Blogs and Forums

Want to learn (more) about our cloud computing platform? Windows Azure FireStarter is a full day event for developers, packed with information to help you build and deploy your first application on to the Microsoft Cloud Platform – Windows Azure.

This full day event has rock star speaker--like Steve Marx from the product team—revealing what makes Azure so compelling to developers.

This is a free event on April 6th from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Pacific Daylight time), and you can either come attend in person on our Redmond campus or view it online. The entire event will be broadcasted live!

Learn more and register here

I was very surprised but also very pleased to see this announcement – Microsoft have tweaked their Virtual PC software so that it can run Windows XP Mode on Windows 7 without the specific need for hardware virtualization technology such as Intel VT (Intel Virtualization Technology) or AMD-V.

I am sure this will help many users to take advantage from all the benefits of Virtual PC on Windows 7.

I blogged earlier this week how when I need to learn some new software I often install the trial version into a virtual environment to learn and become familiar with new technology.

Thankfully if you have the Intel VT or AMD-V. or then Windows XP Mode will use this hardware and this will increase virtual performance.

Windows XP Mode is aimed at small and midsize businesses who want to migrate to Windows 7 Professional but have applications that still require Windows XP.

OK, you asked for it.  We responded.

The absolute best that I can do is to open up 150 more seats for each exam.

Same beta codes.

Register now as this will be the only increase that will be authorized.

By the way, thanks for this awesome response in registering for these exams.  Best of luck to all of you!

Gerry

Whether you’re currently a Help Desk technician looking to advance your career to the next level or if you want to find out what it takes to get a job as a Network Administrator, MCT Kyle Rosenthal has the answers! Please join Kyle when he presents “Career Specialization for Help Desk technicians: Skills necessary to become a Network Administrator.” You’ll explore the job role and then get the chance to ask questions to help you chart your career and reach your goals!

• March 23 2010 at 8:00am PDT (What time is this in my region?)
• March 23 2010 at 12:00pm PDT (What time is this in my region?)

I heard about this cool pilot project that I would like to share today. It addresses the following challenge: ‘With 39% of IT Pros intending to deploy Windows 7 in the next year how can Microsoft remove the skills barrier to adoption?’

The UK AMM team have developed the Deployment Learning Portal designed to help IT pros identify the strengths and gaps in their knowledge around Windows 7 deployment and provide targeted learning to help them gain confidence in their skills and accelerate deployment.

What is the Deployment Learning Portal?

The Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal has been designed to assess the level of skills and readiness to deploy and provide personal learning recommendations to IT pros in customers and partners. Helping IT Pros to focus on the training in the areas they need.

All training modules were created by the team that wrote the Windows 7 certification exam, including Preparing your deployment, Configuring a Windows 7 image, Migration, Compatibility testing, making this assessment really robust and a true test of skill.  At the end of each module the user will receive learning recommendations based on their score, these recommendations direct IT pros to the most relevant resources across Springboard, MS learning and TechNet, and provides clear next steps to certification.

This is for now a 6 month pilot that runs in the UK, we’ll let you know when we hear more!

If you are into SQL, this is a cool chance for you to win prizes using your skills and knowledge:

The SQL Server Sequence contest in full swing, and there are still 9 weeks to go! Each week, we’ll be issuing a new question on: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  Answer a question correctly and you’ll be placed into a drawing to win a brand new netbook. (If you get stuck on any of the questions, check out the SQL Server website to jog your memory.) There’s a new chance to win each week, and the more questions you answer correctly, the better your chances will be to win the grand prize – a Suped-up Set-up for your workspace from SQL Server. The grand prize includes a wireless keyboard and mouse, 24-inch HD monitor, speakers and noise canceling headphones all valued at over $1000.  To enter, become a fan of the SQL Server on your favorite social network to find out the location of each week’s question. Come back to the SQL Server blog for the answers to each week’s question, as well as updates on winners and prizes. 

As you can probably tell, I had a look at TechNet in the UK today. Some interesting findings:

You’ll already be familiar with TechNet, Microsoft's site for IT Professionals, but TechNet 2.0 is packed with even more of the best technical content, essential tools for the job, and connections to Microsoft product groups and the technical community.

TechNet went through a global redesign, changing the look and feel across all of TechNet sites. This new version of TechNet is a lot lighter, with many old and redundant pages deleted, and now a new look slimmed down version of the homepage.

There is also the launch of the TechNet Wiki , TechNet Search with meta-data enabled search results for TechNet Forums (see Hyper-V example), and new "finder" features for Troubleshooting resources and Downloads (both top IT Pro Tasks)

Windows Phone 7 Series holds a promise to be an amazing personal mobile phone with new innovative user interface and functionality, as well as a great development platform on which you can quickly and easily build games and applications.

With a myriad of new devices, a powerful and immersive software platform, and a new marketplace to attract developers and provide easy access to applications, consumer demand for Windows Phone will be high, and developers will quickly adopt the Windows Phone platform, to capitalize on this untapped mobile marketplace.

This Training Kit will serve as a jumpstart into the new Windows Phone world taking you in a step-by-step approach explaining the tools to use and some key concepts when programming to Windows Phone.

Microsoft wants to hear from the Microsoft Certified Professional community. Please take two minutes to answer six survey questions regarding the importance of Wallet Cards. Stay involved, stay informed, and help steer the program in the right direction to meet your needs. This survey will be open from March 18 through March 31.

http://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=15WCJHNTC79YG

Get ready for the Virtual Summit!

Step 1: Download the agenda HERE
Step 2: Add the full agenda to your Outlook calendar HERE
Step 3. Register HERE (at no charge to MCTs and academic educators)

My absolute favorite time of the year is nearly here; The MCT & Educator Virtual Summit 2010 will kick off in exactly

Today, we are proud to share that we have received over 1,000 registrations and we have 750 fans on Facebook. We are burning with SUMMIT FEVER!!

Why? Well, for one thing, these Summits come along just once a year. It is traditionally a time where our MCTs prepare for new products and new courses, we brush up our soft skills and we do a LOT of community networking. This year Academic Educators are invited too and we are offering special tracks to both audiences. It is incredibly energizing to bring so have many people together. MCTs and Academic educators all over the world united by their shared passion for technology. This is where we look at new products together, this is where we share best practices, this is where we learn and this is where we make new friends all over the world.

That's right: three days and three nights, 3 sessions simultaneously at most times, we lovingly call this event 'our beautiful content monster'.

To see why we call it a monster, download the Agenda here. No matter which timezone you live in, we will be 'live' whenever you join us. All sessions are recorded and will be available later on, but nothing beats attending live. Go to the Virtual Bars, the Virtual Booths, Chat sessions, meet your colleagues and meet our speakers.

If you are an MCT or an academic educator, this event is your opportunity to prepare for new technology, to prepare for new courses. You could normally spend tonnes of time finding content, preparing for new courses can be hard work. At the Virtual Summit you can learn the latest and greatest straight 'from the horses mouth'. Join authors as present their new course, join subject matter experts who share their expertise, join my colleagues as they speak to the products that their teams work on. And as half your success as a trainer or educator is determined by what you know and the other half is determined by how you tell it, we are proud to announce soft skills training which can help finetune your skills.

Did I mention that the event is FREE to all MCTs and Academic Educators? All you need to do is register!

And if you would like to attend the event with some friends, why not request a Summit Party Kit? Just email us and let us know your plans, how many friends and colleagues you expect and we will send you some posters, T-Shirts and caps. Send us a photograph during the Summit as we would love to share your readiness event with others :-). Be quick, we will gladly send you a Summit Party Kit, while supplies last!

I will be at the Virtual Summit 2010, will you? I look forward to seeing you there!