VS 2008 - Getting Started (Mult-targeting)

So, first things first!! I downloaded the RTM of VS 2008 Profssional iso, burnt it to a DVD and installed. No problems so far on my Vista Desktop :)

So for the next few weeks I'll show you what's new and why you can get onto this new product as soon as possible. I've seen a great session by Daniel Moth at TechEd Developers two weeks ago and so I will be using his tour tips in this series too. I'm telling you if you get a chance to go to any of his sessions, GO! He packs 150mins in 75 mins and sometimes you have to play it back again at half speed :)

So for this first session whats new?!

Firstly Multi-Targeting. What this basically does is allow you to say, hmmm this solution will be based on .NET Framework 2.0, or 3.0 or 3.5. THen what happens is the IDE removes all features not related to the selected target .NET framework. So if you chose 2.0, all the WPF stuff goes away. So perhaps you start with 3.0, and after a time, having used some 3.0 stuff by accident :) you flip back to 2.0? Well the IDE will flag all the 3.0 stuff that will no longer work!! Cool!!!

So this is most definitely the first most important thing you will see, and also a great selling point for you to ask your boss to upgrade and possibly not use VS2005 any more. Since you can still target those apps selectively and work on other projects for 3.5 all with the same great tool.

Visual Studio 2008 RTM now available for download

Atleast for MSDN subscribers anyway.

As of yesterday you can now download the following versions from here:

• VS 2008 Professional
• VS 2008 Standard
• VS 2008 Express
• VS 2008 Team suite and foundation server (Trials)

The rest should be coming soon, atleast before the end of the month, as promised at TechEd Developers 2008 :)

PS Don't forget to turn off your popup blocker or you won't be able to download the files :)

EMEA MCT Community Summit 2008

Well registrations have been open for a few weeks and the number of registrations is staggering. Most people that reserved a seat have now confirmed and we are looking forward to a sellout in Berlin this year. With lots of Developer content this year on VS2008 and SQL2008 I'm sure it's gonna be a great event. If you're an MCT and interested in jumpstarting on these latest MS releases, check out the website for the event here, and register today.

TechEd - Day 5

Well TechEd Developers is now over and I'm exhausted!! IT Forum will be starting this week and I'm sure they are planning some great stuff. I'm quite happy to take back my new htc Touch and my free delegate pass for next year, so all-in-all it's been a great event.

TechEd - Day 4 part 2

Phew it all over... or is it just beginning....
The finalists were:
Maciej Pilecki
Karl Davies-Barrett
Bill Aryes
Jeff Wharton

The running order was decided on the spot with each contestant drawing a number. I followed up on Maciej's new presentation on SQL UDF's with my WPF in windows forms. I was chilled and relaxed and enjoyed every minute. THe presentation went like a dream and the judges were very favourable. Jeff's SQL RAID talk went really well. His 'Big Daddy' for RAID 10 was a cool touch picked up by the judges, perhaps that's what clinched it.

The Final results were

Jeff Wharton
Karl Davies-Barrett
Maciej Pilecki
Bill Aryes

So Jeff is coming over to speak next year and got 1m of books. I get a free delegate pass and 0.5m of books. So I'm over the moon :)

TechEd - Day 4

Whooooo, I'm in the final!! :) After beating off stiff competition from another MCT from Lebanon I'm presenting my session again in the final in just 30 mins time. I've tweeked it slightly and hope it will give me an edge over the other two MCT finalists. It's not gonna be easy cos they are all really good, but the experience will be worth it. Being a wave 4 winner I should present last which is good and bad.

TechEd - Day 3

Great news.... my flat mate Jeff Wharton is thru to the Speaker Idol Finals tomorrow. He gave a great presentation on SQL Server, RAID, and Developers!! Even though the sound was all broken in the begining he kept going. It was amazing to see another Aussie in the running, Brent Shepard, and Michael Howard on the judging Panel, from New Zealand. Naturally it was a great time and every one really enjoyed the show.

TechEd - Day 2 (part 2)

I think I've been swagged!!! I was walking through the Community Area when one the the NxtGenUG guys grabs me and say wanna take part in a little quiz show... Swaggidy Swag. I'm like...OK and I sat down in the hot seat!! So the rules are like this. The presenter asks you a question and you have to think of an answer. In the meantime the judges, made up from other TechEd Attendees and Speaker Idol Judges write down what they think you are going to say. If they match you get points. Simple right? Well After 3 rounds, we had only got one point each. Just to give you a sample of the questions..

Visual Studio is good for Developers... Mac is good for Designers... Linux is good for...

Or

Dave has a very large Laptop bag, the other day he pull a .... out of it.

As you can see the questions leave a lot of scope for imagination!!! The winning question for me was: The IT world needs more.... And I said SUPERMODELS!!! Luckly two/three of the judges were on my wavelength.

So what did I win... a bag full of goodies like an Apress book on WF, Virtual Earth Mug, T-Shirts and....... an HTC Touch Smart Phone.

It took me about 2 hours to figure out how to use it, since I never owned a smartphone before, but I do now have an excellent PDA Trainer... Caio Proiete - The PDA Expert. It wasn't long before he showed me the Wifi, Skype on the phone, Touch-Flo....cool.

TechEd - Day 2

Well today was an amazing day. While I was in the Hands-on-lab in the morning looking after the ASP.NET Exercises, good news arrived .... I was told that due to sound problems on the first day of Speaker Idol and the load background music it was only fair that I was given a second a chance to present my session: Spicing up Windows forms with a little WPF! Well I was over the moon!! So this Thursday I will give it another go against two other MCT's who are also Hands-On-Lab Proctors also.

Thanks a lot to the organises for making this possible, I'm looking forward to it :)

TechEd - Day 1 : Speaker Idol 2007 - First wave

Well I gave a hell of a presentation of WPF controls inside a Winforms to a packed confernece are TechEd Developers BCN tonight. First night, opening reception, first slot. After 3 seconds I calmed down and loved every minute. Unfortunately it was not enough to get me through, I came second to Maciej Pilecki after he gave a talk on SQL server Table variables vs temporary tables. Still the experience was worth every minute. Guess I have an excuse to try again next year!!!