Saturday, September 30, 2006

Windows PowerShell RC2 Now Available

Microsoft announced Release Candidate 2 of PowerShell earlier this week, a new command-line shell and task-based scripting technology that provides comprehensive control and automation of system administration and management of applications that run in Windows. Windows PowerShell helps accelerate automation and is easy for organizations to learn and to use. The final product is supposed to be released at the end of 2006.

Download
In this release, there are several downloads available depending on your operating system and system configuration. The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 RC2 for WindowsXP-x86
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 RC2 for WindowsXP-x64
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 RC2 for WindowsServer2003-x86
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 RC2 for WindowsServer2003-x64
  • Windows PowerShell 1.0 RC2 for WindowsServer2003-ia64

Please visit Microsoft's KB Article 925228 for a detailed information about the package downloads and configuring PowerShell in your target machine.

More Info
Windows PowerShell allows Windows administrators to be more productive by providing system administration utilities, consistent syntax, and improved navigation of common management data such as the registry or Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).The Windows PowerShell language is intuitive and supports your organization?s existing scripts and command line tool investments. Exchange Server 2007 and System Center Operations Manager 2007 will leverage Windows PowerShell to provide improved command line automation.

Links
Blog of Windows PowerShell Team

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Beta and Windows Vista

Microsoft has released the Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta. "Visual Studio 2005 shipped in November of 2005 and this Service Pack incorporates fixes that we have addressed since that release", announced Microsoft today. Following are the type of fixes you will find in this beta service pack:

  • The Hotfixes and General Distribution Release Updates released between Visual Studio 2005 Release to Market and the end of the Service Pack customer beta period.
  • Any fixes addressing security issues categorized by the Microsoft Security Response Center as "Critical", "Important" or "Moderate".
  • Fixes for product reliability and stability issues, including those reported by customers via the Product Feedback Center, and the crashes most frequently reported via Watson.
  • Fixes for common "eligible" functional issues reported by customers via the Product Feedback Center. "Eligible" functional issues are those that do not require breaking changes, architectural changes, or Design Change Request level feature work and that do not create unacceptable product quality risk and/or cost of implementation.
  • Fixes for the top customer and supportability issues as reported by Customer Support Services.

Somasegar's WebLog mentions VS2005 is triggered to make itself compatible with Windows Vista. Such a support will be announced in the coming months. Presently, VS2005 SP1 will run on Vista but may likely have some compatibility issues. Visual Studio .NET 2002 or Visual Studio .NET 2003 support will be dropped as development environments on Windows Vista however, you can continue to use Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 on Windows XP to develop applications that can run on Windows Vista.

Download VS 2005 SP1 Beta

NOTES

Monday, September 25, 2006

Windows PowerShell & MMC Developer Conference

As published in blog of Windows PowerShell Team, a small number of slots are available for ISV's or Enterprise Developers to attend the Windows PowerShell & Microsoft Management Console (MMC) ISV Workshop (Building Next Generation Command Line and GUI Applications on Windows) on October 9 & 10th, 2006. This is a free two-day event located on the Microsoft Campus, Redmond, WA.

Designed especially for Independent Software Vendors and Enterprise Developers and Architects, this is a great opportunity to obtain in-depth briefing on cutting-edge Windows and .NET management technologies. Invites are non transferable and registration acceptance is based on space availability.

FAQ's about the event:

Q: Is this technical or marketing content?
A: Content is technical including presentations by MS Architects and Program Managers.

Q: Who normally would attend this event?
A: Application Architects and Developers working at a software company developing .NET or planning to develop .NET applications.

Q: Am I limited to just two attendees?
A: No, if your company's registration is accepted, each organization is guaranteed at least 2. You may register for additional people, on a first come, first serve basis.

Q: Is there any charge for this workshop?
A: No. Breakfasts, lunches, snacks and one dinner will be included as well as one giveaway.

Q. If I have questions, who should I contact?
A. For questions, contact Scott Ottaway: sottaway@microsoft.com

Find more details and the in depth registration procedure at Windows PowerShell Team Blog.