IT edge

Lots of Web sites store and display date information that is personal to their users. Users often want one place to manage their calendar for example Outlook, Windows Live Calendar, Google Calendar and so on. Web sites can make their experience more useful by allowing calendar clients to subscribe or import date information in standards-based formats so that information relating to their service is represented in a user’s primary calendar client. In other Web applications it may be necessary for a user to enter date information that is already in another service or calendaring client. By allowing a user to import or subscribe to a 3rd party calendaring information it makes it easier for the user and also increases the reliability of the data entry.

The goal of this Web Application Toolkit is to provide a standards-based service that can be reused in your own Web application to expose calendaring and events information for different users, using different data formats (iCalendar, XML, JSON). This service follows the REST principles and supports different query string parameters for data filtering: dates range, results count, text query, and so on. Additionally, standing from the client-side, you’ll find examples of how to consume the endpoint using the ASP.NET Ajax Library templates and the hCalendar microformat.

This Toolkit uses the standard iCalendar format as one representation for the calendar information. However, for simplicity purposes it does not support the full iCalendar specification (only Events). Also notice that the REST Service included does not provide support for all the CRUD operations that would be desired in production environment scenarios.

Get the Web App Toolkit here.

A popular way to attract first time users to a web site is to offer a free version of the software that has limited functionality. A good way to convert that non-paying customer into a paying customer is to offer more functionality and features beyond what is available in the free version and allow the transition between versions to be seamless. This business model of delivering “basic services for free, while charging a premium for advanced or special features” is known as the Freemium business model.

Often developers create custom branches of their core application to enable this type of functionality but this is not the most cost effective solution as maintaining two code-bases is expensive. The migration between different Stock-Keeping Units (SKUs) of the product might also require work on the part of the customer and this is another barrier to adoption.

This Web Application Toolkit offers a more elegant and cost-effective way to solve this problem by using a SKU/Features matrix to manage which features are available in certain SKUs. The Toolkit makes it easy for the developer to ascertain which SKU the current user has paid for and also which functionality should therefore be available to them by using standard ASP.NET Role Management features together with WCF REST Services to retrieve the SKU/Features information.

The Toolkit also provides reusable ASP.NET MVC views and controllers for developers to create admin experiences for managing the SKU/Feature matrix and page templates to explain to customers about the different SKUs or versions available.

Get the Web App Toolkit here.

A common scenario for Web developers is to provide location based information rendered on an interactive map. For example, showing the location of an office or a store location. The Bing Maps SDKs including the Bing Maps Controls enables developers to incorporate both location and enhanced mapping features into their Web applications.

While creating location-integrated Web applications, developers often want the ability to customize the experience based on Web site branding to make push pins and other map features fit the look and feel of the Web site. This Web Application Toolkit provides reusable assets that tie together location based data from SQL Server 2008 to a Silverlight Web application by using the new rich Silverlight Bing Maps control, combining the power of Silverlight and Bing Maps.

In this Web Application Toolkit you will find a set of reusable custom controls built in Silverlight, which integrated with the Bing Maps Silverlight Control, make a perfect fit for some of the most common location-aware scenarios. With this Toolkit, you will also find a sample Silverlight application showing how to use those controls when implementing a “store locator” scenario on a Web site.

Get the Web App Toolkit here.

The newly released Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA) informs mobile users of their connectivity status at all times; provides tools to help them reconnect on their own if problems arise; and creates diagnostics to help mobile users provide IT staff with key information if necessary—all to help organizations operate with more efficiency, and at a lower cost.

DCA is the newest addition to the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit 2010, which helps IT pros plan, deliver, and operate the right desktop technologies for users across their organizations.

Benefits:

• Lets mobile users know their connection status: DCA provides an indicator in the notification area that keeps mobile users informed of their connectivity status with an organization’s intranet.
• Reduces the number of support calls: DCA has built-in remediation tools that help mobile users solve connection problems on their own, without calling the help desk.
• Reduces the duration of support calls: If support is needed, DCA helps mobile users provide IT staff with key diagnostics to zero in on the source of a problem, so IT can resolve the issue faster and get users back to work.
• Helps users stay productive: Because DCA helps IT solve connection problems faster, mobile users have more reliable access to network-based resources, and can stay more productive.

