VS 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Beta1 available for download!

by | May 20, 2009 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Yes! It’s time. Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Beta1 is available for general download now. Go get it here.


The Beta1 bits include significant updates to WCF and WF bits since our last CTP at the PDC last year. We’re excited to share these bits with you, and we’ve created a few resources to help you explore:



  • SDK Samples for WCF and WF: Go get them here

  • Readmes for Samples: This link provides documentation of the samples you will find in the SDK

  • WCF WF Training Kit: Go get it here

We’re very interested in your feedback – good and bad. We’ve created a few forums where you can provide feedback to us. The product team will be monitoring these forums, and we hope to create a good dialog with you. In addition, this would be a great place where the community can share information among themselves on WCF and WF. 



Happy developing with WCF and WF 4.0!

WF 4.0

by | May 20, 2009 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

The beta 1 version of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 has been released for the general public.
On June 23, 2009 the .NET Usergroup K%u00f6ln will host several short presentations about the new features (in German). My part will be to talk about the revised version of Windows Workflow Foundation. You are cordially invited. Reservation […]

Inside the Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin

by | May 20, 2009 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

BizTalk User Group Sweden has invited Stephen W. Thomas to come to Sweden and talk about Dublin. We are looking forward to an exiting evening with Stephen talking about what’s coming in the (near) future, along with demos using the very latest bits.

If you are in Stockholm at the 4th of June, don’t miss this opportunity!

Topic: Inside the Windows Application Server Enhancements known as Dublin

Session 1: Walkthrough of Windows Application Server Enhancements code named Dublin

In this session we will review the features of the Windows Application Server Enhancements code named Dublin.  This session will show how to use new and enhanced concepts in the .Net 4.0 framework to empower Services hosted in Windows allowing users insight into service health and activity.

Session 2: Managing, Monitoring, and Deploying Services using Windows Application Server Enhancements

This session takes a deeper dive into Windows Application Server Enhancements by looking in detail at the hosting of a Workflow Service.  This will cover reviewing a web service aggregator Workflow Service, setting up custom tracking, monitoring running services, and import and export of applications.

Stephen W. Thomas started his career with a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Iowa.  After realizing his passion was actually in software, he went to work for a major consulting firm where he worked on his first Microsoft BizTalk project in early 2001.
Since then Stephen has done consulting work for a number of different clients including many in the Fortune 500.  He was fortunate to get to work with the beta release of BizTalk 2004, BizTalk 2006, and BizTalk 2006 R2 and BizTalk 2009.  Stephen now focuses on all Connected Systems Technologies including the latest improvement in .Net 4.0 (Window Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow) and Dublin.  
Currently, Stephen is an independent consultant focused solely on Microsoft based integration solutions using BizTalk and other Connection System Technologies.
Stephen runs the BizTalk community site www.BizTalkGurus.com and is a 5 year Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in BizTalk Server (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=7C702F76-09BA-4102-992B-5E23518A3482).  Recent speaking engagements are at the Microsoft’s SOA and BP Conference in January 2009 in Seattle, WA and at Tech Ed in Orlando in 2007.  Book credits include tech reviewer of the BizTalk 2006 Recipes book published by APress.

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TechEd USA 2009 wrap up

by | May 19, 2009 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

Friday concluded this year’s TechED: North America. We were delighted to have thousands of developers, IT professionals and technology decision makers in attendance, gaining insights into how to make their applications, infrastructures and businesses more innovative and cost effective. Both continue to be core priorities in today’s economy.


 


Bill Veghte announced the availability of the Windows Server 2008 R2 release candidate, which includes some great new features for improved web experiences, scalability, hardware utilization and virtualization. We also continued to talk about the recent WebSphere Loves Windows campaign emphasizing significant cost savings, better efficiency and improved performance when customers run Websphere on Windows Server or take advantage of the .NET Framework for application development. Last, we demonstrated ways in which our customers could unlock the hidden potential in their existing technologies today by leveraging current versions of Windows Server, System Center, SQL Server, BizTalk Server and Visual Studio together.


 


So where do we go from here? Well, whether you’re a developer, an IT Pro or a decision maker within your organization you should be thinking about a few key things. Darryl Taft put it perfectly in this article when he called out the fact that IT can be a competitive differentiator in today’s economy. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need new features or technology. Think about harnessing the power that lives within your infrastructure today by taking advantage of tools that make it easier to spin up a new web presence, like the Web Platform Installer (WebPI) . Second, keep your skills fresh by leveraging resources like the Ramp Up program at MSDN.  And last but not least, speak up! Engage in community dialogue and as always, tell us what you think!

Introduction to WF 4.0 in .NET 4.0 Beta 1 Webcast

by | May 19, 2009 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication

I’ve just posted the first in a series of webcasts on BloggersGuides.net looking at WCF and WF in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 Beta one. Watch this space for more…
This webcast will look at the new Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) designer in Visual Studio 2010. It is the first in a series of webcasts looking at the WCF/WF functionality available in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0.
The webcast will take an introductory tour of the new design experience, focussing on the Sequential workflow designer, and look at workflow variables and flow control activities. It will also introduce the concepts of XAML and take a quick look at the Flowchart workflow model.
The webcast is here.