Oh well…it’s getting more and more work in the last days. Since I cannot speak yet about the things I am doing lately I just can tell you it involves a trip to Vienna and a whole lot of coding work…

I can remember that from a CES Keynote in 2006 or even 2005…in your face apple!

Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/317737_msftdevice30.html

We spent the last two days in Duisburg attending the Student Technology Conference 2007.

“From Software Architecture, User Interface and Robotics to Games Development with the XNA framework: in use and brand new technologies of the IT – industry will be presented and demonstrated at technologically advanced level. Microsofts Student Technology Conference is the perfect opportunity to engage with potential employers and to get in touch with Microsofts .NET technology. Additionally the German Finals in Microsofts premiere technology competition, the Imagine Cup 2007, will have its final in the Software Design invitational right here!”

the keynote

view from our hotel room…nice, eh?

Source: http://www.studentconference.de

For those of us who want to write software for phones/pdas there’s also something new available for download. The Windows Mobile 6 SDK!

“Using the Windows Mobile 6 SDK you can test your application using the emulators in the Windows Mobile 6 SDKs. The SDKs together with Visual Studio 2005 mean you have everything you need to build and test applications for both Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6. Read the “What’s New” guide to learn why your Windows Mobile 5.0 application should work on Windows Mobile 6, what to expect from new screen resolutions and why Windows Mobile 6 makes it easier to build and deploy Line of Business applications.

Don’t forget that around May 1st we’ll release the Windows Mobile 6 SDK Refresh featuring new documentation, the latest emulators, support for basic AJAX applications and links to Line of Business frameworks, samples and documentation.”

Source: Download

In this demo you will see:

• Windows Server Virtualization running on Server Core managed from another Windows Server Longhorn box
• 64-bit hosts and 32-bit hosts and a Linux running on the same server core box
• An 8-core virtual machine
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• System Center Operations Manager
• Monitoring the VMs on the Server Core box
• Fire off a PowerShell script to hot-add another NIC to a SQL VHD Image

“Microsoft Portrait is a research prototype for mobile video communication. It supports .NET Messenger Service, Session Initiation Protocol and Internet Locator Service on PCs, Pocket PCs, Handheld PCs and Smartphone. It runs on local area networks, dialup networks and even wireless networks with bandwidths as low as 9.6 kilobits/second. Microsoft Portrait delivers portrait-like video if users are in low bandwidths and displays full-color video if users are in broadband. In low bandwidths, portrait video possesses clearer shape, smoother motion, shorter latency and much cheaper computational cost than do conventional video technologies. Microsoft Portrait pursues providing presence notification, chat/voice/video functions anytime, anywhere, on any device.”

Source: http://research.microsoft.com/mcom/portrait/

Und wie versprochen gibt es hier nun die Slides des .NET Compact Framework Vortrags (Version 1.0 und 2.0)

Download hier.

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/ces

Heute um 18 Uhr findet das zweite .NET Usergroup Treffen in Ilmenau (Campus, Haus F, Rechnerlabor) statt.

Agenda:

1. Begrüßung, Neuigkeiten bzgl. der Usergroup (Nico Orschel, Microsoft Student Partner)
2. .NET Compact Framework (Daniel Kirstenpfad, Microsoft Senior Student Partner)
3. Mobiles Web mit ASP.NET 2.0 (Nico Orschel, Microsoft Student Partner)
4. Networking und gemütlicher Ausklang des Treffens

Die Teilnahme am Treffen ist kostenlos, unverbindlich und nicht anmeldepflichtig.

Das ganze kann man auch nochmal auf www.dotnetcommunity.de nachlesen. Dort und hier wird es dann auch nach der Veranstaltung die Slides geben.

“You’ll have to sit through three Microsoft webcasts or virtual labs on the products, but that’s a small price to pay considering you’ll actually learn about the software features. There are some relatively minor restrictions, however this is an offer you just can’t refuse. These packages can cost you upwards of $300 or more out-of-pocket, so I’d consider this time well spent.”

Oh and there’s the downside: only for US residents… well…

Source 1: http://www.powertogether.com/
Source 2: jkontherun

Since Windows Vista will be available on the 1st of December I am uploading the newly available 2007 Office Application Updates.

The following products will be available within the next hours/days on the maniac/MSDNAA download servers of TU-Ilmenau, Bauhaus Universität Weimar and Fachhochschule Erfurt. Enjoy!

