Silverlight News Desk

How Quickly the Mighty Have Fallen

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:30:00 EST

On November 9, Adobe announced in a blog post[1] that it had decided to cease efforts to develop browser plugins for mobile devices to play Flash, indicating that HTML5 was “the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.” In case that sounds like Adobe abandoned Flash entirely, it should be noted that Adobe indicated their intentions to continue to develop the AIR player for mobile devices, so that the role for Flash on mobile devices would be restricted to native apps, just not browser-based apps. A few days later in another blog post[2], Adobe also noted that it was releasing the entire Flex SDK (used by the Flash Builder IDE to generate Flash RIA applications) to open source, indicating that “In the long-term, we believe HTML5 will be the best technology for enterprise application development.”

The Book of CSS3: A Developer's Guide to the Future of Web Design

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:15:00 EST

It’s quite clear from reading this book that Peter Gasston is very knowledgeable about CSS 3 and, as he points out in the preface, this book is a culmination of five years of work that he has spent writing about CSS3. There is a clear order to the chapters. The earlier chapters are well implemented and the items discussed there are used on a regular basis. The final chapters are more speculative in nature. The author takes a very methodical approach in the book. He covers numerous topics in a clear and well-thought-out manner. He provides several examples for each topic that is covered. There are 17 chapters and an appendix. After each topic is introduced, the author informs you as to which of the major browsers implements the feature. The last chapter discusses the future of CSS3. The appendix collects all of the browser support tables that are found in each chapter.

SmartBear Software Advances Load Testing for Websites with RIAs

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:00:00 EST

SmartBear Software has unveiled LoadComplete 2.0, the latest version of the company's load testing tool for Web applications. Featuring new support for rich Internet applications (RIAs), LoadComplete 2.0 now makes it easy to create and run realistic load tests, without scripting, for websites built using Adobe Flash and Flex, AJAX, and Microsoft Silverlight technologies. New data presentation and reporting options make it easier for users to control data parameters and interpret and diagnose results to improve the performance, reliability, and user experience of Web applications. Mathijs Groen, QA Engineer, Benelux, at Kewill B.V., said, "LoadComplete 2.0 is an economical and efficient tool for us to more easily test the performance of our rich Internet-based applications and compare performance statistics by running it on several types of application servers. This enables us to better assist customers by providing them with the most ‘smoothly running' framework."

Microsoft Previews Windows 8

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:15:00 EDT

It’s maybe a year before any Windows 8 products come out but Microsoft started pushing what it called its “re-imagined,” next-generation operating system to developers this week at its Build conference in California. Evidently it’s trying to freeze the market before its PC empire is utterly chipped away by the upstart Apple and Android. Microsoft is supposed to be “re-imagining” all its widgetry “from the chipset to the user experience” to run on or through the cloud, an exercise that’s supposed to equate to re-imagining Microsoft itself while Windows remains at its core and every business is cloud-optimized and tied together. Backward-compatible with Windows 7, on which it is based but requiring less memory, Windows 8 is both a leap into OS-disenfranchising cloud services and a tablet catch-up – at least for ARM tablets. It made no firm promises about Intel tablets but reassured the crowd that the highly rated ARM development is keeping pace with its Intel development although Microsoft didn’t show it.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Master Data Services

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:15:00 EDT

This is a very hands-on book. It walks you through using every aspect of the current MDS tools. It starts out with an introduction to Master Data Services and then jumps right into installation and configuration. You then create an MDS Project and add a new Model to it by hand. The book does a great job of providing step by step instructions. As I went through the book I didn't get the feeling I was lost. The authors do a good job of keeping you moving forward at the right pace. The book has chapters on Starting an MDS Project, Creating Your Model, Integrating Master Data Services with Other Systems, Working with Hierarchies and Collection, Working with Master Data, Using Business Rules, Creating Versions of Data, Using Metadata, Implementing Security, Publishing Data to External Systems, and Extending MDS with Web Services. I cannot recommend using the current Microsoft MDM tools to anyone, but it can’t hurt to start learning them now. The Microsoft MDM tools are showing signs of improvement with Denali, but they still have a way to go before the product is a competitor to products like the IBM MDM stack.

