Planet SCM

If you're new to Team System, or if you're ready to use Team Foundation Server for more than version control, you should consider attending the Team System preconference course taught by Brian Randell at PDC 2008: Get More Out of Visual Studio Team System 2008. Brian has been in and around Team System since the early days, and he knows his way around Team Foundation Server.

Get More Out of Visual Studio Team System 2008

Presenter(s): Brian Randell

This preconference will focus both on implementing best practices and avoiding worst practices when working with Team Foundation Server and the suite of client tools. Throughout the day you will cover end-to-end life cycle management. Begin with guidance on defining your team project, source code control, and project classifications system, tips for customizing your process templates and using work items to drive your teams progress. From there you will learn effective techniques for getting your builds set up and running, using quality practices and tools including unit testing, web testing, test publication, profiling and load testing. We close by covering how to move forward once a major milestone is complete. This session assumes familiarity with Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio Client Tools; each section of the session will provide practical guidance so that you are getting the most of VSTS and you leave prepared for changes coming in future releases of Team System.

About the presenter(s):

Brian A. Randell is a senior consultant with MCW Technologies, LLC. For over 20 years, Brian has been building software solutions and educating his fellow developers. Brian spends his time teaching Microsoft technologies to developers, working with new and emerging technologies like Visual Studio Team System 2008, and consulting worldwide for Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, state and local governments, and small businesses. Brian enjoys helping people get the most out of their software. He does this through training for Pluralsight, and speaking at events such as VSLive!, Tech•Ed, and the PDC. In addition, Brian shares through the written word. Brian currently writes the Team System column for MSDN Magazine. He is the author and lead instructor of Pluralsight’s Applied Team System and Applied Windows SharePoint Services courses. You can reach Brian via his blog at http://www.mcwtech.com/cs/blogs/brianr.

PDC2008 | Agenda | Pre-Conference

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Just found some really cool content on the Microsoft profile on Facebook for those learning to create applications for the Web and Windows using the free Visual Studio 2008 Express products. Sam used to work with me on my previous team. It looks like he's really enjoying his new gig.

Free Software, Free Learning: Visual Studio 2008 Express

At Microsoft the word 'Express' equates to 'Free' and Express Editions can be downloaded and used by anyone. With Visual Studio Express, you don’t need to be a seasoned programmer to explore your creativity. Check out the Coding4Fun blog for ideas…
Watch and Discuss

Podcast
Sam Gazitt discusses his favorite features of Visual Studio 2008 Express. This is the overview of VS but contains features that are not in the Express editions…there should be a non-pro version of this on the podcast site. I also cover popfly and samples that we ship as part of Coding4Fun.
(WMA 2MB) | MP3 (6 MB)

Getting Started
Jacqueline Russell walks through step-by-step instructions for downloading, installing and first project.My First Windows Application Video (WMA) or My First Web Application Video (WMA)

Program Now: Video How Tos
Create a C# WPF Application Video (WMV) | Article
Create a C# Windows Form Application Video (WMV) | Article
Create a C# Console Applcation Video (WMV) | Article
Writing Queries in C# (LINQ) Video (WMV) | Article

Facebook | Microsoft

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If you installed any Visual Studio 2008 hotfixes and you're now trying to install the SP1 Beta, you should take heed of this note we just added:

Note If you previously installed a Visual Studio 2008 Hotfix, you must run the Hotfix Cleanup Utility before installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta. For more information, see Visual Studio 2008 Hotfix Cleanup Utility for Installing Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Beta.

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A new version of the Visual Studio 2008 Product Comparison Guide is now available. Version 1.08 includes updates to a number or line items, but in particular it includes a lot of fixes in the debugging section and adds a section on 64-bit development features. If you find any discrepancies, feel free to drop me a note.

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It occurred to me this evening that I haven't posted to this blog since early February. Following the launch of Visual Studio 2008 last month in LA, I moved into a new role (still within Developer Marketing at Microsoft) to work on marketing communications for our broader developer & user experience marketing campaigns. In addition, I'm still working on the Visual Studio marketing site and adding new content. As painful as it was to create, I still like how the product comparison guide turned out. Yesterday, we published a new white paper on Requirements Management with Visual Studio Team System. Anyway, back to the grind...

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Okay, another update (v1.04) to the Visual Studio 2008 Product Comparison is now available. In this revision, I updated the Code Quality Tools section to better reflect the testing features that are now available in Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, as well as some error corrections. I'm hoping this will be the last update for a bit; however, I appreciate any bug reports. 

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