MSDN Blog on Geekzone: Tips, tricks and all the info about MSDN

Visual Studio 2010 and Windows Azure New Zealand launch events

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:28 +1200

If you're involved in any capacity with software development, or want to understand more about cloud computing, this is a half-day event not to be missed. Come along to the official New Zealand launch of Visual Studio 2010 and Windows Azure. Two international experts, Sam Guckenheimer and David Chappell will deliver two keynote sessions. Plus, to mark the occasion, Microsoft is producing a cool retro t-shirt for all attendees, and there are also some great prizes to be won! Best of all, the event is free to attend!

Visual Studio 2010 Keynote

The event kicks off with the official New Zealand launch of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0. The launch of Visual Studio 2010 will help accelerate everything you do, from design to development to deployment. Hear how Visual Studio 2010 helps you find nasty bugs, get better insight into how your project is running, and work better with other people on your team.

The keynote presenter is Microsoft's Sam Guckenheimer, author of Software Engineering with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System. Sam is the Group Product Planner for the Microsoft Visual Studio product line. In this capacity, he acts as chief customer advocate, responsible for the end-to-end external design of the next releases of these products.

Windows Azure Keynote

Cloud computing looks like the biggest change to hit our industry in many years. The advent of cheap, scalable computing power available over the Internet will affect almost everybody who works in IT. But taking advantage of this shift requires understanding this new approach and how to exploit it.

In this presentation, David Chappell looks at the Windows Azure platform and what it means for organisations that create, use, or sell software. The topics he'll cover include:

? An overview of the Windows Azure platform: Technology and business model
? Using the Windows Azure platform: Application scenarios
? The cloud platform context: Google, Amazon, Salesforce.com, and more

David Chappell is Principal of Chappell & Associates in San Francisco, California. Through his speaking, writing, and consulting, he helps software professionals around the world understand, use, and make better decisions about new technologies.

MSDN New Zealand team

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:31 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions have a MSDN New Zealand team. These are local professionals working in the evangelism and marketing areas:

Scott Wylie (Director, Developer & Platform Strategy Team)

Nigel Parker (UX Development Advisor)

Nathan Mercer (IT Pro Advisor)

Mike Zeff (Development Advisor)

Ryan Tarak (Academic Developer Advisor)

Dean Edwards (Group Marketing Manager)

Paul Lo (Audience Marketing)

Robert Costello (Group Operations Manager)

Daryl Oog (Audience Marketing)

Subscribers have access to a comprehensive set of resources including past, present, and future software and tools. With MSDN Subscribers' enhanced support, you can quickly get un-stuck, enabling you to make the right decisions to stay ahead of the curve. The platform gives you room to grow, as you will always have access to the newest technologies. MSDN Subscribers also get other benefits ranging from 3rd party offers to MSDN Subscribers to discounted products and VIP treatment at events.

The core of MSDN Subscriptions is the access to a wide variety of software that for development and test purposes. An MSDN Premium Subscriptions gives access to virtually all Microsoft servers and tools. On top of this subscribers get Technical Support Incidents (2 for MSDN Pro, 4 for MSDN Premium), an Online Concierge to help using MSDN Subscription services, Microsoft E-Learning collections, training offers from Microsoft Partners and priority support in MSDN Forums: two-business-day response to forum postings (previously managed newsgroups).

Developers interested in the upcoming Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 know there's an upgrade path available - get Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with a MSDN Subscription now and it will automatically convert to a Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 bundle when the software is released.

About the author: Mauricio Freitas is the administrator on Geekzone, New Zealand's leading technology community forum. Mauricio is a Microsoft Windows Mobile MVP, and involved with all things geek. Avid coffee drinker (espresso please), Mauricio is also a "professional conference attendee".

MSDN Blogs

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:30 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions have many blogs from Microsoft employees worldwide. These blogs put users like yourself in contact with Microsoft people and teams developing the tools we use to create and support applications.

The easiest way to follow the blogs is to use RSS feeds to see all blog posts - but if the number of posts is too much, then you can individually select which blogs to follow and grab their unique RSS feeds.

MSDN Forums

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:28 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions have many different forums for peer support. These include MSDN Forums and MSDN Newsgroups.

Like in any other forums and newsgroups users can post their questions and receive peer support (provided by other community members) or Microsoft professionals. This also allows users to search on a growing archive of technical questions and answers constantly updated.

MSDN Support

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:27 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions gives subscribers special support options. Those support options include "Ask an Expert Online" where users can interact with peers through forums and newsgroups and Assisted Support for MSDN Subscribers.

Online Concierge is another MSDN support option, providing an one-to-one web-base chat service addressing non-technical questions regarding navigation on the MSDN site, Knowledge Base article searches and subscribers downloads.

MSDN Subscription users have priority support through the MSDN Forum, receiving a response from a Microsoft engineer without two business days if there isn't a reply from the community already.

MSDN Downloads

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:26 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions allows users to download Microsoft software for their development and testing requirements. We will explain in this blog post how it works.
Subscribers have access to a comprehensive set of resources including past, present, and future software and tools. With MSDN Subscribers' enhanced support, you can quickly get un-stuck, enabling you to make the right decisions to stay ahead of the curve. The platform gives you room to grow, as you will always have access to the newest technologies. MSDN Subscribers also get other benefits ranging from 3rd party offers to MSDN Subscribers to discounted products and VIP treatment at events.
The core of MSDN Subscriptions is the access to a wide variety of software that for development and test purposes. An MSDN Premium Subscriptions gives access to virtually all Microsoft servers and tools. On top of this subscribers get Technical Support Incidents (2 for MSDN Pro, 4 for MSDN Premium), an Online Concierge to help using MSDN Subscription services, Microsoft E-Learning collections, training offers from Microsoft Partners and priority support in MSDN Forums: two-business-day response to forum postings (previously managed newsgroups).
Developers interested in the upcoming Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 know there's an upgrade path available - get Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with a MSDN Subscription now and it will automatically convert to a Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 bundle when the software is released.

About the author: Mauricio Freitas is the administrator on Geekzone, New Zealand's leading technology community forum. Mauricio is a Microsoft Windows Mobile MVP, and involved with all things geek. Avid coffee drinker (espresso please), Mauricio is also a "professional conference attendee".

MSDN Licensing

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:24 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions have many different licensing types. We will explain in this blog post how it works.

Our first MSDN winner

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 03:53 +1200

We have our first winner: Andrew Murphy, from Palmerston North, is taking home an awesome package of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription (download edition) worth NZ$ 5,000.
The Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription package is perfect for software developers, software testers, and software architects. Those IT professionals will benefit most of the package features:

The next release of Visual Studio 2010 when it ships, at no additional cost
Previous versions of Visual Studio
Expression Web and Expression Blend
Software and driver development kits (SDKs/DDKs)
Productivity applications
Operating systems
Early Beta previews
Server software and more

With this MSDN Premium subscription, Andrew can use the software to design, develop, test and demo your applications on as many machines and devices as needed.
The MSDN Premium subscription will give Andrew access to managed newsgroups, and four professional Technical Support Incidents, which can be used for assistance with technical break-fix issues though Microsoft Technical Support.
We will continue posting some information in this blog, and stay tuned because another giveaway will be coming in early 2010.

Using MSDN at Telecom

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 03:29 +1200

MSDN Subscription
Let's be honest.� For most of my daily programming requirements, "Google is my friend."� I rarely need to use paid support options.� In five years at Telecom, I've used the Concierge Support option once.� However, for getting access to all Microsoft software on demand, MSDN Subscription is DA BOMB.�
Here are the support options available under MSDN Subscription.� A detailed description of each one follows.

