Steven Martin posted a blog entry today called Two flavors of cloud computing – Public and Private.  Everybody looks excited, why?  Maybe they are saying that finally, Microsoft will offer Azure as a product that they can install in their data centers!

Let’s start with the title:
>Two flavors of cloud computing – Public and Private

When Microsoft announced Azure at the 2009 PDC, it made clear that Azure is not a product that Microsoft will sell.  It is an OS used internally to power Microsoft Cloud offering so the use of the word “private” might seam like Microsoft will offer Azure to it’s customers for their data centers at some point.  Right?  Hummm.

>…at some point in the future, the Azure Services Platform and an enterprise data center will be, technically speaking, largely indistinguishable

In this sentence, do you read “same product” or “same functionalities”?  I think it’s the latter.

>…will use these learnings to drive additional benefits for customers not just in the cloud but also with our premises technologies

Here we see a clearer distinction “cloud” and “premises technologies”.  What I get from this is Microsoft will add cloud related functionalities to Windows Server throughout the years.

>One of our primary objectives is to deliver the technology that empowers Enterprises to build private clouds within their existing datacenters.

Now, this is confusing and people will think that Azure will be available in the future to install in their data centers.

In his post, Steven refers to a previous post.  In this one, there is no confusion.

That’s my take.  What do you think?

The Office 2007 SP2 is now available.  If you’ve been dissatisfied with Outlook performance and behaviour, this service pack should solve many of these problems.

Taken from KB article 953195 describing the changes:

Microsoft Office Outlook

• Performance improvements that apply to the following general responsiveness areas:
  • Startup
    Removes lengthy operations from initial startup.
  • Shutdown
    Makes Outlook exit predictably despite pending activities.
  • Folder View and Switch
    Improves view rendering and folder switching.
• Calendar improvements
  Improves underlying data structures and the general reliability of calendar updates.
• Data file checks
  Greatly reduces the number of scenarios in which you receive the following error message when you start Outlook:

  The data file 'file name' was not closed properly. This file is being checked for problems.

• Search reliability
  Improves search reliability when you use SP2 with Windows Desktop Search 4 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/choose/windowssearch4.mspx) .
• Improvements to Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
  There are now fewer duplicated items.
• Object Model improvements
  Now contains many customer-driven fixes.

For more information about these improvements and details about other Outlook fixes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
968774 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968774/ ) Outlook 2007 improvements in the 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 2

The recommended update process is thru Windows Update but you can download the SP directly:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5&displaylang=en

List of all the SP2 downloads:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968170

Press release:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Apr09/04-28Office2007SP2QA.mspx

I’d like to congratulate Laurent Duveau who is now a Silverlight MVP.  Looks like he’s number 7.  Amazing work Laurent!

So here’s Lolo, the Silver Marvel!

http://www.visualstudiotalkshow.com

Dominic Sevigny: jQuery

Nous discutons avec Dominic Sevigny de jQuery, une librairie JavaScript qui permet la manipulation du DOM (Document Object Model) d'une façon efficace, performante et "cross browser". Microsoft permet aux développeurs d'utiliser cet API avec le nouveau "ASP.NET MVC" et avec le futur AJAX 4.0 qui devrait voir le jour dans la prochaine version du ".NET Framework".

Dominic Sévigny est président de RunAtServer Consulting, une entreprise spécialisée dans la consultation ASP.NET et offrant une expertise de développement Web exemplaire par la qualité de ses développeurs séniors. Dominic est reconnu comme étant un conférencier très dynamique. En effet, il donne à l’occasion des conférences sur les technologies Web telles que ASP.NET et Ajax. Il a donné plusieurs conférences à la Communauté .Net de Montréal ainsi qu’au DevTeach où il a été nommé « Best Speaker » en 2007. Il est le formateur exclusif de toutes les formations ASP.NET et AJAX pour le plus grand centre de formation de Montréal, Technologia. Pour la troisième année consécutive, il a obtenu de Microsoft le titre de MVP ASP.NET.

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I had a strange problem a couple of days ago.  I pointed IE8  to the Microsoft Connect site (connect.microsoft.com) but IE8 couldn’t display  and it reported an error.  I closed the browser and started over…same error.  The site would display OK in FireFox or Chrome.  I then deleted my cookies and my temp files and got the same error.  I then pointed my browser to a site with a Live ID sign on so I could signed out (I was already signed in) and signed in back again.  I then pointed my browser back to connect.microsoft.com and it worked. 

