Planet SCM

One of the challenges with using Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Developers is that you don't have some of the functionality found in Team Edition for Testers to manage, execute, and organize tests. Ekobit Test Manager Add-In provides an inexpensive solution to do this.

Test Manager Add-In offers everything needed to efficiently manage and execute tests and organize them in hierarchical lists in the developer’s own working environment.

While you're on their site, take a look at their free List Pending Changes Browser, and add Ogy's blog to your news reader. Ogy is a Team System MVP with a lot of info to share.

Source: Ekobit Online > Our services > Test Manager

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Newzie by Newzie/Arda Celebi

Although I favored Outlook-based solutions in the past (RSS News Reader Auditions), I decided to use a standalone application when I started dogfooding Office 2007. I downloaded and tried many of the usual suspects over the course of a weekend. I forget how I found it, but I downloaded and tried Newzie, which seemed quite different than most of the other alternatives. I've been using it ever since. 

Newzie is more than a simple news aggregator. It offers different ways of monitoring things; it presents retrieved content in different shapes; it enables you to reach desired content fast. And all these interactions happen thru an exclusive user interface that you haven't tasted yet in any other software application.

From: Newzie, your feature-rich news aggregator

Read this post from the Newzie blog (Reach New Content Fast with the Version 0.99.8!) to get the scoop on the latest Beta release, which is now available.

Release highlights (from Newzie Download Center):

• 'Today Panel' to browse new posts with your favorite browser
• Tabs in multiple rows, rather than one
• Monitor word occurrances in webpages
• Strip out images (like ads) embedded inside posts
• Switch for toggling visibility of post content
• Redesigned tooltips give more info on fly
• Better status report
• Lost of keyboard shortcuts

Cost: $0.00

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Windows Live Writer by Microsoft

I started using Windows Live Writer back in July, and I used it to post the last 30 or 40 posts to this blog. I used BlogJet for a long time, but now I'm hooked on Windows Live Writer.

Welcome to the Windows Live Writer team blog! We are excited to announce that the Beta version of Windows Live Writer is available for download today.

Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service. 

From: Writer Zone

The first public beta is now available (Download Windows Live Writer), so go give it a try. Windows Live Writer is also extensible (Download Windows Live Writer SDK). You can build plug-ins for it to add functionality and content types. LiveSide has an Interview with J.J. Allaire, Architect for Windows Live Writer, if you'd like to know more about it. Yes, that J.J. Allaire.

Cost: Free (Beta 1)

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TeamLook by Personify Design

At TechEd, Personify Design launched their first product, TeamLook. I’ve been using TeamLook throughout their beta period since December. It’s a natural integration of Team Foundation Server with Outlook 2003 that will be a productivity boost for any team using Team Foundation Server.

Personify Design TeamLook™ extends Microsoft Outlook 2003 so that all stakeholders in a software project can communicate more effectively and gain accurate visibility into project status. TeamLook™ connects to Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server and enables users to view Work Items, Reports, and other artifacts stored in their Visual Studio 2005 Team System installations. With constant synchronization TeamLook™ functions in a similar manner to other Microsoft Outlook features, reducing training costs and enabling organizations to realize immediate productivity gains.

From: Personify Design TeamLook

Cost: $99.95 (Free Trial Download)

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