Microsoft Expression Blend 4 Step by Step

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:15:00 EDT

Being primarily an architect and developer my use of Blend can be very limited at times. I use Blend mostly for prototyping with SketchFlow and I wanted to get a refresher on the functionality I don’t use day to day. Over the past several months I have been cracking this book open over lunch (when I get a lunch) and going through all the exercises. It has been a very fun exercise. The book starts out with an introduction to Silverlight and WPF and then has a chapter on the Blend 4 IDE. The book continues with a chapter on Designing an Interface, XAML and C#, Animations and Transformations, Adding Interactivity, Creating Design Assets, Resources, Skinning Controls, Working with Data, Using SketchFlow, and Designer/Developer Collaboration.

Microsoft to Collect More Android Royalties

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:15:00 EDT

Microsoft hurried out Monday to say that General Dynamics Itronix, whose defense contractor parent has a market cap of $27 billion, will be paying Microsoft royalties for broad patent protection for its Android devices. The deal must have gone down relatively easily because Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez called it “an example of how industry leaders address intellectual property” in the announcement. Itronix, which makes rugged laptops and tablets, said, the deal would let it “meet the evolving demands of our customers with more diverse applications and increased functionality in products that incorporate the Android platform.”

Microsoft Shows Off Win8 Tablet OS

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:00:00 EDT

Microsoft previewed a prototype Windows 8 operating system running on both ARM and x86 architectures Wednesday at the Computex show in Taiwan as well as at the D9 conference in California. It’s being adapted for touchscreens as well as conventional keyboard-based PCs and is supposed to integrate Skype. Like Microsoft’s phone OS it uses tiles instead of icons for navigating between applications and getting instant Twitter or weather updates.

High-Profile Investor Wants Ballmer Out

Mon, 30 May 2011 15:45:00 EDT

Sounding like a guy starting to flex his activist shareholder muscles, Greenlight Capital chief David Einhorn, who made his bones shorting an under-capitalized, over-exposed Lehman months before its collapse, told an investment conference Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is stuck in a legacy time warp and has to go. “His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft’s stock,” he said, pointing to his failure to deal with Google (whose stock seems to be seeking a new bottom itself these days), letting Apple get ahead of him, deals like Microsoft’s $8.5 billion Skype deal and go-nowhere R&D.

Book Review: The Art of Enterprise Information Architecture

Wed, 25 May 2011 08:00:00 EDT

No matter what your technology stack is this book can help you implement an Enterprise Information Architecture or at least it will help you improve the one you have in place now. This book is a mature book on Enterprise Information Architecture. By mature I mean thorough and packed with wisdom gained through experience. I am a member of the Microsoft camp. I have been for a long time now, and I have no intention of switching to IBM, but I wish Microsoft would be producing books like this that included their technology. Microsoft may able to in a few years, but they are no where close to being this mature with their Enterprise Architecture tools now. The Microsoft MDM tools are showing signs of improvement with Denali, but they still have a way to go before the product is a competitor to the IBM MDM stack.

Silverlight Integration Pack for Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0

Mon, 16 May 2011 13:55:00 EDT

This release provides many of the features of Enterprise Library 5.0 for Silverlight application developers. Silverlight Integration Pack for Enterprise Library is a collection of guidance and reusable application blocks designed to assist Silverlight application developers with common LOB development challenges. This release includes: Caching Application Block, Exception Handling Application Block, Logging Application Block, Policy Injection Application Block, Validation Application Block, and Unity Application Block.

Book Review: UML 2 and the Unified Process

Sat, 14 May 2011 17:00:00 EDT

This is still my number one choice in UML books to have at my side. The first version of this book made it to everyone of my gigs in the past, now it is this versions turn. The first thing I imagine I should address is why the heck I am reviewing a book that is over 5 years old. I have owned the first edition since its publication and have continued to use it on every project as a reference. When the second edition came out I really wanted it, but there was always another book on my wish list that I needed to also have. Since I had the first edition, I opted for the other book. That continued for longer than I anticipated. So here it is 6 years later and I am holding a copy of the second edition!!!! The reason I am choosing to review it is that is as relevant today as it was when it was written. One of the things I like most about this book is that you can turn to the appendix and not find the word agile. This book is all about agility, but it was written before the days of the "agile" buzz word.

