“Microsoft announced that two of its most important products of the last half-decade are complete and ready to be shipped.

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 were released to manufacturing (RTM), marking a dual milestone in the history of both products. It also means that Windows 2008 will be officially shipping by the “Global Launch Wave” of enterprise products on Feb. 27. Others include Visual Studio 2008, released last year, and SQL Server 2008, which was recently pushed back to Q3.”

Just got the news today, will try to download later. This is really good news. I am already planning to attend one of the events in the launch wave in New York. I’m sure with this addition, it will be even more interesting.

Does this mean MSFT shares bull market again. Hehe Just like Vista and Office 2007?? Hmm lets just see. Hehehe

Link: Windows Server 2008, Vista SP1 Released to Manufacturing
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Official Site

This is really funny. If you haven’t seen it, definitely a good watch. Bill Gates last day in Microsoft video spoof. This was shown in the keynote session on CES 2008 done by he himself.

Just check the famous names in the cast of the video like Matthew McConaughey, Jay-Z, Bono, Steven Spieldberg, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore and a lot more.

Video: Bill Gates Last Day CES Clip

“Java is becoming the new Cobol” brave statement from one of the 2007’s top underreported tech stories.

“The Story: Java, the oldest new programming language around, is falling out of favor with developers. When it comes to developing the increasingly common rich Internet applications, Java is losing ground to Ruby on Rails, PHP, AJAX and other cool new languages. And there are even reports that Microsoft’s .Net, of all things, is pushing Java out of the enterprise. Makes you wonder whether Sun was smart to change its stock-ticker code to JAVA last summer. “

What I found cool is this:

“Info-Tech Research Group said its survey of 1,850 businesses found .Net the choice over Java among businesses of all sizes and industries, thanks to its promotion via Visual Studio and SharePoint. Microsoft is driving uptake of the .Net platform at the expense of Java,” says George Goodall, a senior research analyst at Info-Tech.“

Check out more of the articles below:
Java is becoming the new Cobol

Slideshow: 2007’s top underreported tech stories

Just got back to work yesterday. This is already a bit late. Happy New Year guys.

To start the year, just found out that Microsoft Singapore is offering some free certifications for the community user groups. To those interested, dont miss this opportunity. Check this link out.

I am still finishing reading the book Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders. I think I have different main priorities and goals for this year, and getting a certification is just not it yet. Well since this is free I’ll just decide if I’m going to take this promotion after I finish reading the book.

Here is the book to those interested:

This is really exciting. The most anticipated ASP.NET MVC framework built by the ASP.NET team finally released a preview. You can now install it in your machine and try it with Visual Studio 2008. They released it as an ASP.NET 3.5 Extension. With this, I would really want to compare it with patterns & practices Web Client Software Factory MVP implementation that we are currently using. I hope to learn more on this new framework.

The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions CTP showcases MVC, support for REST, additional AJAX functionality, and dynamic data controls, according to a blog posting by Microsoft Developer Division General Manager Scott Guthrie. (It is not a reiteration of ASP.NET Futures released in June 2007.)

The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions CTP follows Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, released to manufacturing on November 19. .NET 3.5 integrates ASP.NET AJAX and LINQ. It also adds support for nested Web pages and data view and data grid controls.

Microsoft also released Entity Framework Beta 3 last December 6, 2007. Office 2007 SP1 has also been released and is already available for download. Details can be found below.

Sources: Microsoft Releases ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview
Microsoft Releases Entity Framework Beta 3
Office downloads - Office 2007 SP1
ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview - Microsoft Downloads
ScottGu - ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions CTP Preview Released

I was really shocked hearing this from Renji. A character of bleach, one of my favorite anime. He was always a funny character. This is the first time he acted seriously as a Vice Captain. This is definitely worth a post. Here is his battlefield cry:

Now, we head towards the battlefield.
Believe, and our blades will not break.
Believe, and our hearts will not bend.
Though the paths we take may be different,
Our iron hearts will beat as one.
Swear! That even if the Earth is torn asunder,
we will survive and return here once again…
- Abarai Renji

Whoever you are (as long as you’re happy. See in comic why). Whatever you are (if you are not sure your human). Wherever you are (might be in front of a computer if you’re reading this). Just want to greet you Happy Holidays! It is almost here. I’m already excited to go home for vacation. All the best wishes to you and enjoy the holidays!!!

From Bug Bash. (Click it to open full comic.)

This is an extra to make your day. This made me smile. From Dilbert again.

(Same Here.)

Lynda.com is offering free Silverlight training. Check it out and give me your feedback. As I am also planning to take a look at it soon. Enjoy developing the next web.

Lynda.com in conjunction with Microsoft is pleased to offer 5 hours of video training on Silverlight 1.0 for free. Mike Harsh, Program Manager for Silverlight, covers a good variety of topics from beginning to advanced. Here’s the outline:

1. Understanding Silverlight
2. Discovering Silverlight Experiences
3. Silverlight Tools: Expression and Visual Studio
4. Getting Started with XAML, JavaScript, and HTML
5. Advanced XAML
6. Advanced JavaScript Techniques for Silverlight
7. Asset Preparation for Designers
8. Working with Media in Silverlight
9. Creating a Media Player with Silverlight
10. Creating Programmatic Animations
11. Silverlight Deployment
12. Conclusion

Also available FREE are training on Expression Blend v1 and Expression Design v1. Expression Web training available to subscribers. Check it out!

http://blogs.msdn.com/expression_experience_asia/archive/2007/11/21/lynda-com-silverlight-essentials-training-free.aspx

What more can Microsoft provide for us developers. To make the learning and adopting transition easy for developers, Microsoft also released Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit at the same day it was released. For those interested in learning, check this out.

The Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2008 features and a variety of framework technologies including: LINQ, C# 3.0, Visual Basic 9, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX, VSTO, CardSpace, SilverLight, Mobile and Application Lifecycle Management.

Link:
Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit