All Things Microsoft AI

Microsoft recently announced the 2007 Second Shot promotion deadline has been extended from January 31st to June 30th, 2008. Register for this offer before your next exam and receive a free exam retake if you don't pass on your first try. • Sign up now . • Read frequently asked questions about this offer . Customers who have already registered for the offer will receive a separate e-mail with more information about the extension.If you don't already have a certification strategy, consider one of the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certifications--many requiring just one exam each--to demonstrate your skills on the newest technologies from Microsoft. • Learn more about MCTS certifications . In addition, certification exams for Visual Studio 2008 will soon be released as well. There will be six MCTS certifications providing options on the key .NET Framework 3.5 technologies from Microsoft: ADO.NET ASP.NET Windows Forms Windows Communication Foundation Windows...

On January 16th, Scott Guthrie, General Manager within the Microsoft Developer Division, announced the release of the source code for .Net Framework 3.5 for the following libraries: Base Class Libraries System System.CodeDom System.Collections System.ComponentModel System.Diagnostics System.Drawing System.Globalization System.IO System.Net System.Reflection System.Runtime System.Security System.Text System.Threading ASP.Net System.Web System.Web.Extensions Windows Forms System.Windows.Forms Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) System.Windows ADO.NET System.Data XML System.Xml Developers can now step through the code in Debug mode. However the code is for viewing purposes only and cannot be changed. This feature is relatively simple to setup in Visual Studio 2008 and only takes a few minutes to setup. Shawn Burke has a detailed blog post that covers the exact steps here . To read more about this, go to http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/01/16/net-framework-library-source-code...

Microsoft has long been a partner with Pearson Vue and Prometric , certifying them both as Microsoft Exam Centers. However, this has changed and Pearson Vue is no longer a test provider. Recently I logged on to Microsoft's MCP site to check the status of my account. I realized that my test transcripts did not show 2 exams that I have previously taken and passed. These exams were taken through Pearson Vue . After some additional digging, I discovered that Microsoft has dropped Pearson Vue as a testing provider. Effective January 1st, 2008, Vue patrons could no longer access their Microsoft exam records through vue.com. To resolve the problem, I contacted Microsoft Support and e-mailed them the results of the exams in question. After this experience, I strongly urge all MCPs to log on to the MCP site to ensure all information is recent and accurate. If you have any questions about exams, please use the following info to contact customer service. Vue Customer Service Office Hours: M...

Listed below is a summary of the .Net events scheduled for January 2008 in the Clevetland area. Attend a few and increase your .Net knowledge! Jan 8th: .Net User Group Meeting - Silverlight (6:30-8:30 PM). To register, please click here . Jan 10th: ONSQL User Group Meeting - Automating SQL Server Administrative tasks with PowerShell (5:00-7:30 PM). Please reserve your seat but walk-ins are always welcome. Jan 12th: Greater Cleveland PC Users Group - PC Security Software (9:30 AM - Noon). For more info, please visit http://www.gcpcug.org/ Jan 17th: Berbee/CDW - Enabling Information Workers with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (8:30 AM - Noon). For questions or to register, contact Laura Benisek at 440.746.7208 or laura.benisek@berbee.com . Jan 22nd: C#/VB.Net User Group Meeting - "Visual Basic 2008" (6:30-8:30 PM) by Mark Harr, MCSD. For more info, please visit http://www.clevelanddotnet.info/

Keeping in the spirit of the Holiday, here are some Christmas wishes with a silverlight twist. Online Spotlight, Norway Happy Holidays from ObjectSharp FranksWorld Special Presentation If you have any cool Silverlight Christmas greetings, please email them to sam@clevelanddotnet.info . Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

Now that VS2008 is released, one of its accompanying features is the ability to debug and step-into the actual source code used in .Net Framework 3.5. They will begin by offering the source code for the following Base Class Libraries System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text System.Web (ASP.Net) System.Windows.Forms (Windows Forms) System.Data (ADO.NET) System.Xml (XML) System.Windows (WPF) The source code will be released under the Microsoft Reference License (MS-RL). The final release of VS 2008 will support the ability to configure the debugger to dynamically download the .NET Framework debugger symbols (and corresponding source code) from a web server hosted by Microsoft. You'll be able to configure the .NET Framework symbols to be downloaded all in one shot, or manually retrieved on demand. Although this capability is not yet available, it soon will be. Microsoft developers have had ...

The MOSS MCTS track consists of 4 exams, each providing a level of certification: Exam 70-630: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 – Configuration Exam 70-631: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Configuration Exam 70-541: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Application Development Exam 70-542: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 ― Application Development More information on Microsoft MCTS exams can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/default.mspx . For those wishing to pursue any of the abover certifcations, listed below are a few resources to help achieve your goal. Transcender Practice Exams - Transcender has long been a reputable source for providing accurate exams in Microsoft certification. The tradition continues as they offer practice exams for 70-630 and 70-631 (released earlier today). With each question, it offers an explanation of why that choice is correct and why the others are wrong. It also offers references to help expand your knowledge in that ...