C#/.NET Developers Gain New In-Memory Database System (IMDS) Option

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:25:47 EDT

McObject’s new API for the eXtremeDB In-Memory Database System (IMDS) streamlines Windows software creation by enabling developers to work naturally with eXtremeDB entirely within C#’s object-oriented domain, while delivering eXtremeDB’s unparalleled run-time speed and efficiency. When using the C# API for eXtremeDB, there is no external database definition, and no requirement to compile a database schema. Instead, the API relies on C#’s reflection capability to discover database classes and their fields that are defined in the application, in the class definition syntax. This streamlines coding, and the developer's experience is one of working with plain old C# objects. Optionally, the C# class definitions can be used to generate a schema that, in turn, can be processed by McObject’s schema compiler, so that C/C++ and C# programs can use the same database. The C# interface is a port of a Java Native Interface (JNI) that was earlier released for eXtremeDB.

Microsoft Silverlight 5 Beta Offline Documentation Available for Download

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:57:18 EDT

Microsoft has posted the Microsoft Silverlight 5 Beta Offline Documentation. Below is an overview taken from the new documentation that outlines the new features covered in the documentation. Silverlight 5 Beta includes several new features that are based on customer suggestions. This topic introduces some of the new features and improvements in Silverlight 5 Beta.

ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight Now Available

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:46:00 EDT

Esri's new ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight can now be downloaded at no cost from the Esri Beta Community site. The viewer is a ready-to-use, configurable web mapping application built on ArcGIS API for Silverlight/WPF. Users can easily configure ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight without writing a single line of code or editing configuration files. The download includes an application builder tool for making and previewing changes to the viewer data content, tools, and layout. The viewer is designed so that users can customize the look and feel of applications, add and configure tools, and extend the viewer framework with custom add-ins.

How to Automatically Index Scanned Forms Using Barcodes

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Did you know you can add barcodes to the forms your organization uses? Barcodes give the scanned image a readily identifiable key, allowing for easy storage and retrieval in a database or content management system. Review the included code samples and see how to add barcode reading and writing, for auto-indexing forms, to applications.

Book Review: Silverlight 4 Unleashed

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:15:00 EST

This book is packed with great advice on how to build Silverlight applications correctly. It is an easy to read book, and will also make a great reference. This book is labeled as intermediate to advanced. I would agree with that listing. You won't find an overview of XAML in the book. The publisher has made Silverlight 2 Unleashed available for download and the book refers you to it for the basics. The author did do a good job of outlining the Silverlight 2 Unleashed chapters in the beginning of book, and pointing you to it where appropriate. Personally I would have preferred to have the chapters still considered relevant to have been updated and included. This would have made the book a beginners to advanced book. I have however seen complaints in reviews of other books that argue for the opposite. The other reviewers don't want material carried forward. I disagree and like everything in one place. This is just my personal opinion and I won't ding the book for it.

Book Review: C# 4 Unleashed

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:18:00 EST

The author of this book starts off by answering the question, "Why do we need another C# book?". I was asking myself that very question as I turned to the introduction. He says "In short, what sets this book apart from many others is its in-depth coverage of how things work." As far as C# 4.0 books go, I have read C# 4.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference, Pro C# 2010 and the .NET 4 Platform, and CLR via C# (Dev-Pro) . All very good books, very good!!! C# 4.0 Unleashed belongs on the shelf with them. The author does indeed break down the C# language in a unique and very enjoyable way.

Windows Doesn’t Cut the Mustard, But Microsoft Still Brings Home the Bacon

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 06:15:00 EST

Microsoft took a widely expected hit on PC weakness in the December quarter but that didn’t stop the old girl from posting record beat-the-Street revenues of $19.95 billion, up 5%, and earning $6.63 billion, only a hair short of last year’s net and better than Apple’s $6 billion. Having bought back $5 billion worth of its stock its ESP worked out to a handsome 77 cents a share, way ahead of the 68 cents expected. With Windows sales suffering from consumer fatigue and iPad distraction, the company’s Office and Xbox operations picked up a lot of the slack.

Cloud Expo, Inc. Announces Cloud Expo 2011 New York Venue

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:45:00 EST

Cloud Expo, Inc. announced on Thursday that Cloud Expo 2011 New York, the 8th International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo, will take place June 6-9, 2011, at the Javits Center in New York City. The International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo series is the world’s leading Cloud-focused event and is held in New York, Silicon Valley, Prague, Tokyo, and Hong-Kong. Over 600 corporate sponsors and more than 65,000 industry professionals have participated in Cloud Expo since its inception, 10-folds more than all other Cloud-related events put together.

PDF for Silverlight

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 09:37:02 EST

Using Microsoft Silverlight, developers can provide their users with content-rich web applications that are not limited to text and images, and which can now include complex graphics and better interaction with users. A useful add-on to Silverlight would be the ability to display high quality PDF documents that would be easily readable by the users as compared to displaying documents as Jpeg images. Now that PDF has become the standard format for document storage and forms processing in most corporations, we thought that Silverlight applications would benefit from the ability to natively serve PDF documents and forms. In this paper, we will show how to use the Amyuni PDF components to dynamically view PDF documents within a Silverlight control. We will discuss how to create a Silverlight 3 control to display and interact with PDF documents. The same control can be used for viewing PDF, XPS or any type of document rather than just images. The documents would be located on the server and viewed by the client within a Silverlight object without having to download any files to the client. The framework that is presented can be easily expanded to add interactivity when the PDF files contain annotations or form fields.

SmartBear Software Releases TestComplete 8.10

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 13:46:05 EST

SmartBear Software announced TestComplete 8.10, the latest release of its automated testing tool. TestComplete 8.10 includes new functionality for testing Rich Internet Applications, enhanced automation for data-driven and load tests, and numerous enhancements for keyword-driven testing and checkpoints. TestComplete 8.10 now also integrates with the latest version of SmartBear’s performance profiling tool, AQtime 7 Pro, so users can profile their applications during testing and perform code coverage analysis.

Silverlight Ribbon Control - Deliver a Rich User Experience

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:55:00 EST

DevExpress.com is proud to announce the upcoming release of its Silverlight Ribbon Control -- allowing Visual Studio developers to emulate the Microsoft Office UI, target the Silverlight platform and deliver a compelling end-user experience in the shortest possible time. Fully leveraging the power of the XtraBars Suite -- winner of the Best Ribbon Component of 2010 by readers of Visual Studio Magazine -- the DevExpress Silverlight Ribbon offers uncompromising capabilities and performance

Whither Silverlight?

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:15:00 EST

Microsoft is abandoning Silverlight, its alternative to Adobe Flash, in favor of the more generic HTML5 as the way to develop rich Internet applications. Microsoft’s server and tools capo Bob Muglia told ZDNet that the company is “shifting away” from Silverlight and in a peculiar kumbaya moment reportedly said that “HTML is the only true cross-platform solution for everything, including [Apple’s] iOS platform.” There will apparently be a Silverlight 5 at some point – goodness knows when – and Silverlight remains Microsoft’s WinPhone development platform, important but different and alien to a lot of developers.

Microsoft Beats the Street

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Microsoft beat the Street Thursday when it posted record revenue of $16.2 billion for the September quarter, up 25% year-over-year, and earned $5.41 billion, up 59%, or 62 cents a share, against expectations of 55 cents on $15.8 billion. However, Wall Street lowered its expectation on the back of weak PC sales this summer and Microsoft’s percentage gains in the quarter are wildly exaggerated because this time last year it deferred $1.47 billion in revenue relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program and sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability in October 2009. Adjusted, revenue was up 13% and income up 16%.

Microsoft Buys AVIcode

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:15:00 EDT

Microsoft has acquired AVIcode, Inc, a 12-year-old Baltimore-based company that does real-time .NET application performance monitoring, widgetry Microsoft has been using internally for a long time. It didn’t say what it paid – the firm appears to have only raised a few million dollars – but it wants it for the cloud – any cloud – where it’s supposed to offer a deeper understanding of the actual end-user experience when performance and availability isn’t at the desired service level, and a diagnosis of the root issues of any latency in the service. The stuff, which includes Silverlight monitoring, is good for physical, virtualized and cloud applications.

So Is Microsoft Gonna Buy Adobe?