Oh well, it’s time to update. The Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) is available now. Grab your trial and install

Source: Announcing MOSS 2007

“Ahead of the release of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Corporation has fre- quently referred to what it calls the “new world of work” – a business environment and econ- omy characterized by mobility; a worldwide network of customers, partners, and suppliers; new compliance and regulatory requirements; and a need for broad visibility into business processes and the information that supports and governs them. Together, factors such as these drive the need for organizations to integrate business applications, documents, and workflows and transform the content of documents into business information they can act on. These factors make plain the essential link between knowledge workers, business informa- tion, business processes, and software. This free 236-pages ebook focuses on a critical element of Office development – Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, plat- forms that developers can use to create collaboration applications as well as applications and features that support business intelligence, workflow, data calculation, team workspaces, document life cycle management, content management, knowledge discovery, and project management.”

Content:

• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
• Building Solutions with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Building a Basic SharePoint Site
• Organizing Lists and Documents with Site Columns and Content Types
• Working with Features in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services
• Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Core Developement
• Creating Worklfows …

Source: eBook Download

It’s quite some days since SIGGRAPH’06 and the article I wrote about Photosynth. But here it is: You can testrun the photosynth viewer by yourself or you can watch this short video:

Source 1: synthesize your photography
Source 2: http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

“ActiveWin is reporting that Windows Vista launches on Nov. 30 along with Office 2007, confirming that Microsoft is going to hit their promised delivery of Vista in 2006.

That being said, the consumer versions of Vista are still planned for a January 2007 release, with ActiveWin saying it will likely be Jan. 30.”

Source: http://www.activewin.com/awin/default.asp

The event is over and it was great! More than 7 hours of new information compressed into 8 talks were presented today. If you missed the event, don’t worry: you can download the slidedecks here and of course if you like, you can participate in another University-Roadshow 2006 event in another german city (complete list and subscription here). If you like to attend some more talks at the TU-Ilmenau you can watch out for the local community website: www.dotnetcommunity.de – Since we’re in the process of building a INETA .NET Community here in Ilmenau we’re planning several events in the next months. Oh, to name one: on the 25th and 26th of next month there’s a ASP.NET workshop, held by my colleague Nico Orschel. More information on that can be found on dotnetcommunity.

The Slidedecks are available in three different formats(german language versions only):

Windows Vista für Jedermann (Daniel Kirstenpfad):

It’s there; It’s final and it’s got a huge number of new features, paired with a new UI.

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

Here it is from Microsoft: Currently in CTP, The SQL Server 2005 – Everywhere Edition is a compact database (5MB memory footprint, approx. 2MB!! disk footprint)

• Full referential integrity with cascading deletes and updates
• Multiple connections for foreground and background operations
• Single data file with password protection and 128-bit file level encryption
• Transaction support to commit and rollback grouped changes
• A wide range of data-types, such as UNICODE character data types, IMAGE, MONEY, and IDENTITY
• Supports database size up to 4 gigabytes
• SET Functions (aggregates), INNER and OUTER JOIN, subselect, and GROUP BY and HAVING clauses
• Scrollable and updatable cursors to provide fast and easy data access

So. Take a look at it. There is also the slightly bigger SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, which gives you nearly all the functionality of a large scale multi-user database. But when you need to do small tasks (e.g. small websites) you need to try that one.

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ctp_sqlserver2005everywhereedition.mspx

munich.

See you after the jump…this’ll be a rainy ride.

… a picture of my colleague Matej Ciesko, talking at the Ukraine Conference about Windows Computer Cluster Server 2003.

Party on Matej!

BTW: If you read that – please supply slidedecks and links Thanks.

Source: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=240402#240402

“This material represents thousands of man-hours of work, and was presented during last month’s Gamefest 2006 conference (when we announced XNA Game Studio Express).

Good news: These content files represent a colossal amount of up-to-date knowledge, delivered right to your computer. Your brain might explode from the information overload, but you’ll die happy. (FYI: Most of the content is PPT slide decks and audio recordings. You’ll have to page the deck yourself as you listen. There are also a few movie demos and a couple of white papers)

Bad news: These are big honking files. Some exceeding 500Mb. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

Gamefest 2006: Graphics Track

• Introduction to Direct3D 10: Coming to a PC Near You
• Using Direct3D 10: Getting the Most from Your Direct3D 10 Engine
• Effects 10: Driving the New Effects System
• Exploiting Direct3D 10: Advanced Techniques Using Direct3D 10
• Advanced Lighting and More from Microsoft Research
• Xbox 360 Direct3D and GPU Performance Update
• HLSL Shader Compiler Update for Xbox 360 and Windows
• Under the Hood: Revving Up Shader Performance
• Seven Ways to Skin a Mesh: Character Skinning Revisited for Modern GPUs
• HDR the Bungie Way
• Cross-Platform Graphics Engine Development