Online Concierge Chat Do you need guidance finding the answers you are looking for, or assistance with a non-technical question? Access the MSDN Online Concierge available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except US National Holidays).
Subscriber Downloads Download software and get product keys.
Microsoft E-learning Take advantage of free Microsoft E-learning courses to hone your skills
MSDN Forums/Managed Newsgroups Get expert answers to your technical questions within two business days. (English only)
Support Incidents For your toughest technical questions, contact Microsoft Support.
MSDN Magazine Subscription Sign up each year to stay informed of Microsoft development technologies and trends.�

Concierge Support MSDN Online Concierge From the MSDN Subscription Site:

Welcome to Online Concierge, an online service created to help you explore the resources available to you as a MSDN Subscriber. Please feel free to ask the Microsoft Online Concierge any questions on locating specific technical resources. This service is staffed by Microsoft Online Concierges who will, via a Web-based chat service, help you locate technical resources by:

Using your MSDN subscription
Using the MSDN Web site and other Microsoft online resources
Using and searching the Microsoft Knowledge Base
For specific technical questions, use the MSDN Managed Newsgroups or technical support options.

This is the premiere support option.� It is a live MSN chat with a Microsoft Support Engineer.� You get a number of these calls per annum (see the calculation in the Support Incidents section below).�
As previously stated, I rarely use them.

Subscriber Downloads This is the procedure for downloading new software:

Go to this web site: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-nz/subscriptions/downloads/default(en-us).aspx
Log in using your Windows Live (formerly Microsoft Passport) ID
Provided your Windows Live ID is affiliated with a certified Microsoft Partner, you will be redirected to https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/securedownloads/default.aspx
Download what I need.�
Install it.�
Get the Product Key (if necessary) from the website above.
Use it safe in the knowledge that it's licensed and legal.

Currently, here is the list of available products to download:

Updated Products (31)
Applications (68)
Business Solutions (25)
Designer Tools (5)
Developer Tools (44)
MSDN Library (11)
Operating Systems (30)
Servers (72)
Tools and Resources (106)

I am like a kid in a sweet shop!
Microsoft E-learning Microsoft E-Learning Benefits for MSDN Subscribers From the MSDN Subscription site:

As an MSDN subscriber, you get access to Microsoft E-Learning course collections to stay up-to-date on Microsoft technologies, and can also reduce the strain on your training budget.

Microsoft E-Learning offers online training to help you master Microsoft technologies in a cost effective way, whether you want to learn a new technology, take your skills to the next level, or prepare for Microsoft Certification exams.

MSDN Subscription Level
Microsoft E-Learning benefits per calendar year* Visual Studio Ultimate with MSDN Visual Studio Premium with MSDN All current MSDN Premium levels 2 course collections Visual Studio Professional with MSDN Visual Studio Professional with MSDN Professional Visual Studio Test Elements with MSDN MSDN Embedded MSDN Operating Systems 1 course collection

*Any usage prior to January 1st, 2010 will be counted toward the 2010 calendar year benefit.

A course collection is a set of courses and resources on a specific topic, typically containing 10 courses with 20 hours of instruction. Each course has an estimated retail value of up to $349 per year.

What to know before you start learning:

If you are eligible for 2 course collections per year, you must select both at the same time.
You will be able to browse the course options prior to making your selection.
Microsoft E-Learning is offered in English.
How to choose the right E-Learning collection? Created by technology experts, Learning Plans help you save time by organizing training resources that are most relevant to your goals into a self-guided path. Microsoft E-Learning collections or courses are included in Learning Plans. Find a Learning Plan that matches your goal and take advantage of the free E-Learning benefit.

Goal Based Learning Plans
Certification Based Learning Plans
Exam Based Learning Plans
Assessment Based Learning Plans

E-Learning courses are all well and good, and I would use them, if I didn't also have unlimited legal access to all Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses.� These are the instructor-led courses which I get access to as a Microsoft Certified Trainer.� Plus, I'm not a big fan of on-line training.� There tends to be a time constraint.� I prefer purchasing a Self-Paced Training Kit and working my way solidly through the book, then testing myself with the Practice Tests that come with the Kit.
MSDN Forums Priority Subscriber Support in MSDN Forums From the MSDN Subscriptions site:

MSDN subscribers now benefit from priority support in MSDN Forums. We will be finishing our transition from supporting newsgroups in early 2010 (we will replace the remaining newsgroup links below with Forums links at that time) so that you can get answers to your technical questions in a variety of subject areas. A Microsoft engineer will respond within 2 business days to your posting if the community hasn't already gotten you the answer. MSDN Forums are very active community and a great place to both get help and help others.