Who’s the culprit?  IE8?  Live ID?  Connect?

My good friend Frédéric Schäfer recently moved from Paris to Lausanne, Switzerland, and he is starting an ALT.NET community over there. 

Here’s the announcement:
http://www.altnetfr.org/2009/04/20/ouverture-dun-groupe-altnet-en-suisse/

Info about the 1st meeting:
http://www.altnetfr.org/lausanne/

If you’re in the Lausanne/Geneva area and you’re interested in anything Agile, get involved in the group by attending or speaking.

Brandon LeBlanc posted this on the Windows blog :
“I’m pleased to share that the RC is on track for April 30th for  download by MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Broader, public availability will begin on May 5th.”

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/04/24/windows-7-release-candidate-update.aspx

Yep, that’s right!  Microsoft Canada just launched a contest in witch you have to write a Web app running on Windows and IIS.  Oh, the app must be written in PHP!

For more info:
http://www.phponwindows.ca/FTW/index.php

A couple of weeks ago, I recorded a podcast with Eric Mignot and Raphaël Pierquin from Pyxis around the concepts found in a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.  Haven’t read the book prior to the recording, I ordered it the day after because I loved what I heard from Eric and Raphaël.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is not a technology book and strangely, the subtitle says A Leadership Tale.  In fact, Lencioni wrote a short novel to get his message trough and it works.  The story is about a newly appointed CEO who finds that the company management team is dysfunctional and her effort to change that.

So why read that book if we’re into technology?  Well, although the story is about a team managing a company, the dysfunctions are likely to be the same and the principles to solve them can also be applied to development teams.

Here’s a graph listing the five dysfunctions.  Rings a bell?

Highly recommended to anyone leading or working in a team.

Tough times? Here’s how to get some dev software at a discount in Canada:

65% VSTS Promo for ALL Certified and Gold Certified MSPP Partners!
The Visual Studio Team System Promotion for Partners is a limited time promotional offer for Certified and Gold Certified Partners.  Eligible partners can get up to 150 copies of any combinations of the Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Editions or Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite with MSDN Premium Subscription at 65% off of ERP. This promotion is available in Open Value licensing agreements only so payments can be spread over 3 years making it even more affordable.
https://partner.microsoft.com/Canada/40082293

Visual Studio Upgrade Promotion: 30% discount on VSTS Upgrades
Visual Studio Team System an integrated Application Life-cycle Management (ALM) solution comprising tools, processes, and guidance to help everyone on the team improve their skills and work more effectively together. There has never been a better time for your development team to move to Visual Studio Team System. For a limited time, Microsoft is offering discounts of 30% for Visual Studio Professional  Edition + MSDN Premium customers to step up to Team Suite. If you’re already a Visual Studio Team System role customer you can step up to Team Suite at a 30% discount. On top of this, Visual Studio Team Development Edition now includes Visual Studio Team Data Edition. Data Edition provides a great new set of functionality focused on database development. This offer is available at no added cost to both existing Team Developer customers and to new customers. 
https://www.microsoft.com/canada/visualstudio/offers/

MSDN Promotion: up to 20-40% discount on an MSDN Subscription attach to VS Pro
Thousands of developers have chosen MSDN Subscriptions for the great product benefits and access to key technical resources of  developing applications on the Microsoft platforms. Now is a great time to consider an MSDN subscription: Expression Web and Blend v2 are now included in MSDN Premium, and SQL Server  2008 / Windows Server 2008 are included as well.   On top of that, for a limited time Microsoft is inviting  existing VS Pro customers purchase either an MSDN Professional or MSDN Premium  Subscription at a significant discount.
https://www.microsoft.com/canada/visualstudio/offers/

Expression Professional Subscription: 25% Off
The Expression Professional Subscription provides a total solution to enable designers to create engaging user experiences on the Microsoft platforms of their choice by delivering up to date versions of all the tools they need, alongside virtualized testing resources, documentation and training. It is the perfect complement to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).   As a limited time offer from March 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, Open License, Open Value, Select, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Expression Studio Professional Subscription licenses with Software Assurance at 25% off. 
http://www.microsoft.com/expression/volume-licensing/Default.aspx

Registration is now open for Code Camp Montreal 2009.  For more info and to register, go to:
http://www.codecampmontreal.com

http://www.visualstudiotalkshow.com

Eric Mignot et Raphaël Pierquin: Les cinq dysfonctions d'une équipe

Nous discutons avec Eric Mignot du livre de Patrick Lencioni "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team". Entres autres, nous essayons de comprendre ce qui empêche même les équipes les plus talentueuses de réaliser leur plein potentiel.