Gamefest 2006: Windows and Xbox 360 System Programming Track

• Designing Multi-Core Games: How to Walk and Chew Bubblegum at the Same Time
• Multi-Core Memory Coherence: The Hidden Perils of Sharing Data
• Sublime C++ for Games
• Games as Malware: Why Security is Your Problem Too
• Hardening the Box: The Xbox 360 and Windows Vista Security Models
• Supercharging I/O: Hard Disk, DVD, and Memory Unit
• Memory Management Internals: Allocation Strategies for High Performance
• Power Debugging: Nasty Bugs and How to Find Them
• Taming the CLR: How To Write Really Fast Managed Code
• Windows Performance Topics for Games
• Xbox 360 CPU Performance Update
• Developing Games for Windows and Xbox 360: Stories from the Trenches

Gamefest 2006: Developer Tools: XNA and Visual Studio Track

• Working Smarter and Building Faster with Visual C++ 2005
• Managing Content Builds with XNA Build
• An Introduction to Agile Development
• Creating Games with the XNA Framework
• A Closer Look at the XNA Framework Content Pipeline
• Managing Content Builds with XNA Build

Gamefest 2006: Visual Arts Track

• Dynamic Animation in Next-Generation Games
• Exporting SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT into a Real-Time Engine
• Procedural Texturing Using ProFX: 2K Textures in 2KB
• How’d They Do That? Graphics Samples Explained
• Creating Captivating Visual Content for DirectX 10
• Shaders and Shader Tools for Artists
• Pushing the Pipeline: Creating a Next-Generation Art Pipeline in Less Than Six Months
• Photorealistic Lighting Solutions for Next- Generation Games using Turtle 3
• Strategies for Coping with the Demand of High Def Art

Gamefest 2006: Cross-Platform Xbox Live Track

• Live Anywhere: Bringing the Live Experience to Windows
• Session Enhancements: Host Migration, Improved TrueSkill™ and More
• The New Xbox Live Server Platform: Opening up the Network
• Community Extensions: Further Options to Customize Your Game’s User Experience
• Achievements and Stats: Adding to the “Just Five More Minutes” Factor

Gamefest 2006: Casual Games Track

• Developing Games for Xbox Live Arcade
• Developing Web-Based Games for MSN Games
• Preparing Casual Games for Windows Vista
• Developing Casual Games for MSN Messenger
• Future Platforms and Opportunities for Casual Games

Gamefest 2006: Audio Track

• Full Service Audio: A Comprehensive Guide to Tools, Libraries, and Services for Audio on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista
• The Fundamentals of Audio Rendering on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista
• XMA Implementation and Aesthetics (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Compression)
• Using the Top Rear Left-of-Center Low Frequency Speaker: How Multi-channel Audio Works on Xbox 360 and Windows Vista
• Distributed Composing: Managing Audio Collaboration and Cross-Platform Deployment for XACT Projects
• An Analytical Study of Audio Implementations for Existing Windows and Xbox 360 Titles

Gamefest 2006: Game Middleware Track

• Adding Camera-Based Gesture and Face Tracking to Games
• Making Your Game Sound More Cinematic
• Extensible .NET Tools for Game Development – Guidelines and Lessons Learned
• An Overview of Voice Recognition Implementation
• Meshing AGEIA and Granny
• Combining Different Middleware Solutions to Create a Customized Platform
• The Convergence of AI, Physics and Animation
• The Dos and Absolutely-Do-Nots of XLSP: A Middleware Perspective
• Advanced Tools and Techniques for Shipping Your Game On-Time
• Creating a DirectX 10 Shader Authoring Sandbox Using SOFTIMAGE|XSI
• The State of the (Audio) Nation: A Conversation with Leading Audio Content Middleware Solutions

Gamefest 2006: Producer and Business Development Track

• Games for Windows Vista: Nail the Essentials, Showcase the Innovations
• Marketplace: Future of Digital Distribution
• Making your Windows Titles Come ALIVE Anywhere!
• Expanding Your Audience Through Accessibility
• Rise Above: Improving Your Game’s Chances for Success by Focusing on What Players Want

Gamefest 2006: Quality Assurance and Certification Track

• Introduction to Windows Error Reporting as a Service
• Games for Windows Vista Compatibility: The Essentials
• Microsoft Games Testing Organization: Testing Evolved

Source 1: http://www.microsoftgamefest.com/
Source 2: http://letskilldave.com/archive/2006/09/11/Gamefes…

Weils nur für Deutschland ist, am besten in deutsch das ganze:

“Windows Vista und Office System 2007 von Microsoft – zwei, die sich perfekt verstehen und großartig zusammenspielen: Entwickelt für Menschen, die effektiv und ohne technische Ablenkungen lernen, im Team zusammenarbeiten und sich mit anderen austauschen möchten – anywhere, anytime.

