| | | Free e-book offer: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low and Mark Whitehorn Reviewed by Kathleen Atkins, project editor, Microsoft Press Peter DeBetta, the principal author of this book, welcomes readers to the soon-to-be-released SQL Server 2008. An MVP for SQL Server and a holder of many other credentials and longstanding SQL Server experience, DeBetta (with his coauthors) offers in this electronic beta book a discerning view of the new version of SQL Server. DeBetta and his coauthors—Greg Low and Mark Whitehorn, who are also database experts, consultants, developers, and writers—divide their discussion of SQL Server 2008 into seven topics: Security and Administration, Performance, Type System Enhancements, Programmability, Storage, Enhancements for High Availability, and Business Intelligence Enhancements. In each of these chapters, the authors describe new or improved features. They could not address every additional capability of or improvement in SQL Server 2008, however, because their view (and thus their readers' view) into the product is an early one. Given the goals of the book—to introduce and explore the product in a preliminary way, both conceptually and practically (with sample code)—readers will find plenty to interest them. For example, database developers might be very glad to know that T-SQL remains part of the product, and is, as yet, "still most often the best choice for retrieving and manipulating data." CLR integration has been improved since SQL Server 2005 and the new product introduces system CLR types, but "T-SQL is still not going anywhere." Because Peter DeBetta hopes to be the first technical book author on The New York Times' bestseller list, he recommends Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to everyone. But the people who really ought to read it are those who want to begin using the new and improved tools in SQL Server 2008. Register to download the free e-book, Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008. | Editor's Picks For Certification
| | Certification: Back to School with September Training Kits By Ken Jones, Product Planner, and Laura Sackerman, Content Development Editor, Microsoft Press September is traditionally back-to-school month here in the United States. What better time to start thinking about your next Microsoft certification? To help you on your path, we're introducing two new Microsoft Press training kits. The first is the MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-237): Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Authored by Paul Mancuso, David R. Miller, and Sam Sena, this book completes the series of Exchange Server 2007 training kits. Earning the MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator certification requires passing three exams—MCTS 70-236 and two pro-level exams, 70-237 and 70-238. There are now more than 75,000 messaging specialists worldwide. The growth in this area of IT and the demand for qualified people who can fill these jobs have contributed to the popularity of the credential. The new 70-237 training kit follows its companion 70-238 volume, which debuted in June. True to the training kit tradition, the book provides a comprehensive and effective way to prepare for the exam. Topics covered include designing and planning messaging services, server high availability, message content filtering, secure messaging, migration and management strategies, and solutions that address regulatory and legal requirements. All this plus the usual training kit benefits: real-world case studies and practices, hundreds of practice test questions, a 15% discount voucher for the exam, and a trial version of Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. As a special bonus, this training kit contains a section covering the new Exchange Server 2007 SP1 features, written by expert authors Nelson Ruest and Danielle Ruest. The second training kit making its September debut is the MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5—Windows Communication Foundation. This book is number two in our new series of seven study guides for the Visual Studio 2008 development system, and is authored by Bruce Johnson, Peter Madziak, and Sara Morgan. The number of Microsoft certified developers is growing by about 35 percent every year, and the new generation of credentials provides developers with even more opportunities to prove their skills across a wider range of .NET Framework technologies. The 70-503 training kit is your source for understanding the Windows Communication Foundation and preparing for the exam. Topics covered include creating, deploying, and administering services; defining service contracts; hosting services in managed applications and on Web servers; monitoring service health; creating service proxies; and consuming non-WCF services. The 70-503 training kit wouldn't be complete without real-world case studies, code samples, and labs in both Visual Basic and C#, hundreds of lesson review and practice test questions, a 15% discount voucher for the exam, and a trial version of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition. If your goal is to earn the very valuable MCPD: Enterprise Application Developer 3.5 credential, the 70-503 is one of the six required exams. For more information about this and other Visual Studio 2008 certifications, visit our Microsoft Learning portal. | | For IT Professionals
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Reviewed by Karen Szall, content development manager, Microsoft Press
Whenever I pick up a book by William Stanek, I have every confidence that I am going to get the best available information in a succinct and easy-to-follow format. William hasn't let me down yet.
With the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, William didn't just hit a home run—he hit the ball out of the park. This title builds on a very solid foundation—the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, which is the number-one best-selling SQL Server title. There are reasons for this success:
• William is so attuned to what administrators need and how to deliver that information that Microsoft Press asked him to be the series editor for all the Administrator's Pocket Consultants, providing guidance on the series presentation and development.
• SQL Server is experiencing an amazing growth and, with that, there are a large number of IT professionals who need to administer this product in their organizations. Whether your organization has 50 or 5,000 SQL Server users, the SQL Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant provides the ultimate quick reference.
What I find most useful is the ease of access to information. Anyone performing core administration tasks will appreciate that you can quickly find the information you need to perform a procedure or just verify that you aren't missing something. Whether you are an experienced SQL Server administrator or new to the product, you can find what you need to get your daily tasks completed accurately.
Do you want to learn tools and techniques that will save you time? Are you planning your installation? Need to check the installation steps? Maybe you're already there and you want to manage access to your network or optimize security. Configuring your environment? Covering everything from common tasks to advanced implementations and troubleshooting in a pocket-sized book is a daunting task. By being very precise and keeping to the essential information, William has created an invaluable guide that will help administrators to save hours of time and complete tasks with confidence. This is a great reference for any SQL Server 2008 administrator. | For Home and Office Users
| | Reviewed and excerpted by Rosemary Caperton, content project manager, Microsoft Press Mike Snyder, Jim Steger, Kara O'Brien, and Brendan Landers have worked together to write a concise, easy-to-use guide to using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. If your organization has implemented—or is considering implementing—a Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, and you're ready to learn more about what the software can do, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Step by Step is the perfect starting point. Whether you're a sales associate following up with your top accounts, a marketing professional reaching out to prospects and customers, a customer service representative resolving customer requests and issues, or an executive manager seeking to analyze and understand all of your organization's customer interactions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help you do business better. The following includes various excerpts from the book: The intent of this book is to show you how to use key features in the software to understand your customers better, increase sales and productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a business software solution that allows organizations of all sizes to track, manage, and report on customer or client interactions. Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes the following three main modules: • Sales • Marketing • Service Within each module, Microsoft Dynamics CRM lets you track customer information, as outlined in the following table.  CRM software systems have been in existence for many years, but most of them earned a reputation for being difficult to use. Microsoft Dynamics CRM addresses the problems of previous CRM systems by providing an easy-to-use software application while still providing the flexibility and technical platform most businesses require. Microsoft Dynamics CRM works with most of the software products that organizations use today, such as Microsoft Office Outlook, Office Word, and Office Excel. Users do not need to learn a new software application to capture and work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM data; they can continue using the productivity tools they are comfortable using for other day-to-day business functions. |
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| |  | September 17, 2008  | | Hot Sellers For Developers Code Complete, Second Edition, by Steve McConnell Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber For Home and Office Users Windows Vista Plain & Simple, by Jerry Joyce and Marianne Moon Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Step by Step, by Curtis D. Frye For IT Professionals Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Best Practices, by Ben Curry and Bill English with the Microsoft SharePoint Teams Windows Server 2008 Inside Out, by William R. Stanek For Certification MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-640, 70-642, 70-643, 70-647): Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator Core Requirements, by Dan Holme, Nelson Ruest, Danielle Ruest, Tony Northrup, J.C. Mackin, Anil Desai, John Policelli, P. Mancuso, Ian McLean, D.R. Miller, and Orin Thomas MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-620): Configuring Windows Vista Client, by Ian McLean and Orin Thomas | | Latest Releases For Developers MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-503): Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5—Windows Communication Foundation, by Bruce Johnson, Peter Madziak, Sara Morgan, with GrandMasters For Home and Office Users Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Step by Step, by Mike Snyder, Jim Steger, Kara O'Brien, and Brendan Landers Microsoft Expression Web 2 Step by Step, by Chris Leeds For IT Professionals Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, by William R. Stanek Windows Server 2008 Server Core Administrator's Pocket Consultant, by Mitch Tulloch with the Windows Server Core Team at Microsoft For Certification MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-237): Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, by Paul Mancuso, David R. Miller, Sam Sena, with GrandMasters | | Coming Soon For Developers Microsoft Visual Studio Tips, by Sara Ford Programming Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, by Jim Steger, Mike Snyder, Brad Bosak, Corey O'Brien, and Philip Richardson (Sonoma Partners) Microsoft .NET: Architecting Applications for the Enterprise, by Dino Esposito and Andrea Saltarello Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2008, by Leonard Lobel, Andrew J. Brust, and Stephen Forte Microsoft .NET and SAP, by Juergen Daiberl, Dudu Benabou, Steve Fox, Scott Adams, and Thomas Reimer For Home and Office Users Seamless Teamwork: Using Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to Collaborate, Innovate, and Drive Business in New Ways, by Michael Sampson | | |
