Laurent Duveau

Here is a teaser from Microsoft regarding the new Web Platform Installer… featuring Scott Guthrie and Soma:

Everybody asked me this question last week at TechEd Los Angeles, even at customs before my flight, and at registration, hotel, … (I wore an Azure Tshirt).

Windows Azure is the central piece of the cloud computing offering from Microsoft. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage their web applications in the cloud (Microsoft data centers worldwide). It is part of the Azure Services Platform and acts as a cloud services operating system that serves as the development, service hosting and service management environment.

On top of this base infrastructure, you’ll find several services helping you to build apps for Azure:
Live Services, .NET Services, SQL Services, SharePoint Services, Dynamics CRM Services.

Read more on the Azure Services Platform:
http://www.microsoft.com/azure/whatisazure.mspx

The platform is currently (may 2009) on Tech Preview and should be released at the end of the year.

Pricing will be announced this summer.

Try it!
Go to www.azure.com and log in with your Live ID to create your first solution.

Download the Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio (which includes the Azure SDK) now and try it for free:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b44c10e8-425c-417f-af10-3d2839a5a362&displaylang=en

Watch some Azure videos:
http://weblogs.asp.net/lduveau/archive/2009/05/07/windows-azure-videos.aspx

 
Code Camp Montreal will take place on Saturday, May 30th 2009.
It is free but you need to sign up on the website: www.codecampmontreal.com
If you are not registered yet, hurry up!

This year again I’ll be giving 2 sessions (in french):

• Business application with Silverlight 3 and .NET RIA Services
• Silverlight 3 and SEO

See you there!

The Silverlight Tour has now its own page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/The-Silverlight-Tour/83006391011
Not here to replace the official website, but to add a “social flavour”... become a fan!

Also you can join the Silverlight Tour Training Canada group!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=47704291067

Windows 7 allows you to link your online ID with your Windows user account. This will pre-populate your credentials (username/password) each time you use a connected software. Any standards-compliant ID can hook into this feature. For now, only Windows Live ID works.

To add an online ID provider:
Open “User Accounts”, Click “Link online ID”, Click “Add an online ID provider”.

Select your online ID provider from the list and follow the instructions. 

For Windows Live you’ll be asked to download and install Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5e193cfe-f45a-4e29-b6b7-984e7802c639

“The Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5 installs the Windows Live ID online provider for Windows 7. This provider enables linking a Windows Live ID to a Windows 7 user account.”

Then go back to the previous screen and the Online ID Provider is now available:

Click “Link online ID” and type your user name and password once.
Now you’ll save time when you open Email, Messenger, Zune, …!

Want to learn more on Windows Azure?
Microsoft has a nice “How do I?” videos series:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/fr-ca/azure/dd439432(en-us).aspx

Also available as RSS feed:
http://www.microsoft.com/feeds/msdn/en-us/azure/RedDog-video.xml

There was also several Azure related sessions at MIX09:

I have been selected as a Microsoft Expert for the Azure Track at TechEd North America 2009.
Not Silverlight? Anyway, LA, here I come!

Good news, 2 very good Silverlight Community Projects I mentioned before have merged: Silverlight Extensions and Silverlight Contrib.

There has been a vote and the new name is… Silverlight Extensions (Good, that was my choice!).

“This new project provide a centralized location for Silverlight controls and API enhancements built for and by the Silverlight developer community.”

It is nice to see the Silverlight free controls ecosystem growing, as well as the more official Silverlight Toolkit.

This week I had the opportunity to present Silverlight on a business perspective at the Microsoft Architects Forum in Montreal.

The presentation covered:

• Developing with Silverlight
  • Silverlight and .NET
  • Positioning Silverlight
  • Silverlight Architecture
  • Development Model
• Silverlight for RIA into SharePoint
• Business Applications with Silverlight 3

I presented in duo with my partner Dominic at RunAtServer, it was great to talk to enterprise architects and decision makers.

Download the slides: