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http://ms-os.com/ CNET News.com <img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Microsoft e-mails reveal Intel pressure over Vista CNET News.com, CA - 24 minutes ago As far back as 2005, Microsoft executives knew that confusing hardware requirements for the Windows Vista Capable program might get them in trouble. ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Wonder how many people will fail to read the description of this update and complain when their machine stops working :) More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

This is just a little weekend project of mine.* It calculates pi! :-) The full explanation and source code are available on my blog. I bet you didn't know: http://mypieceoftheinter.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/03-equation-3.png Edit: It seems there's some wierdness going on.* You can download the program here: http://download.somewhatgeeky.com/?downloadID=pi_calculator_version_1.0.0.0http://channel9.msdn.com/Photos/386904.jpg Download the project More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

I have 2 projects.* The first project is a WCF service library project and the second is a Windows form project that will host the WCF service.* Every time I run the windows form project, the WCF Service Host application loads at the same time.* When I try to host the service in my forms application it gives me an error saying the service is already hosted. I have tried going into the service library project and unchecking the "Enable the Visual Studio hosting process" checkbox and it still loads every time. Does anyone know how to get the WCF Service Host to stop loading? More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

From an article on the Visual Studio 2008 launch: "...it's a lot of stuff to take in all at once. "There are so many new and upgraded features in VS 2008 that it's hard for enterprise developers to assimilate them all," notes Jennings. "I think it's going to result in more specialization in enterprise-level developers, because no one can be an expert now in all of these different technologies -- WPF, WCF, WF and the new LINQ-related features." Jay Roxe, Microsoft's group product manager for Visual Studio, sees it differently: "The amount of technology that people need to learn has gone down dramatically because we now have these great designers," he says, adding that Microsoft is releasing a lot of educational content in terms of presentations, demos and white papers. "This will be something that's integrated into all of our launch efforts and will be available from all of our Web sites, and that's when we'll start tying together the various technologies." Personally I find it very worrying that the group product manager's opinion seems so completely at variance with that of all the developers I work with. I'm definitely with the first guy, so is there anyone here who's drinking the same KoolAid as Jay Roxe and seriously think that "the amount of technology that people need to learn has gone down dramatically". WTF! In other news has anybody managed to go to the HeroesHappenHere virtual Launch and NOT get user-unfriendly SIlverlight errors when clicking on the "Join in*now"*button. I've seen a lot of reports that it's broken so went to have a look myself and yup sure enough "Silverlight error message ErrorCode 2202 ErrorType:RuntimeError Message: AG_E_RUNTIME_FINDNAME MethodName txtLoginBackgrounElement4c01". Oh well, it's only the "biggest launch event Microsoft are going to have this year". I like Microsoft and the people I've met who work there, and get annoyed constantly trying to defend them left, right and centre. But too often there are times like this where frankly it just seems like they can't organise a you-know-what in a brewery. The "Vista compatible" farce looks like it's going to totally blow up in Microsoft's face given the recently leaked emails and experiences like the launch web site don't instill any kind of confidence at all. Do you agree, or am I just being too cranky again? I want to believe Microsoft, I really do, but for pities sake sort your wretched QA out! EDITED TO ADD: Link to original article here More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows XP SP3: The improvements are under the hood Computerworld, MA - 5 hours ago WPA2 is already available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 with SP2. Microsoft did not claim any performance boosts for SP3, but one firm, ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Sad but true (and funny): http://www.talentgrouplabs.com/blog/archive/2008/02/28/microsoft-the-eus-atm-machine.aspx More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows Server 2008 is here PCWorld.co.nz, New Zealand - 20 minutes ago Sean McCown, contributing editor to the InfoWorld Test Centre and author of the Database Underground blog, cautions users to plan carefully before dropping ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Microsoft: Windows XP Sometimes Faster Than Vista SP1 PC World - 5 minutes ago Several users commenting on Microsoft's official Vista blog -- where mention was made of the tests -- took exception to Principled's conclusion that Vista ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows XP SP3: The improvements are under the hood Computerworld, MA - 5 hours ago WPA2 is already available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 with SP2. Microsoft did not claim any performance boosts for SP3, but one firm, ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

The technical stuff is getting final touches, the legal stuff is almost done The logo is complete and rests here.* Please if you dont like it and think you can do better please put something together and I will give you credit, but no royalty agreements. The new desktop is here, likely to change before the final release. More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows XP SP3: The improvements are under the hood Computerworld, MA - 4 hours ago WPA2 is already available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 with SP2. Microsoft did not claim any performance boosts for SP3, but one firm, ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

http://ms-os.com/ Digitaltrends.com <img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Microsoft Lowered Vista Bar for Intel Digitaltrends.com, OR - 35 minutes ago The messages also include seemingly plain admissions that Microsoft capitulated to Intel and lowered hardware requirements for Windows Vista so Intel could ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Question to all of you folks out there that are already proficient with LINQ.* I'm updating one of my older 2.0 apps to be 3.5 and ripping out most of my database code and replacing with LINQ.* The long and short of the situation is that for any specific form, there is a separate DataContext associated with it that performs the various updates, queries, etc. as needed. What I'm wondering is the best way to manage the lifetime of the DataContext.* I don't want to just instantiate it and leave it there for each form, as it could potentially be alive for several hours.* Does it make sense to do something like the following for various operations: _mdc = new MyDataContext(); // Operations here _mdc.Dispose(); Or is it more appropriate to specifically just close the connection, like: _mdc.Connection.Open(); // Operations here _mdc.Connection.Close(); Are there*recommended 'best practices'*for this sort of thing? More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

http://bink.nu/photos/news_article_images/images/40436/original.aspx ...Ok, here it goes : WOW! :O More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

The Identity Provider in BizTalk Services (http://biztalk.net) is pretty darn cool. In general, it makes it easy to delegate identity and access control to a hosted service. In a more general sense, BizTalk Services make it easier to break through the boundaries that can keep software systems from talking to one another. This video demonstrates how you can apply the capabilites of the BizTalk Services Identity Provider to manage the movements of a robot. Keep in mind that even though the scenario shown in the video is a bit cooky, the concepts are more broadly applicable. This was a lot of fun to make, and I hope you enjoy it. http://channel9.msdn.com/Photos/386824.jpg Watch the screencast(WMV) More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Hey All It's always fun to hear what people are working on, so what project(s) are you currently doing at the moment? I'll start with me, I'm writing a software solution for Residental letting agents, and now you: More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Hi all, I was watching the video of Anders Hejlsberg's talk at Lang.Net 2008. About 3/4 of the way through, he mentioned that you can actually compile Linq expressions at runtime, and this is part of the basis for dynamic C# features going forward. I had no idea that this sort of thing was enabled in 3.5...thought the only way to dynamic was through reflection or IL. So, I've been playing around to understand the functionality, trying to address the expression problem for generalized algebraic data types (GADTs). Let me know what you guys think of this kernel of an implementation: namespace C9Question { *** public class TestGADT *** { ******* public static void Main() ******* { *********** Number n1 = 5; *********** Number n2 = 4; *********** Console.WriteLine(n1+n2); *********** Console.Read(); ******* } *** } *** *** public struct Number where T : struct *** { ******* public T myNumber; ******* ******* public T Add(T a, T b) ******* { *********** Func f = typeof(GADTHelper).GetFunc("Add"); *********** return f(a, b); ******* } ******* public static Number Add(Number a, Number b) ******* { *********** Func f = typeof(GADTHelper).GetFunc("Add"); *********** return new Number() { myNumber = f(a.myNumber, b.myNumber) }; ******* } ******* public static Number operator +(Number a, Number b){ return Add(a, b); } ******* public static implicit operator Number(T value) { return new Number() { myNumber = value }; } ******* public override string ToString() { return myNumber.ToString(); } ******* *** *** private static class GADTHelper ******* { *********** public static double Add(double myDouble, double myAddend) { return myDouble + myAddend; } *********** public static float Add(float myDouble, float myAddend) { return myDouble + myAddend; } *********** public static int Add(int myDouble, int myAddend) { return myDouble + myAddend; } *********** public static long Add(long myDouble, long myAddend) { return myDouble + myAddend; } ******* } *** } *** public static class DynamicLinqExtensions *** { ******* public static Func GetFunc(this Type t, string method) ******* { *********** Type[] types = new Type[] { typeof(T1), typeof(T2) }; *********** ParameterExpression p1 = Expression.Parameter(types[0], "p1"); *********** ParameterExpression p2 = Expression.Parameter(types[1], "p2"); *********** Expression body = Expression.Call(t.GetMethod(method, types), p1, p2); *********** Expression e = Expression.Lambda(body, p1, p2); *********** return e.Compile(); ******* } *** } } More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

While everyone is debating Microsoft's motives behind its bid for Yahoo, I believe it's evidence that the software giant is finally ready to embrace cloud computing! More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows XP SP3: The improvements are under the hood Computerworld, MA - 1 hour ago WPA2 is already available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 with SP2. Microsoft did not claim any performance boosts for SP3, but one firm, ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

http://ms-os.com/ ZDNet Blogs <img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Microsoft: We're targeting all Vista activation hacks Computerworld, MA - Feb 27, 2008 Microsoft, in its Windows Genuine Advantage blog, said yesterday that "in SP1 we will disable two of the most common exploits to our product activation ... Microsoft Goes After Piracy Hacks with Vista SP1 Redmond Channel Partner all 21 news articles More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Will I hate life if I just go with the Standard SKU rather than the Professional SKU?* I do most work on my own, and projects aren't huge. Looking at the Product Comparison, I see a few differences: "Standard" has... No Object Test Bench (is this super useful?) No 64-Bit Visual C++ Tools (don't care) No Database Project Database Explorer rather than Server Explorer No SQL Server Project No Crystal Reports (probably irrelevant) None of the Office Development Tools No Smart Device Development tools No Code Quality Tools (For a single developer are the built-in TDD tools any good?* I've never done much Unit Testing, but I've been meaning to start.) The two items which I think I may regret not having ar the Object Test Bench and the Code Quality Tools.* Are these must-have components? More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

Hi, my first post in channel9 [H] So here's my question - I need two Office versions in my company Office 2007 Standard and Professional. Can i take both source files into one installation point, or do i need different one? Thanks a lot! More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

<img alt="" height="1" width="1"> Windows XP SP3: The improvements are under the hood Computerworld, MA - 23 minutes ago WPA2 is already available in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 with SP2. Microsoft did not claim any performance boosts for SP3, but one firm, ... More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds

I always go to http://www.mscommunities.com to get a FULL list of Links being displayed in the "Microsoft Communities" gray bar at the top of the page. I hate having to wait for it to cycle to get to display the link again if I saw something interesting and I missed to click on it before it changed. Right now, the page is coming up empty with no links. Can we do something about it please? Cheers More... View All Our Microsoft Related Feeds