To receive priority support in the MSDN Forums designated below, please make sure to sign in with the same Windows Live ID you use to access your other subscription benefits; no special configuration is needed.

Personally, Google finds the answer quicker than me trying to understand and drill down all the correct sub-categories to get to the area where my question might get answered in two hours.� Support Incidents Technical Support From the MSDN Subscription site:

As an MSDN Subscriber, you may be entitled to receive up to four technical support incidents depending on your subscription level. These support incidents can be used to resolve technical break-fix issues in a non-production environment and are the equivalent of paid Professional Support incidents. You can use a technical support incident to find a solution to a production issue if you can replicate that issue in a non-production environment. Paid MSDN Subscribers receive the following number of incidents based on the subscription level:

Premium, Ultimate: 4 incidents per subscription
Operating Systems, Embedded, Professional, Test Elements: 2 incidents per subscription
To use the professional incidents included with your subscription, you must:

Call in to one of the numbers below and ask to create a support contract. Please have your MSDN Benefit Access Number (BAN) or Subscriber ID available.� The contract creation may take a few hours to process.
Use your support incidents by phone or e-mail (using the same telephone numbers and email addresses below), or submit an incident online.� In most cases you will be called back by an engineer after submitting your problem information.
Not for Resale (NFR) subscriptions including those provided through the Microsoft Partner Network, Microsoft BizSpark, Microsoft Empower for ISVs, Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP), Microsoft Regional Directors, do not include the standard Technical Support Incidents. Microsoft Certified Partners, Microsoft Empower for ISVs, and Microsoft BizSpark members receive other technical support as a benefit of their program membership. Members of these programs should consult program information for the specific benefits.

See my discussion above in Concierge Support on why I don't tend to use Support Incidents. MSDN Magazine This would be free, if we lived in the US.� Since we don't, it costs US$25 for a years subscription (12 issues) for delivery to NZ.
Full of very technical good stuff, half of which frightens me, and the other half I don't even pretend to understand.� But, after about a year, then past articles start to make sense!

Conclusion Despite what I said about Support Options, I find MSDN Subscription invaluable for the Subscriber Downloads only.
I can't say I use MSDN every day, but it's good to know that it's there when I need it.
I work for the Workgroup Solutions Team (WST), part of Applications Development, Maintenance and Support.� That "Development" word is important, because it means we're part of Programme Delivery, not Operations Support.� This means we get to ~~play with lots of cool stuff~~ develop with the latest tools.

Programme Delivery is a department of the Transformation, Technology and Shared Services (TT&SS) business unit.� This means, we get to deliver applications to all other parts of Telecom (Operational Separation schedules permitting!).
WST is Telecom's only internally-focussed .NET development team.� You may have heard of our externally-focussed .NET Development team: Gen-i!
WST is tasked with hunting down Microsoft Access databases within the organisation and bagging them: hunt, kill, destroy and replace with SQL Server back-end and ASP.NET front-end.
I love my job.

About the Author James Hippolite remembers being 15 in the 5th form at Nelson College, when he sat up one night coding a biorhythms application on his newly acquired second-hand Apple IIe.� At 3am, he ran into his mother's bedroom to excitedly inform her he'd successfully finished.� Her measured response allowed him to continue to feel good about coding. James holds Microsoft certification as a Professional Developer (MCPD: Web Developer), IT Professional (MCITP: Database Developer) and Trainer (MCT). He lives in Wellington and is currently employed full time in a large corporate and loving the regular hours that non-consultants enjoy.

What is MSDN?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:27 +1200

MSDN Subscriptions help add value throughout the development lifecycle by giving developers access to tools, platforms and community resources that help developers create solutions.

