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Volume 13, Number 3: February 2, 2009 Top News Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 Ready to Download We're excited to make the IE8 Release Candidate available for public download in 25 languages for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server customers. Please download it now and try it out. We welcome your feedback. You can also personalize Internet Explorer 8 by adding new Accelerator and Web Slice features, search providers, and more through the Add-on Gallery. For more information on all the new features for developers in IE8, see What's New in Internet Explorer 8. Download the Windows Azure Software Development Kit (January 2009 CTP) The Windows Azure SDK provides developers with the APIs, tools, documentation, and samples needed to develop Internet-scale applications that run on Windows Azure. Also get the Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio (January 2009 CTP) which extend Visual Studio to enable the creation, building, debugging, running and packaging of scalable services on Windows Azure. From the Editor Greetings, The Microsoft SharePoint product group has rolled out the Community Technology Preview of Visual Studio 2008 extensions for SharePoint 1.3. The VSeWSS provide project templates for developers using Visual Studio 2008 to create, debug, package and deploy SharePoint projects including Web Parts, Data Lists, Content Types, Event Receivers, Templates, Modules and other SharePoint artifacts. You can download the release via Microsoft Connect, where you are encouraged to provide feedback and join discussions on the SharePoint Development MSDN Forum. BizSpark for Startups Are you at a software development startup with less than US $1 million in annual revenue? If so, have you heard of the Microsoft BizSpark program? BizSpark can accelerate your success by providing fast, affordable access to current, full-featured Microsoft tools and technologies, plus production licensing for hosted solutions. It's a sweet deal. You get all the software included in the Visual Studio Team System Team Suite (VSTS) with MSDN Premium subscription, plus VSTS Team Foundation Server (Standard Edition) for the entire development team. For support, BizSpark unites a global community of technology and entrepreneurial experts who can guide you through the hurdles of growing a new business. To enroll, you must be sponsored by a BizSpark Network Partner. Find a BizSpark Network Partner. For more details about BizSpark, see the Startup Program Guide, which describes the program benefits and more. ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Release Candidate Now Available You can now download the ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Release Candidate (RC). It works with both Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Web Developer 2008 (which is free). The RC is the last public release of ASP.NET MVC prior to the final "1.0" release. In addition to bug fixes, today's build includes several new features and refinements of existing features based on customer feedback. Full details on all the changes can be found in the release notes along with instructions on how to upgrade existing applications built with the ASP.NET MVC Beta to the RC. Thanks for reading, Editor MSDN Flash Your Featured Content Update Your Selected Topics Ensure that the content most relevant to you is presented in this section. Help Your Customers Save IT Dollars with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit In just a couple of hours, this free toolkit will automatically assess your customers' hardware readiness to migrate to Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, or Windows Server 2008. You can also use this toolkit to optimize your customers' networks, helping them save IT dollars through virtualization and "green IT" initiatives. Web Resources BenkoTIPS Live & On Demand A weekly webcast show exploring what's possible. Current schedule: • February 4 - Programming with ASP.NET Application Service • February 11 - What's New in IIS 7.0 for Developers • February 18 - Working with the Data Form Web Part and SharePoint Designer • February 25 - What's New in the WPF Toolkit - DataGrid, DataPicker & Ribbon Security for Developers SDL and the CWE/SANS Top 25 The security community has been buzzing since SANS and MITRE's joint announcement earlier this month of their list of the Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors. Gain an overview of how the Microsoft SDL maps to the CWE/SANS list. AntiXSS Library V3.0 - Test Harness XSS Filter Improvements in IE8 RC1 More Security... Training New SharePoint for Developers (part 2) Track on MSDN Ramp Up This second course will immerse you in even more of the developer-centric capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS). MOSS is based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, which gives developers the opportunity to get more problems solved with less effort. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 takes full advantage of Microsoft ASP.NET and the Microsoft .NET runtime. Join Ramp Up and Help Advance Your Career Ramp Up is a free, online, community-based program that can help you save time in learning Microsoft technology. The easy-to-access content, provided by subject-matter gurus, is specifically tailored for the Ramp Up program and offered in a variety of forms, including articles, virtual labs, "codecasts," and "slidecasts." Free Downloadable E-book Offers from Microsoft Press Learn at your own pace, on your own schedule. These free e-book offers are a great way to stay up to date on the latest Microsoft technologies: • Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions • Introducing SQL Server 2008 • Visual Studio 2008 Free E-Book Offer Get an Extra Shot at Microsoft Certification Get a second chance to pass any Microsoft IT Professional, Developer, or Microsoft Dynamics Certification exam - free. Register for this offer before your first exam and you'll get two shots at success. Case Studies SDL Series Article #5: Microsoft's Security Toolbox Microsoft makes heavy use of tools throughout the Security Development Lifecycle. In this article, you will see how tools assist in threat modeling, code analysis, and penetration testing. More Case Studies... Partner News Develop PHP Applications in Visual Studio and IIS 7 VS.Php 2.6 for Visual Studio 2008 comes with IIS 7 integration that enables the developer to easily write, debug and deploy PHP applications with IIS 7. Download free trial. 