SQL Server 2005 SP2 is available for download via MSDN subscriptions.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) enables all editions of SQL Server 2005 to take advantage of the enhancements within Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System including SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services improvements for Office 2007; increased interoperability; and enhanced manageability and data compression.

VirtualPC 2007 is out of beta and available for download.

Use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to run multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Switch between virtual machines with the click of a button. Use virtual machines to run legacy applications, provide support, train users, and enhance quality assurance.

Virtual PC lets you create separate virtual machines on your Windows desktop, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer. Use virtual machines to run operating systems such as MS-DOS, Windows, and OS/2. You can run multiple operating systems at once on a single physical computer and switch between them as easily as switching applications—instantly, with a mouse click. Virtual PC is perfect for any scenario in which you need to support multiple operating systems, whether you use it for tech support, legacy application support, training, or just for consolidating physical computers.

Go to: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=04D26402-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en#filelist

The SDN is holding its quarterly event on the 23rd of March in Bunnik, the Netherlands.

The session schedule is almost complete and looks once again to be very promising. Check it out below:

Sign up here.

C# sessies

• Enterprise E-Commerce met Commerce Server 2007 - Mark Willems
• Domain Driven Programming a Lego Mindstorms Robot - Edwin van Dillen
• Sharepoint solutions voor informatiewerkers - Frans Coenders
• Customizing Visual Studio Team System - René van Osnabrugge

Delphi sessies

• The Document Management Project - Olaf Monien (D)
• Introduction to IntraWeb 9.0 - Olaf Monien (D)
• Programming OpenOffice.org with Delphi - Bernard Marcelly (F)
• CodeGear & Delphi roadmap; office in Delphi for Win32 - Pawel Glowacki & Jeroen W. Pluimers

Chris Bowen (Microsoft Developer Evangalist for New England) and Bob Familiar will be touring New England with a roadshow about development on the .NET 3.0.

Roadshow Schedule and Registration

At the event in Portland, ME yesterday they showed a funny video of the WE-SYP program. A quick search on Google revealed that someone has uploaded this video to YouTube.

I spend the day in Portland, ME yesterday, helping out with the Microsoft Across America Launch Tour 2007. The event where Microsoft presents Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 across America.

Russ Fustino (http://www.russtoolshed.net/) invited me on the stage twice and allowed me to promote the Maine Developer Network (www.maine-devnet.org), our Augusta, ME based user group. Quite a few people in the crowd came from the Augusta area and did not know about our group, so that was great!

I also did a quick demo of Workflow Foundation. Without preparing it was a little haphazard, but people seemed to be okay with that. A great crowd! Come to my presentation on the 27th of February to see a better prepared session which will include WF demo's.

Microsoft is releasing a patch for Windows to update the behaviour of automatic daylight savings adjustments. This is necessary because DST dates in the United States will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November).

The .NET Framework uses the operating system to determine current date. So as long as you apply the Windows patch, your .NET application will automatically use the new DST rules.

Read more information in the Microsoft knowledge base: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb264729.aspx

My article on integrating Amazon Mechanical Turk into Windows Workflow Foundation has been placed on the Amazon web services developer connection.

Read it here: http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?entryID=635&ref=featured

Good news for all those that own the original iPhone (the one made by Linksys).

There is a Windows Vista driver available at:

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Download_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1115417109934&packedargs=sku%3D1127783455701&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

I just ran across this little bit of humor in the Skype billing site.

I went to my bill for March (it is February now), I guess I cannot call into the future 'yet'!!!

In Windows Vista the Add/Remove Windows Components screen in Windows XP has been replaced with the Windows Features list.

Some of these option definately require a little more explaining than the tooltip info provided.

Luckily someone has figured out what every option means and posted quite a comprehensive guide on bleepingcomputer.com.

Go to: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial134.html

I finally updated my website some. I now use the RssToolkit from Dmitry Robsman to display my latest blog posts on the front page of my business website (www.develop-one.com).

The RssToolkit allows you to define an RssDataSource using drag-and-drop, just enter the url of the feed and create a gridview which binds against the RssDataSource. It's great!

The code has been updated since last year, but it runs like a charm!

Go to: http://blogs.msdn.com/dmitryr/archive/2006/03/26/561200.aspx

Update:
The project has been moved from Dmitry's blog to CodePlex. Go to: http://www.codeplex.com/ASPNETRSSToolkit.

My hosting provider send me an email today informing me that ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 is now available to all DiscountASP.NET customers. I guess I'll have to put some AJAX in my site, just because I can

The message did contain an interesting warning though:

Microsoft officially released ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 and we have installed AJAX 1.0 in the webserver GAC.
(More Info | KB Q10460)

Note: Microsoft has yanked out some features from the AJAX RTM and used the same version number for both v1.0 and the RTM. If you built apps with the RTM, they may not be backward compatible.

ASP.NET AJAX v1.0 is available for download!

Go to: http://ajax.asp.net/default.aspx?tabid=47

About ASP.NET AJAX:

"ASP.NET AJAX is a free framework for quickly creating a new generation of more efficient, more interactive and highly-personalized Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers.

With ASP.NET AJAX, you can:

• Create next-generation interfaces with reusable AJAX components.
• Enhance existing Web pages using powerful AJAX controls with support for all modern browsers.
• Continue using Visual Studio 2005 to take your ASP.NET 2.0 sites to the next level.
• Access remote services and data directly from the browser without writing a ton of complicated script.
• Enjoy the benefits of a free framework with 24x7 technical support provided by Microsoft."

Mark Gibbs has a cool column on Network World where he compares a quote by George Lucas with developing software.

George Lucas has been quoted as saying that "A movie is never finished, only abandoned."

Software is never finished, it is release when deemed usable and new versions appear as features get added and bugs get fixed.

George is, as far as I know, one of the first directors to release new and improved versions of Star Wars, adding scenes as if he was adding features.

I'll be working the Ask the Expert booth at the Windows Vista lauch event in Portland, ME. Hope to see you there!

Yesterday I reinstalled my new laptop with Vista x64. I figured since the Centrino Duo processor is 64bit I should at least run a 64bit operating system.

Ofcourse I forgot to backup my email and my last backup was a couple of days old. Hope I didn't loose anything too important, anyway. A bunch of stuff doesn't run on 64bit.

For instance the driver for my Linksys iPhone doesn't work, luckily my laptop has build in speaker and microphone, nevertheless I logged a support mail at Linksys, let's see what happens.

Microsoft Office 2007 runs like a charm on 64bit. Cool!

Next I discovered that I need a 64bit version of VirtualPC. No problem, just downloaded the VirtualPC 2007 x64 beta and installed it. My heart started beating a little faster when I remembered I had at least one virtual machine in saved state mode. Guess what? No problem! Just added the existing Virtual Machine, it recognized my save state and booted like a charm!

Windows Live Toolbar has some issues in 64bit. It seems that some of the toolbar buttons, most importantly the 'MSN Weather' button does not install :-(  Luckily my Windows Live Favorites is working though!

Plaxo (www.plaxo.com) runs fine on Outlook 2007 so that's great too.

My NVidia driver is working, but the fancy desktop management stuff doesn't install :-(

All in all I'm pretty pleased with how things are running.

The Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 Launch Event in Maine will be held on the 13th of February 2007 in Portland, ME.

Location:

Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks
200 Sable Oaks Drive
South Portland Maine 04106
United States

There will be Developer, IT Pro and manager sessions!

Sign up: http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/signup/default.mspx