You can get a MSDN Subscription as an option when purchasing Microsoft Visual Studio.

Enter to win Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:18 +1200

Here is the first of three competitions we will be running in this blog - the prize is an awesome package of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription (download edition) worth NZ$ 5,000.

The Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription package is perfect for software developers, software testers, and software architects. Those IT professionals will benefit most of the package features:

The next release of Visual Studio 2010 when it ships, at no additional cost
Previous versions of Visual Studio
Expression Web and Expression Blend
Software and driver development kits (SDKs/DDKs)
Productivity applications
Operating systems
Early Beta previews
Server software and more

With your MSDN Premium subscription, you can use the software to design, develop, test and demo your applications on as many machines and devices as you need - as long as each developer is a subscriber (we will post about licensing later in this blog, but remember these are individual licenses, not company licenses).

The MSDN Premium subscription will give you access to managed newsgroups, where you can post questions and get a response from a Microsoft engineer - if the community doesn't give you the answer first. With this subscription you also get four professional Technical Support Incidents, which can be used for assistance with technical break-fix issues though Microsoft Technical Support.

To enter this competition visit the MSDN Subscriptions page to find out what software for development and test use comes with a Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription and email "msdn@geekzone.co.nz" with the subject "MSDN Competition" and your answer. Make sure your email lists all the software for development and test use, plus your name, Twitter username, address and telephone number (just in case).

If you are on Twitter you can get a second entry by spreading the word about this competition. Simply tweet "Enter to win Microsoft Visual Studio and MSDN Premium http://tinyurl.com/yjxm9k5 #NZMSDN". Remember this is your second chance - you must send the email for your first entry in the draw for your tweet to be valid. Make sure you only send this tweet once - we don't like spammers either!

The answers must be received by 7th December 2009 12pm and we will conduct a draw just after this time. If you don't win this time, remember to keep an eye on this blog for the next two competitions.

Good luck!

PS. Here is the fineprint you should know:

Entry in this competition is open to New Zealand residents. The prize is a Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Premium subscription license (download edition) worth NZ$ 5,000, provided by Microsoft New Zealand. Incomplete answers will not be included in the draw. Only one entry per user is allowed. All multiple entries will be removed from the pool. No purchase is necessary. Entries close 7th December 2009 12:00 (NZ time). A random draw will be conducted 7th December 2009 and one winner entry will be selected. The winner will be notified via email. An email to confirm the contact details will be requested and the reply must be received in 48 hours otherwise another entry will be selected. If the email address is invalid then another draw will be conducted.

Introducing the MSDN blog on Geekzone

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:49 +1200

Welcome to the MSDN blog on Geekzone. During the next few weeks you will find here a treasure chest of information about MSDN, the companion to Microsoft Visual Studio that gives developers access to 12,000+ downloads including nearly all Microsoft products, languages, tools, development kits, and other resources.

MSDN also give users early previews of beta products, a simplified per-user licensing with unlimited software use, regular software updates along with tools to help you manage this continually growing software library.

Developers also have professional technical support for up to four incidents, depending on your subscription level, priority support in MSDN Forums where you can post questions and have them answered by a Microsoft engineer and/or the community plus a 24 x 7, 1:1 chat access to the Online Concierge, who can help you navigate the extensive array of valuable MSDN subscription benefits.

Like our other sponsored blogs, posts will come from the developer community and will tell you about the services and products associated with MSDN subscriptions. Those posts are in no way filtered by our sponsors - you will learn how actual developers use MSDN benefits in real life.

But wait, there's more! Later this week we will be running a competition to giveaway Microsoft Visual Studio with MSDN subscriptions - we have three of those to giveaway, so it's worth you keeping an eye in this blog on how to enter to win.

About the author: Mauricio Freitas is the administrator on Geekzone, New Zealand's leading technology community forum. Mauricio is a Microsoft Windows Mobile MVP, and involved with all things geek. Avid coffee drinker (espresso please), Mauricio is also a "professional conference attendee".