Volume 12, Number 22: October 20, 2008 | Top News | You can now upgrade to Silverlight 2 to get new features for rich Internet application development and streaming media. Find out more about Silverlight 2 and read the press release for more on Microsoft's plans, including further support of open source communities. | | Find out how you can get two Team System Editions for the price of one, demo videos, white papers, and trial downloads. Learn how you can develop quality code faster and leverage Visual Studio Team System tools from the UI to the database. Want more info on Visual Studio Team System 2010? Stay tuned to Soma's blog as he elaborates on the functionality being built in to the new release. | | We're working hard to continually improve your MSDN Flash experience with better customization options and we're looking to roll out more changes in the coming months. In the meantime, let us know how we're doing and tell us how we can make the Flash newsletter more useful to you with this very short survey. | | The release of Expression Blend Service Pack 1 enables full support of the Silverlight 2 platform for all Expression Blend 2 users, bringing the seamless XAML workflow between the designer and the developer to Silverlight 2 projects for the first time. | | | From the Editor All eyes are on Los Angeles where, next week, Microsoft takes the wraps off an array of new products and technologies at the Professional Developers Conference. There's so much going on, in fact, that it may take some careful planning to maximize your time at PDC2008. To that end, we are pleased to bring you The Devil's Field Guide to the PDC (because standing in line is for suckers). This is the ultimate insider's guide to having the best PDC experience ever. It answers questions that attendees of any large Microsoft conference event ponder, for example: • | Where do all the Microsofties hang out after the event? | • | How do I get the backchannel instead of what the mainstream media wants me to hear? | • | How do I avoid standing in lines? | • | How do I maintain my stamina? | • | How do I talk to a Microsoftie who can actually help me? | Oh, and if you haven't registered for PDC2008, you're on the outside, off the grid, no 160GB hard drive filled with all the PDC2008 bits and Windows 2007 pre-beta bits. The good news is that you still have time to register for PDC2008 at http://www.microsoftpdc.com/. Yesterday we announced the availability of Silverlight 2, the industry's most comprehensive technology for creating and delivering .NET-based rich Web experiences. Want to Go Touchless? Microsoft has released the Touchless Software Development Kit for developing multi-touch applications that offer users a new and inexpensive way of experiencing multi-touch capabilities, without the need for expensive hardware or software. All the user needs is a camera, which will track colored markers defined by the user. Download the Touchless SDK and give your users a truly fun, novel, and functional multi-touch experience. MSDN Flash Survey Please spend a minute (really, that's all the time it takes) to respond to our short MSDN Flash Reader Survey, and help us continue to improve the newsletter. Thanks for reading, Editor MSDN Flash | Your Featured Content | Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section. | Web Resources | Learn about organization hierarchy, membership groups, and quick links to understand the user profile social network capability in SharePoint Server 2007, and concepts such as custom properties, colleagues, and workgroups. | geekSpeak Podcast: Virtualization for Developers with Stephen Rose (Level 200) WMA (15 MB) | MP3 (13 MB) Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Stephen Rose discusses why developers should look at using virtual environments for developing. He addresses everything from the creation of a complete development environment's domain in a box to how to move these environments back and forth from virtual to physical and back again. Security for Developers | Adam Shostak describes a decade of experience in threat modeling products and services at Microsoft. | Training | Second Shot allows you a free retake if you fail a Microsoft Certification exam. Now you will also be rewarded for passing the exam. From October 15 through December 31, get 25% off a future exam if you pass the first exam using the Second Shot offer voucher. | | This free e-learning collection of four two-hour clinics offers a comprehensive introduction to Hyper-V and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, and Microsoft Application Virtualization. | Case Studies | K2's workflow automation software features enterprise-grade data access and reporting courtesy of SQL Server 2005, and was built by an international team of developers using Visual Studio Team System. | Partner News | Microsoft's Product Manager of Internet Explorer Developer Division, Pete LePage, shares 10 Web design mistakes to avoid at all costs in a recent Pixel8 podcast. | | Watch a video demo showing how Pegasus Imaging SDKs help build forms processing applications. Video, SDK, & source code available now. | | The MSDN Flash is full of pointers to in-depth technical information that we encourage subscribers to forward to friends and co-workers. If you've received this issue from someone via e-mail and would like to receive the free MSDN Flash newsletter biweekly, all you have to do is register. | | | | ________________ | Webcasts & Online Events geekSpeak: Silverlight and Facebook with Pete Brown (Level 200) October 22, 12:00 PM Pacific Time In this geekSpeak, Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Pete Brown shows you how to build Facebook social platform applications using Microsoft Silverlight 2 and ASP.NET. To ask a question in advance of the live webcast, or for post-show resources, be sure to visit the geekSpeak blog. | National and Global Events See the Future of the Microsoft Platform at PDC2008 October 27 - 30 Los Angeles, CA Discover what's in store for the future of ASP.NET, have fun with XNA and game development, or go in-depth with IronRuby. Network with top developers during your pick of more than 160 sessions, get up-close and personal with your favorite new things during hands-on labs, and engage in some free form dialogue during UnSessions. Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 DevelopersNovember 10 - 14 Barcelona, Spain Hear about the latest products and soon-to-be released tools in an environment designed to unlock your potential. Register before September 26 and save ?300. PhizzPop Design Challenge This Fall the PhizzPop Design Challenge returns as the PhizzPop Tour that will occur in San Francisco, LA, Minneapolis, New York City Chicago and Miami. Once again the finale will be held during SxSW in Austin. The goal is to enable some of the best design studios and agencies in the US to demonstrate innovation and design thinking at the intersection of business and technology using Microsoft technology and tools. DevConnectionsNovember 10 - 13 Las Vegas, NV Microsoft ASP.NET Connections, Visual Studio Connections, SQL Server Magazine Connections, and SharePoint Connections; register for one show and attend sessions in all shows for no extra charge. | | |