Éric est ScrumMaster et accompagnateur Agile chez Pyxis. Il aide les organisations à tirer le meilleur parti des pratiques Agiles en tenant compte de leurs réalités. Durant sa carrière dans l'industrie du logiciel commencée en 1997, il est intervenu dans des environnements de projet comme développeur et responsable d'équipes : pharmacie, logistique, administrations, associations, loisirs. Des environnements techniques et fonctionnels variés qui mettent en lumière la dimension humaine du défi que représente la création logicielle en tant qu'activité inventive. Par les projets auxquels il participe, Eric se concentre sur les relations au sein des équipes de projets, sur l'impact des approches Agiles sur l'ensemble des organisations et sur le marché du logiciel en général. Voici ce qui le motive : mettre en production rapidement des logiciels utiles. Eric est certifié ScrumMaster Practitioner.

Raphael est titulaire d'un diplôme d'ingénieur en informatique et d'un DESS en management, et exerce dans le monde du développement logiciel depuis 1999. Aujourd'hui, il se définit avant tout comme un agent du changement. En puisant dans la culture Agile, il conçoit, avec les équipes qu'il accompagne, des solutions sur mesure, créatives et respectueuses des individus qui la composent. Sa méthode : fournir aux personnes qui le souhaitent les moyens de se connecter entre elles et d'agir ensemble pour améliorer leur environnement. Aux frontières des équipes, Raphael a déjà montré sa capacité à jouer un rôle de catalyseur du changement : il sait comprendre les contraintes de l'environnement, repérer les douleurs de l'organisation et les transformer en force de transformation, et ce, en reliant les acteurs entre eux et en créant l'espace nécessaire au mouvement. Les professionnels qui le côtoient le décrivent comme étant attentif aux autres, créatif et enthousiaste.

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As seen in the Angrignon Metro parking in Montreal.

SQL Server SP1 is now available.  You can download it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=66ab3dbb-bf3e-4f46-9559-ccc6a4f9dc19

While searching for something else, I found this 3D animation video from Microsoft explaining their data center vision.

I had to document a database recently.  Nothing fancy, just a list of the objects (tables, indexes, stored procs).  There are tools available to do that but the SQL server was very secured (and I applaud that) and all I could do was to run a script locally.  A quick search lead me to this CodeProject article by Nitinpatel:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/database/SQL_DB_DOCUMENTATION.aspx

It’s basically just a T-SQL script that go thru all the objects in a database and generates an HTML output.  Cool!

Have you watched the latest Microsoft “Laptop Hunters” ads?  They feature people shopping for new laptops and of course, comparing Windows and Apple laptops.

Lauren 'I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person'

High quality:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/watchtheads/video/lauren/

Giampaolo 'Macs are sexy but…'

High quality:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/watchtheads/video/giampaolo/default.aspx

Looks like these ads are hitting a nerve:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2449

Microsoft recently released the MVC Framework under the MS-PL.  Oh sure, another software license…just what we need you might say.  I’m no lawyer but it surely looks like a simple, easy to understand licence to me.

Here’s ScottGu’s announcement:
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/04/01/asp-net-mvc-1-0.aspx

Here’s the license:
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/ms-pl.html

Here’s Joey DeVilla no nonsense take on it:
http://www.globalnerdy.com/2009/04/03/microsofts-open-source-license-ms-pl-short-sweet-and-simple/

ScottHa:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/MicrosoftASPNETMVC10IsNowOpenSourceMSPL.aspx

Here are the GNU and LGNU licenses:
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html

Here’s a discussion on SlashDot about the MS-PL:
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/02/1845214

I’m catching up on Mix09 watching the videos available online for free.
http://videos.visitmix.com/

One trick I use is to watch them at Fast Playback speed using Windows Media Player.  It plays the video at 1.5x while keeping everything understandable.  Just select Play Speed in the Play menu or right click on the Play icon.