Windows Vista eröffnet erfreuliche Aussichten auf ein völlig neues Arbeitsgefühl. Benutzeroberfläche, Arbeitstempo, Web-Nutzung, Kommunikation und Informationsmanagement sind vollkommen neu ausgerichtet. Alles geht leichter, schneller und besser von statten. Wer kommt, wird es erleben, kann Fragen stellen und mit Microsoft-Experten sprechen.

Die neue Office-Suite kommt voll gepackt mit Neuerungen daher – optimierte Funktionen, Applikationen und Services. Mit vollkommen neuer Optik und Bedienungskomfort. Alle Funktionen anwenderfreundlich bereitgestellt und auf eine neue Generation der Zusammenarbeit ausgerichtet. Auf leichteres, schöneres und besseres Arbeiten. Auf einfache, produktive Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit. So viel ist sicher: Das Office System 2007 wird die entstandene Komplexität am Arbeitsplatz wesentlich vereinfachen, denn es bändigt die Informationsflut und vereint verschiedenste Prozesse und Systeme.”

Das ganze ist eine ganztägliche Veranstaltung und absolut kostenlos für jeden Professor/wiss. Mitarbeiter und natürlich alle Studenten

Hier mal die Terminliste:

• Paderborn, 09. Oktober 2006
• Hamburg, 11. Oktober 2006
• Aachen, 13. Oktober 2006
• Duisburg, 18. Oktober 2006
• Berlin, 20. Oktober 2006
• Ilmenau, 23. Oktober 2006
• Karlsruhe, 25. Oktober 2006
• Erlangen, 26. Oktober 2006
• München, 27. Oktober 2006

Eine Übersicht über die Agenda der Veranstaltung gibt es auf www.uniroadshow.de. Dort kann man sich auch gleich anmelden.

Source: http://www.uniroadshow.de

I had this very very annoying problem that Windows Vista since the July CTP refresh wasn’t able to connect to my home 802.1x certificate based wireless network. It just did not work as supposed…

But with the help of the RC1 Wi-Fi support specialists I got it working. If you run into the same problem, just do the following to solve it:

• delete all manual set-up profiles for your 802.1x wireless network (if there are any)
• download the Wireless Network Connection-evilgate.zip (,63 KB) and edit the included .xml file. You have to edit the SSIDs,…
• open a command prompt and run:

netsh wlan add profile “profile.xml” “Wireless Network Connection” all

• you have to change “profile.xml” to the filename of your .xml file and “Wireless Network Connection” to the name of your connection

Et voilá! A message should show up asking you for the certificate…

UPDATE: well you could also create a manual profile for your wireless network and export it to an xml file:

netsh wlan export profile “SSID”

Download: Wireless Network Connection-evilgate.zip (,63 KB)

I just installed Windows Vista RC1 (Ultimate) on my main working machine (beside the Mac) and since there’s no space left on the drive for any legacy Windows XP I am going to stick with it as long as it takes to get the RTM onto the silver discs…

As far as I can see everything is working nice and smooth. I had a bluescreen right after the first startup but as the logfiles show it was the graphic drivers fault.

The only thing that bugs me right now is that I cannot mount any ISO files. The Daemon Tools Setup is blocked with the following message:

Strange…

“What is not in this Beta (but coming soon)

While we’re very proud of this Beta milestone, it does not represent all of the great features we are enabling in XNA Game Studio Express which will be available in final release form by this holiday. Some of the key feature areas that were not able to make it into this beta include:

• The XNA Framework Content Pipeline feature is not present in this release of XNA Game Studio Express (Beta). It will be made available in a future beta release of XNA Game Studio Express
• Support for retail Xbox 360 game development. This feature will be made available upon final release of XNA Game Studio Express later this holiday
• Additional starter kits and tutorials will be made available upon final release of XNA Game Studio Express”

Source: XNA Game Studio Express (Beta) Readme Page