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:30:00 EDT

Adobe had an interesting afternoon Thursday. That’s when the New York Times came out and blogged that it knew from employees and consultants who were involved or simply knew that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Shantanu Narayen, the CEO of Flash-wielding, Apple-banned Adobe, met recently at Adobe’s offices in San Francisco for “secret” talks, and that they talked mostly about Apple’s control over smartphones and how Microsoft and Adobe could join forces in an anti-Apple front and that one of the ways of doing that would be for Microsoft to buy Adobe.

Cloud Expo 2011 East To Attract 10,000 Delegates and 200 Exhibitors

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:45:00 EDT

SYS-CON Events announced today that the 8th International Cloud Expo will take place June 6-9, 2011, in New York City. The International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo series is the world's leading Cloud-focused event and is held three times a year, in New York, Silicon Valley and in Europe. Over 600 corporate sponsors and 10,000 industry professionals have participated in Cloud Computing Expo since its inception, more than all other Cloud-related events put together.

If the Supreme Court Hears Microsoft’s Case It’ll Be One Crowded Courtroom

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EDT

Practically everybody and his brother is backing Microsoft’s appeal to the Supreme Court in its attempt not to pay Canadian ISV i4i $290 million for Word’s alleged infringement of an i4i custom XML patent that Microsoft claims is invalid. Google, Apple, Intel, Yahoo, HTC, Dell, HP, Facebook, Wal-Mart, Toyota, Intuit, Netflix, Verizon, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Apache Foundation, the Computer and Communication Industry Association (CCIA), the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the Clearing House Association, 35 law professors and others have all filed amicus briefs trying to persuade the court to hear the long-shot case.

Intel AppUp Store Up

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT

Intel’s Apple-aping AppUp store for laptops and Atom-based netbooks is now out of beta and functioning. Along with free apps it’s got “try before you buy” packages. The widgetry includes Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight applications. AppUp customers can use Adobe's beta application distribution platform Melrose to distribute and monetize AIR apps while monitoring sales and downloads. It’s a portal developers can use to distribute their applications through multiple channels. They can also integrate licensing into the apps with Adobe’s free SDK. Melrose should ship in Q4

IE9 Betas

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Microsoft Wednesday rolled out the broad beta of Internet Explorer 9 on which hangs its hopes of recapturing the market share lost to Firefox, Safari and lately Google Chrome. IE is now down to 60.4% from 74% worldwide in two years according to NetApplications, which gives Firefox 22.9%, Safari 5.2% and Chrome 7.5%. Seven years ago Microsoft owned 97% of the market. IE9 however is getting good reviews. There’s a simpler user interface and it’s supposed to be faster at loading and running JavaScript apps. It’s better at supporting the up-and-coming HTML 5 – which threatens Flash and Microsoft’s own Silverlight – as well as CSS3 and SVGA 2 standards. It also claims to use “full hardware acceleration” of a PC’s graphics chip employing “the whole PC to browse” to deliver what will become sexier-looking web pages.

Microsoft Money Machine Grinds On

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:45:00 EDT

Microsoft’s stock price may stink but its P&L numbers are pretty much sweet perfume. In the June quarter, Microsoft’s fiscal fourth quarter and the end of its fiscal year it made $4.52 billion, 51 cents a share, up 48% on record revenues of $16.04 billion, up 22%.

Has Microsoft Shot Enough Generals?

Tue, 25 May 2010 14:58:00 EDT

Microsoft has confirmed that Robbie Bach, the head of its floundering Entertainment and Devices (E&D) Division, and J Allard, the unit’s CTO and father of Courier, the dual-screen tablet PC that Microsoft recently cancelled, are both out, retired, as the company’s battle over consumer devices with Apple and Google warms up. The reorganization will see Bach stick around for a few months for the nominal transition and Allard, who’s already on sabbatical, transition to a role as some kind of advisor to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, a reference point for designs and UIs. Bach is evidently not going to be replaced. Instead Microsoft means to have SVP Don Mattrick continue to run the Xbox side of the division and SVP Andy Lees continue to run the phone side, both reporting directly to Ballmer effective July 1. Presumably Ballmer means to take a more hands-on approach.

