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02 januari Got Live?Ok, so this is probably old news to a lot of people. But, as I talk to more people about Microsoft's Live services, I find that many people still aren't aware of what Live offers. One of the very nice features of Live is a new email address domain - live.com. When Microsoft took the wraps off their Live service line-up, they also made the live.com domain available for email addresses. If you don't like your current email address, and would like something a little cleaner or just different. head on over to http://get.live.com/getlive/overview to get your new account. You can also migrate your old Hotmail information over to your new Live.com account so you can continue to use Live services like Windows Live Messenger. For info on how to do this, check out Jeff Blankenburg's post at http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/2007/11/new-hotnesslive.html. 06 november VS2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Release Date AnnouncedEarlier this week Microsoft announced the next version of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework will be announced later this month! The developer in me is saying sweeeeeeta! There are some very cool features in VS2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. I'm really looking forward to getting to play with these tools!
Also announced was the Microsoft Sync Framework. From what little I've read, this looks really exciting. I can think of several situations where having a read-to-go application syncing platform would have been really helpful. I'm hoping to get time to learn more about this exciting tool!! 05 november Download NCAA football and basektball games to your Xbox 360I just saw on Engadget where you can now download NCAA basketball and football games directly to your Xbox 360. The games are commercial free rebroadcasts of games that originally aired 48 hours ago. Both standard and high-definition games will be available for $3 and $4.50 respectively. All the content is provided by ESPN.
I think this is a great development! For me, I always run out of space on my DVR, and end up deleting Buckeye games that I’d really like to keep around for a while. Now I have another great way to keep those games and watch them whenever I like. 12 december Create Your Own Xbox 360 GameOn Monday Microsoft released XNA Game Studio Express. With XNA Game Studio Express you can create games for your Xbox 360, all with the beauty of the .NET Framework. Sweeta!! Now, I just need a game to develop. I'm tempted to write something pertaining to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Perhaps a game where Troy Smith throws footballs at a bunch of wimpy looking Florida Gator players (like those old games where you shoot at something to it down). :) I wonder how easy/hard it is to write a simple game. Either way, I think it is great Microsoft is making this available to whoever wants it. It should be a great way to promote their platform. Granted, the average guy isn't going to create a blockbuster, but I think the average guy could create something simple and fun. 08 oktober I'm Certifiable . . . Again!On Monday (10/02/2006) I passed my second Microsoft certification exam, 70-320. This is the second exam of five that I need to take to complete my MCSD certification. I'm a little behind where I want to be at this point. I wanted to be past my third exam by October 2006, and totally complete by the end of the year. I'm going to have to bust butt in order to complete the final three by the end of the year. I think the final three will be the hardest too. 30 augustus Windows Live QnAI just noticed that Microsoft released Windows Live QnA. The idea behind this site is really nothing new. You ask a question and then wait for answers from the community. A question remains active (able to be answered) for 4 days. Each time a person answers a question, they get points. This helps rank active community members.
I typically uses newsgroups to ask questions and get good answers. I'm curious to see if sites like Windows Live QnA will work better. Party of me thinks not since I don't think people monitor the web sites as closely as newsgroups. It is pretty quick and easy to fire up a newsgroup reader (like Windows Live Mail Desktop) and check on messages. Perhaps RSS feeds from QnA sites will help people to monitor the posted questions. 20 augustus Windows Live Writer (beta)I just found yet another really cool Windows Live toy - Windows Live Writer. Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes writing blog entries for Windows Live Spaces (or whatever blog service you use) so much easier. I've used Windows Live Writer for a few posts now, including this one. I really like it. It has several features that make it a lot easier to use than the built-in Windows Live Spaces editor. Here are a few of my favorite things (it helps if you sing when you say that :) :
Download this great tool today, and discover all the great features of Windows Live Writer for yourself. 20 juli Microsoft buys Winternals SoftwareThis week Microsoft announced they are buying Winternals Software. Winternals makes some really cool little Windows utility apps. The interesting part of the deal was that Microsoft really made the buy to get the founders of Winternals. It was probably more of a buy for Winternals' talent than their products. I think this shows Microsoft's commitment to continue to improve their software OS.
Read more on Microsoft's acquisition of Winternals here. 21 juni Windows Live MessengerWindows Live Messenger has gone gold! No more beta!! Get the final build of Windows Live Messenger at http://messenger.live.com.
15 juni Bye Bye BillAs you may have already heard, Bill Gates announced today that he is stepping down from his current position at Microsoft. Gates will step down in 2008. I haven't read all the coverage or seen the press conference yet. I'm sure I'll have much more to say later this weekend once I get a chance to absorb it all.
Until then, read all about it here - http://news.com.com/The+end+of+the+Gates+era/2009-1014_3-6084430.html?tag=nefd.lede
08 mei I'm CertifiableI'm know, tell me something new.
Today I passed the first of five tests need to obtain a MCSD certification. I took test 70-315, "Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET". I wouldn't say the test was easy, but it wasn't scary hard either. I felt well prepared too.
What does passing this first test mean? It means that I am now a Microsoft Certified Professional. It is official - I am a computer geek.
 There are some people I know that don't really respect these certifications. They claim, and they're right, that any fool can study for and pass a test. There are plenty of people that do just that. Just as there are people that are book smart in college, but can barely hold a "would you like fries with that" job. It really is what you do with your education that matters. What do I hope to do with my new certification, besides but a nifty logo on my email stationary? I'm hoping that this will lead to better job offers, and thus more money, in the future. But, it was also kind of fun going through this process. 07 maart Wiring the WebEver been to a web site that has some cool information only to have no way to keep it around later for your own personal use? You could bookmark the site, but you risk the site owner moving or taking down the page. For Windows-based applications you have the clipboard that you can copy/cut/paste the data and save for later use. You don't have that luxury for web applications.
Well, Microsoft is hoping to change that with Live Clipboard. Ray Ozzie discussing his idea for Live Clipboard and how Microsoft is going to deliver it to you. He also includes a simple one page sample. Read at about it at http://spaces.msn.com/rayozzie/blog/cns!FB3017FBB9B2E142!285.entry 01 maart Windows Live Continues to Get BetterThis week Microsoft is showing off some of the features and services in the Windows Live family (Messenger, Spaces, Mail, etc.). Now there is Live Expo. Live Expo lets you post ads for sale or want. Ok, nothing new there. The cool part is the ads can be placed and/or viewed by a specific geographic region, and it integrates well with the new Live Messenger. Another new soon-to-be-released service is Windows Live Mail Desktop. Think of WLMD as the next version of Outlook Express. According to the team blog, this looks like it'll be very cool. Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
I still have a few invitations left for the new Windows Live Messenger. It too was refreshed this week. I am very happy with the update. The product continues to improve. Find out all about Live Messenger on the team blog. If you want an invite, contact me. Maybe, just maybe, I'll invite you.
 It looks to me like Microsoft is well on their way to doing what they do so well - taking ideas of others and making them better. Windows Live builds and extends some of the great ideas Google and others had. Windows Live is going to bring together a bunch of great services into a single offering. Right now each is a little disconnected, but as the betas progress you can seem them coming together very well. I can hardly wait to see it all come together later this year.
Hmm. . . doesn't Vista launch later this year too? Interesting . . . very interesting . . . 07 februari Windows OneCare Live to be released in JuneMicrosoft announced that they're planning on releasing Windows OneCare Live in June for $49.95/yr. I'm a user of Windows OneCare Live Beta now. I really like this product. I was hoping Microsoft would make this a free add-on to the Windows XP system. After using the beta product for several months, I would encourage you to pay up the $49.95/yr. For one, it is very easy to easy. It is also much cheaper that anything Symantec or McAfee currently offers - and you get more for your money.
Oh, and if your a beta user, you can get your first year for $19.95. Now, don't you wish you would have listened to me when I first told you to sign up.
 More information at http://news.com.com/Microsoft+security+service+to+ship+in+June/2100-7350_3-6036290.html.
[UPDATE]
I hear Microsoft is still looking for beta users of Windows OneCare Live. Sign up now at http://www.windowsonecarelive.com/
[UPDATE] 19 januari Windows Live MessengerI finally was admitted to the beta program for Windows Live Messenger. I'm pretty excited about it. So far I've very happy with the new Messenger. It is a big change from the current version. If you want to get the latest info from the people that develop it, be sure to check out their blog.
You too can sign up for the beta program here. 17 januari Windows Presentation FoundationThis afternoon I attended a local MSDN event. One of the sessions of today's event was an overview/highlight session of Windows Presentation Foundation (formerally "Avalon"). This was some of the coolest technology I've seen in a while. It'll definetly be a big change to write presentation logic in XAML. The cool part was the presenter took XAML code from his Windows application and copied it directly into his web application. No changes! And, it worked flawlesly!!! This wasn't just some simple, boring XAML either. The app contained several pictures, that when rolled over, would fly out and rotate up. The pictures would fly and rotate back down to the original position when the mouse rolled off. All of this was very fast too. This worked on both the Windows and web application. So very cool!!
I think it will be so cool to have presentation layer that is, for the most part, totally independent of the how it is being viewed. No more having to have a "web guy" and a "Windows forms guy". Just design the presentation logic and layout and you're good to go. Ohhhh. . . ahhhh
Windows Presentation Foundation - yet another reason why Microsoft Is Cool!! 01 november Windows LiveMost people I know basically agree that Google is kicking Microsoft's ass in the online services area. GMail seems new and fresh, while Hotmail seems rather old. Google's personalized start page lets you set your own dynamic page. Microsoft offers My MSN, but it seems to lake some of the polish that Google has. Microsoft has taken great steps to get MSN Search up to speed with Google. They're making progress, but Microsoft still has much work to do. Microsoft has been working diligently to up their online services offering.
Today Microsoft gave a first glimpse of what we can expect. The Windows Live service will offer, for free, a wide variety of services. Windows Live will offer a customizable home page, complete with RSS feads, Hotmail and Windows Live Mail integration, gadgets, etc. The next version of Hotmail will be Windows Live Mail. You can sign up for the beta here. Windows Live Favorites will offer a service for storing and accessing all your favorites from a single service. Windows Live Safety Center will allow you to get a free tune-up and security check on your Windows-based computer. This is very similar to the Windows OneCare Live beta offering. Windows Live Messenger is the next generation version of MSN Messenger.
So far I've signed up for several of these beta services. I'm really looking forward to Windows Live Favorites and Windows Live Mail. I've been using Windows OneCare Live beta for a month or so now. So far I like what I see. Microsoft is making great strides in the online services arena. 12 oktober Yahoo, Microsoft link IM servicesCNet News.com is reporting that Yahoo! and Microsoft will make their IM applications interoperable beginning in 2006. This is great news for me. I hate having Yahoo!, MSN Messenger, and Google Talk all loaded into my system tray. In my opinion, MSN Messenger is the best IM application out there. So, being able to unload Yahoo! and still chat with my Yahoo! buddies will be very welcome.
Quote Yahoo, Microsoft link IM services | CNET News.com 11 oktober Xbox 360 in a league of its ownHere is a pretty lame article on Xbox 360. It doesn't really tell me a whole lot, except that it seems to hint that Project Gotham 3 will in fact be a launch title for Xbox 360. |
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