More Info:

• Download the DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant
• Learn more about the DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant
• Learn more about the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit 2010

Microsoft is updating its Active Directory Rights Management Services product to completely remove the application manifest expiry feature. This update is particularly relevant for AD RMS customers using Internet Explorer, because the certificate for the RMA add-on for Internet Explorer will expire on February 22. The RMA add-on for Internet Explorer allows users to view content with restricted permission in Internet Explorer.

It is critical that the update is installed before February 22, in order to avoid any issues accessing or protecting Web-based content.

If the update is not installed before February 22, it will not be possible to create or access protected content when using the following applications:

· Outlook Web Access 2000, 2003, 2007

· Word, Excel, PowerPoint Web Viewers

· Any web-based application with protected content

This update will be available on http://update.microsoft.com for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7 users beginning on February 9. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 users will have an update available on the Download Center beginning on February 9^th and on Windows Update by February 23.

Once this update is applied and the manifest expiry feature is removed, the AD RMS aware applications (including Internet Explorer) will no longer need to renew their manifests. This will eliminate the possibility of having manifests expire accidentally. The change will be effective for both new as well as existing RMS products. Applications will still need to have a manifest and RMS Partner ISVs will still need to have a Microsoft issued production certificate for creating that manifest.

Timeline

More Information

For further details, please see the RMS Team Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/rms/.

This is a must see video for anyone interested in what the Microsoft Office Labs team envisions for the the next 10 years or so.

Watch the video at http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090228/microsoft-office-labs-vision-2019-video/

Learn how the new code visualization, UML, and Architectural Validation tools inside Visual Studio 2010 come together to help you understand existing code bases, model domain specific problem domains, and maintain the proper control and visibility of those software systems.

Architect Innovation Cafe Webcast presents: “Visual Studio Tools for Architects”

February 25, 2010 at 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Register at  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032440937&Culture=en-US

Event ID:  1032440937

Explore how to architect an application to take advantage of several compelling Windows 7 features including multi-touch, integrated search and multi-processor improvements. The webcast will review how others have exploited Windows 7 to deliver applications ranging from enterprise line of business applications to consumer oriented, "mass appeal" applications. You will also see a demo on how to quickly build Internet Explorer 8 Web Slices and Accelerators to complement your App.

Architect Innovation Cafe Webcast presents: “How to Architect a Killer App for Windows 7”

February 26, 2010 at 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Register at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032441748&Culture=en-US

Event ID:  1032441748

While in beta release at this stage, the following cloud apps are being developed for release in time for the 2010 Olympics being held in Vancouver. All these Cloud based applications are being developed using a combination of MS OGDI, Bing Maps, Silverlight and Azure features combined with integrated social networking capability – facebook, twitter, yelp, etc. While you may still run into a bug or two (they are in beta after all), you can preview what these application will provide to the visitors and citizens of Vancouver.

• MapWay – a way to find City of Vancouver facilities and Olympic events combining Bing and Yelp Search – http://Mapway.cloudapp.net
• Free Finders – helps you to find free events and services in Vancouver with Facebook connection – http://Freefinders.cloudapp.net
• MoBuddy  – enables you to hookup with friends and visitors during Olympics to plan and share experiences through mobile social networking including Facebook http://Mobuddy.cloudapp.net
• eVanTivitY  – enables you to find City and social events and add-in user-defined data-feeds http://Evantivity.cloudapp.net
• Vancouver Parking – helps plan and find the best parking spot when visiting Vancouver using Bing and Streetside http://park2010.cloudapp.net
• WeHelp – Provides interactive mapping of Vancouver City and Transit facilities integrated with Twitter (and this has a mobile Bing iPhone client!) http://bit.ly/nitobiopendata

Microsoft released a Applications Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) connector for System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007. This connector allows you to tap into your existing SCCM 2007 database to gather the necessary application information to help in the planning of a Windows 7 / Internet Explorer 8 / Windows Server 2008 deployment.

With the ACT connector, you can:

• Inventory installed software applications and create reports that will assist with determining which applications are Windows compatible.
• Retrieve device driver compatibility for installed devices and create reports that will assist with determining which device drivers will need to be upgraded to support the Windows operating system.

you can download it directly from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=567be755-1d64-471d-8376-6b463491654b&displaylang=en