Server and Tools Business President Satya Nadella introduced Windows Server 8, the new management features, development tools, and new capabilities on the Windows Azure platform that enable a cloud-optimized infrastructure.

• Windows Server 8: An Introduction

• Overview and benefits of Windows Server 8

See the cool features below:

Features

• implement all .NET 4.0 methods and many extra methods (inspiration from Rx, Achiral, Haskell, Ruby, etc…)
• complete lazy evaluation
• full IntelliSense support for VisualStudio
• two versions – linq.js and jquery.linq.js (jQuery plugin)
• support Windows Script Host
• binding for Reactive Extensions for JavaScript(RxJS) and IntelliSense Generator -> see documentation
• NuGet install support(linq.js, linq.js-jQuery, linq.js-Bindings)

This article looks at how to fit the WebGrid component into an ASP.NET MVC environment to enable developers to be more productive while rendering tabular data. Focus is on WebGrid from an ASP.NET MVC aspect:

• creating a strongly typed version of WebGrid with full IntelliSense
• hooking into the WebGrid support for server-side paging
• adding AJAX functionality that degrades gracefully when scripting is disabled

The working samples build on top of a service that provides access to the AdventureWorksLT database via the Entity Framework. If you’re interested in the data-access code, it’s available in the code download, and you might also want to check out Julie Lerman’s article, “Server-Side Paging with the Entity Framework and ASP.NET MVC 3,” in the March 2011 issue(msdn.microsoft.com/magazine/gg650669).

Read the entire article on MSDN

You can download the free tools and learn how to use the different tools and controls, the application architecture and how to design for the Rich Mobile Web.
Find it all, including a free SDK, in the Windows Phone Learning Zone.

Mitch Tulloch, lead author for the Windows 7 Resource Kit, is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking, and security and has been repeatedly awarded Most  Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products, and solutions.

Now you can download Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions Second edition by Mitch Tulloch for free. The book discusses following points:

Why Virtualization?

Server Virtualization

Local Desktop Virtualization

Remote Desktop Virtualization

Virtualization Management

Cloud Computing

This is 480 Page eBook. Download the eBook in PDF format or XPS format

The book is not a language primer, a language reference, or a single technology book. It’s a book that will help professional developers move from previous versions of Visual Studio (starting with 2003 and on up). It will cover the features of Visual Studio 2010 through an application. It will go through a lot of the exciting new language features and new versions of the most popular technologies without putting the emphasis on the technologies themselves. It will instead put the emphasis on how you would get to those new tools and features from Visual Studio 2010.

If you are expecting this book to thoroughly cover the new Entity Framework or ASP.NET MVC 2, this is not the book for you. If you want to read a book where the focus is on Visual Studio 2010 and on the reasons for moving to Visual Studio 2010, this is the book for you.

The book is written having three audiences in mind:

• Part I is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2003 to Visual Studio 2010
• Part II is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2005
• And Part III is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2008

You can download a PDF of the book here and can help Microsoft by filling out a survey at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey.

J.D. Meier has introduced to a comprehensive resource for (new) ASP.Net Developers, guiding them to the road to learn ASP.Net. The developer guidance is available in the form of Code Samples, How Tos, Videos, and Training.

The ASP.NET Developer Guidance Map helps you kill two birds with one stone:

1. It show you the key sources of ASP.NET content and where to look (“teach you how to fish”)
2. It gives you an index of the main content collections (Code Samples, How Tos, Videos, and Training)

Mental Model of the Map
The map is a simple collection of content types from multiple sources, organized by common tasks, common topics, and ASP.NET features:

Download the ASP.NET Developer Guidance Map

• Download the ASP.NET Developer Guidance Map (PDF)

There are many scenarios during an upgrade where you’ll want to migrate a SQL Server installation. We’ve collected a series of articles and resources that describe the processes and tools to make the task easier.

This set of topics includes information on how to migrate a reporting services installation, how to migrate integration services packages, and how to migrate data transformation services packages.

Office 365 builds on the foundation and investment our Microsoft Online Services partners have already made in the cloud business. For all Microsoft partners, it provides new and additional revenue opportunities. Here’s how:

• With Office 365, Microsoft is offering a new class of applications and scenarios scenarios that meet the needs of organizations of all sizes
• Office 365 provides increased opportunities for partners to develop complete customer solutions
• Office 365 provides the opportunity to broaden and deepen your engagement with SMB customers with new offerings
• Office 365 enables a familiar connection point, Office, to start your cloud conversations
• Office 365 provides new platform capabilities to improve deployment and reduce migration overhead, and provides you continuous management of customer accounts

Visit the Microsoft Office 365 at the Partner Network site! http://bit.ly/8DOKBk