Native WPF & Silverlight Report Viewer & Printing Control by DevExpress

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT

DevExpress.com has announced the immediate availability of its newly added Silverlight and WPF Report Viewer Control. This new Report Viewer Control renders reports created with the award-winning DevExpress Reporting System and prints natively within any Silverlight and WPF application. Client/Server Interaction via the WCF Technology Reports are downloaded using Microsoft WCF Technology and rendered in your Silverlight applications. -- Exporting and REST API Reports can be exported to numerous formats like PDF, RTF, XPS, CSV, HTML, Microsoft Excel and others. A RESTful API is also available to access pre-built reports.

Microsoft Named “Gold Sponsor” of Cloud Expo 2010 April 19-21 Javits Center

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EDT

Microsoft cloud services mean freedom for businesses. The freedom to access the technology you want, where and when you want it. The freedom to take advantage of the latest technology as a capital expense, or an operational one. The freedom to focus on running your business - not running IT systems. Microsoft cloud services are Microsoft by extension: Giving you the ability to make full use of the same Microsoft technologies you already know and trust, on a pay-as-you-go model. For a single department or an entire global organization. On-premises, offpremises, or a combination of both, depending on your business needs. Microsoft cloud services are Microsoft as a utility, but it is more than plugging into a utility. It's the applications you know, the platforms you know, and a data center infrastructure - all working together in a cohesive whole. It's Microsoft when you need it. Microsoft on your terms.

Microsoft Opines on Cloud Computing Security

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Microsoft delivers enterprise and consumer cloud services from a global infrastructure that must keep customer data secure and maintain privacy and availability. This session describes how Microsoft has built on the same security principles used to manage risks to Microsoft software development and operating environments to create an information security program for its cloud infrastructure that maintains Microsoft’s commitment to delivering a trustworthy computing experience. You'll hear how Microsoft’s information security program operates and meets complex statutory and regulatory compliance requirements. This includes a review of its ISO/IEC 27001:2005 based compliance framework and information security management system.

The Second Coming of Internet Explorer

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:00 EDT

What with the Ballot Screen circulating in Europe, its search interests to advance, and a new class of applications on the doorstep, Microsoft says it’s throwing more HTML5 support as well as a faster new rival-challenging JavaScript engine code named Chakra, support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics and text and supposedly ground-breaking safety features into its next-generation web browser Internet Explorer 9 so it can get back in the game. Long criticized for not supporting web standards Microsoft now evidently wants HTLM5 – still not a standard, mind you – to get traction so that web applications and web sites only have to be programmed once and rivals like Chrome, Firefox and Opera have less of a reason for being.

The New Efficiency: Experience the Virtual Launch

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:00:00 EST

Right now, you can test drive the innovations at the heart of the new efficiency — free. Download free trials and demo the latest features. Windows 7 works the way you work, helping you reduce management costs, improve productivity, and manage risks through enhanced security and control. Windows Server 2008 R2 enables dynamic provisioning and management of virtual workloads, and combines with Windows 7 to make branch offices more cost-effective and remote workers more productive.

For Technology Professionals Who Want to Stay Ahead of the Game

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:00:00 EST

Why Attend Tech Ed 2010? Because you'll return to your office with knowledge and expertise that only four days at Tech Ed can offer. You can learn about today’s cutting-edge trends, helping make life easier for you (and everyone else) at work. But the most important benefit just might be the networking: you can build personal connections with Microsoft experts and peers that will last far beyond Tech Ed.

Pervasive Software Selects Windows Azure

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:15:00 EST

Pervasive Software of embeddable data management and data integration software and in enabling revolutionary next-generation analytics, on Monday announced that it has selected the Microsoft Windows Azure platform as the future platform for Pervasive BusinessXchange WebDI, its hosted business-to-business data interchange service. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and recent “Best of SaaS Showplace” award winner, Pervasive Software recently deepened its engagement with Microsoft through participation in the Front Runner for Windows Azure Platform program and the Microsoft Metro Early Adopter Program. Pervasive WebDI, a .Net application, also applied for and was selected for the Windows Azure platform Deep Dive program, an on-site immersion experience during which Pervasive technologists gained in-depth exposure to Windows Azure platform technologies and best practices.