designs using XAML.


• Add features such as workflow navigation and user-specific views with minimal coding.


• Manage, update, and deploy your application modules quickly and easily.

Download it here: http://windowsclient.net/Acropolis/