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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. ____________ In This Issue: Your Featured Content Web Resources Security for Developers Training Case Studies Partner News Inside MSDN Magazine An Introduction to Domain-Driven Design Getting Started with IronRuby and RSpec, Part 1 Build Metadata-Based Applications with the "Oslo" Platform Resources • Developer Resources Center (Silverlight Version) • Developer & Architect Events • Windows Vista Developer Center • Microsoft Office Developer Center • Expression Web Home Page • patterns & practices Developer Center • MSDN Evaluation Center • MSDN Magazine • TechNet Flash • TechNet Magazine • Solution Accelerators for Partners Webcasts & Online Events All times Pacific Time Tips and Tricks with the Visual Studio Debugger February 3, 11:00 A.M. Learn how to use the debugger like a pro while picking up new techniques to accelerate your problem-solving and debugging abilities. We show you how to use advanced breakpoints, advanced watch window, expression evaluator tricks, modifiers, assertions on the fly, remote debugging, and more. Webcasts listed in an easy-to-use calendar format: MSDN Webcast Calendar National and Global Events MIX09: Bill Buxton to Keynote; New Sessions, and More March 18 - 20 Las Vegas, NV Pre-event workshops March 17 Things are heating up at MIX09 with news and announcements about the hottest Web innovation trends and topics. • New keynote speaker - innovation luminary, Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. • Explore MIX09's largest release of new sessions to date. • Exclusive screening of "Objectified," a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. • Don't miss out on the chance to save US$400 on MIX09 registration. Register by February 13. Tech·Ed North America 2009 May 11 - 15 Los Angeles, CA Tech·Ed 2009 offers 20 technical tracks spanning more than 750 learning opportunities. If you want to create applications with cloud-based services or learn best practices for parallel programming and software testing, visit our web site today. Register by February 27 and save US$200 on the full conference fee. Attend VSLive! in San Francisco February 22 - 26 San Francisco, CA Check out the independent Visual Studio .NET developer conference. To cancel your subscription to this newsletter, reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject line. You can also unsubscribe at the Microsoft.com Web site. You can manage all your Microsoft.com communication preferences at this site. Legal Information. 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Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile Saving a Search Whenever you perform a search in a Windows Vista folder, you can save it for reuse. Saving searches can speed up your efforts to find important information, especially as you save more and more files. Here's how: Click Save Search. The search file is saved in a separate folder under your user folder, titled Saved Searches. Selecting Excel Ranges by Using the Name Box In Microsoft Office Excel, you can select a range of cells by typing it in the Name box. This is particularly useful if the range is large and will therefore take time and a lot of scrolling to select by hand. • Tips and Tricks Web site • Microsoft Office Online • Help Privacy note: Microsoft respects your privacy and that of your friends. Please do not use the Tell a Friend button to send mail to more than 10 people. Microsoft cannot collect any data about the people you send mail to unless they sign up for Tips and Tricks Special Delivery. To cancel your subscription to this newsletter, reply to this message with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. You can also unsubscribe at the Microsoft.com Profile Center. You can manage all your Microsoft.com communication preferences at this site. Legal information Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile © 2009 Microsoft Corporation Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement

Daily Tips and Tricks Special Delivery

Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile Use a Voice Command You can use sound in Microsoft Office Word. 1. In the Word document, place your cursor where you want your voice message to go. 2. Click Insert, and then in the Text section, click the Insert Object button. 3. In the Object dialog box, on the Create New tab, in the list of object types, select Wave Sound. 4. Click OK, and then record your own voice note. Use the Floating Toolbar for Formatting You can use a floating toolbar to quickly change document formatting in Microsoft Office. When you use the mouse to select text that you want to change, a floating toolbar appears automatically, giving you easy access to basic formatting commands. • Tips and Tricks Web site • Microsoft Office Online • Help Privacy note: Microsoft respects your privacy and that of your friends. Please do not use the Tell a Friend button to send mail to more than 10 people. Microsoft cannot collect any data about the people you send mail to unless they sign up for Tips and Tricks Special Delivery. To cancel your subscription to this newsletter, reply to this message with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. You can also unsubscribe at the Microsoft.com Profile Center. You can manage all your Microsoft.com communication preferences at this site. Legal information Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Sign up for other newsletters | Unsubscribe | Update your profile © 2009 Microsoft Corporation Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement