Yes, we’re announcing a lot of online sessions right now :-). If SharePoint is part of your business, check out the below:
Design Considerations for a Public-facing site, presented by Pointbridge
An effective SharePoint internet site needs to planned and implemented in a way that is different than a typical public-facing site. A web designer can certainly start with an empty master page and build it like any other site, but many of the powerful capabilities of MOSS are lost. This session is an overview of what is possible to brand, what MOSS capabilities it makes sense to leverage, and what you might want to create yourself.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009 1:00 PM Pacific Time
To register, click here
And more coming:
TechNet Webcast: Using Your Existing SharePoint Server Investment to Power Your Web Site (Level 200) / Wednesday, December 9, 2009 / 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Migrating from Content Management Server 2002 to SharePoint Server 2007 (Level 200) / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Planning Your Internet Presence with SharePoint Server 2007 (Level 200) / Wednesday, January 27, 2010 / 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Creating Highly Branded, Rich User Experiences in SharePoint Server 2007 (Level 200) / Wednesday, February 10, 2010 / 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Forrester s Benjamin Gray discusses the July 2009 report "The Costs and Challenges Associated with Supporting Today’s Information Workers" and how organizations can react to maximize employee productivity. Today’s increasingly mobile workforce can create new business processes and efficiencies, but it also introduces technology and support challenges for IT and requires end users to become more self-sufficient. After surveying over 300 IT professionals, Forrester Consulting discusses key findings on how global organizations can:
Register today for this webcast to see how Windows 7 can benefit your organization with powerful technologies that help you secure, officially manage, and lower the cost of your organization s desktop infrastructure.
View other sessions from Momentum: Drive Your Midsize Business Forward
I’d like to point out a series of ‘Fire Side Chats’ that we recently started. These are a series of Live Meeting sessions where senior Microsoft executives talk about the areas they are working on and where you get the opportunity to pose questions to them. You can pre-submit your questions when you register or ask them live during the chat. The chats are specifically designed with the user group leader and members in mind, together with other technical community experts. Each is an hour in length, repeated at different times of day so you don’t need to attend at 3:00am just because you don t happen to live in Redmond. Upcoming events include Microsoft executives from Windows, Office, Developer Tools, Exchange/OCS, Microsoft Research, Microsoft IT and more. In addition, we d love to hear from you with suggestions as to who you would to hear from.
HOW TO JOIN: If you would like to register for any fire side chat, please go to http://ug.gitca.org/sites/FireSideChats and click on the register link. You can also find the up to date list of Fire Side Chats at the site, as well as a link to a survey so you can give us feedback.
Here are the Fire Side Chats we have scheduled for the remainder of 2009: -
Dec 1st Cloud side chat: Microsoft Online Services and the evolving world of software + services
Dec 3rd Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 - Solution Accelerator
Dec 8th SharePoint 2010 for Developers
Dec 10th What’s new in Office 2010 and Implications for IT Pro’s
Dec 15th What’s new in Office 2010 for Developers
Dec 17th SharePoint 2010 for IT Professionals
Jan 12th Microsoft IT: Chief Architect and CTO
You can find more details on each of these (and register) at http://ug.gitca.org/sites/FireSideChats
I hope you will join us!
Take a look at this free download: The Windows 7 Product Guide provides a detailed look at the many new and improved features in Windows 7. The guide is designed as an accurate source of information that can help you to understand how Windows 7 Simplifies Everyday Tasks, Works the Way You Want, and Makes New Things Possible. The guide is also designed to provide IT Professionals with information about how to Make People Productive Anywhere, Manage Risk Through Enhanced Security and Control, and Reduce Costs by Streamlining PC Management. This is not a help and how to guide. Rather, it provides an overview of the many exciting features in Windows 7 and pointers to more information. The Windows 7 Product Guide is available in both XPS and PDF formats.
There were two buses: one Orange and one Blue. The Orange one was maneuvered by Microsoft and a great team from MSL. The Blue bus was maneuvered by MCT Sweden and the community. Team Orange had links to the internet, blogged away and was tracked on the net - the world watching! So what ever happened to the Blue team? Well we had a bus, but we forgot one thing - to blog and to take pictures. Tjeerd has been nagging us a bit about our lack of blogging and we deserve to hear that. =) So here is our the first of the tales from the Blue bus. The Get On the Bus - MCT Edition.
We started out at Informator Utbildning in Stockholm, and we had some 50 attendees visiting our five sessions. This was the first of our stops, but it really wasn t a stop - the bus was to be picked up the following morning. The bus which during the project had shrunk a bit was in reallity a mini-bus by now. The sponsor-climate wasn t that allowing - but still we got some nice support from the sponsors we were able to get onboard.
Our biggest fear was losing another sponsor and actually having to ride public transport. But determination was top on the list and we were going through with it!There were four brave souls board at this stage. We handed out T-shirts to everyone and we got some good feeback about the event. A couple of our visitors thought that the tour was only for MCTs (probably due to the MCT-Edition name). This night everyone slept in their own beds and prepared for the "Get-On-The-Bus-Land-Speed-Record", the long nights and falling asleep behind the wheel adventures.. but more on those later..
Those of you who took the beta version of Exam 70-686 should be starting to get your results back. We just discovered that the title as it appears on the certificate is missing the word “Enterprise,” so it reads “MCITP: Desktop Administrator 7.” The title appears correctly on the transcript as “MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7”—it’s only the certificate where the word “Enterprise” is missing.
We’ve requested an update to add the word, but unfortunately these things take time. We don’t know for sure yet when the change will be effective, but we’ll be sure to post an update here when we have that information. We just wanted you to know that we are aware of the issue and are working on correcting it.
Special thanks to Freddy Fuentes and Helmer Zandbergen for pointing this out.
Well, Office 2010 beta is available, I’m sure you are aware and likely you’ve been using it. It’s keeping me busy, I’m working on MCT Readiness on Office 2010 right now and am learning quickly. Do you like what you see and see what you like? I do, in particular I like:
-> Insert / screenshot / select the screenshot out of any of my open windows. That rocks, saves a ton of time snipping screens :-)
-> In Outlook: I love conversation view, that really speeds up my mail-reading times!
Similar, the ‘ignore’ option, one click and that looooong e-mail thread about ‘who left the car lights on?’ is deleted and never makes it to your inbox again.
Oh, and the Quick Steps ROCK: FYI to manager, Reply and Delete, Move to folder, set team meeting, love that!
-> In PowerPoint: thank you for the ‘slide show’ tab, what a great way to quickly prepare the way your slides will actually be viewed, what a great help setting up the final slide show!
-> Excel: smart, all that hidden power is no longer hidden and available to all; made easy!
-> Word: the number one question I used to get about Word, especially this time of year, would be about how to run mail merges. Well, the ‘mailings’ tab fixed that :-)!
And then there are the many new tricks Outlook 2010/Exchange Server 2010 offer you when used together. Nice!
Share with us what you like about Office 2010, we look forward to hearing from you!
For a more detailed list, check out the Prep Guide. To schedule an exam, visit Prometric’s web site. 70-686 is currently available in English and will soon be published in Japanese, Simplified Chinese, German and Brazilian Portuguese (watch for these in early December).
Good luck!
Register for Beta Exam 71-579, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Configuring
You are invited to take beta exam 71-579, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Configuring.
If you pass the beta exam, the exam credit will be added to your transcript and you will not need to take the exam in its released form. The 71-xxx identifier is used for registering for beta versions of MCP exams, when the exam is released in its final form the 70-xxx identifier is used for registration. By participating in beta exams, you have the opportunity to provide the Microsoft Certification program with feedback about exam content, which is integral to development of exams in their released version. We depend on the contributions of experienced IT professionals and developers as we continually improve exam content and maintain the value of Microsoft certifications.
Exam 71-579, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Configuring counts as credit towards the following certification(s).
MCTS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Configuring
Availability
Registration begins: November 11, 2009
Beta exam period runs: November 19, 2009– December 11, 2009
Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately. Beta exams have limited availability and are operated under a first-come-first-served basis. Once all beta slots are filled, no additional seats will be offered.
Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide, although this exam may not be available in all countries (see Regional Restrictions). All testing centers will have the capability to offer this exam in its live version.
Regional Restrictions: India, Pakistan, China
Registration Information
You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam. Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: WEMOI Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately.
To register in North America, please call:
•
Prometric: (800) 755-EXAM (800-755-3926)
Outside the U.S./Canada, please contact:
Prometric: http://www.register.prometric.com/ClientInformation.asp
Test Information and Support
You are invited to take this beta exam at no charge. You will be given four hours to complete the beta exam. Please plan accordingly. Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-579&locale=en-us
Frequently Asked Questions
For Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) help and information, you may log in to the MCP Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/or contact your Regional Service Center: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/support/worldsites.asp.
What is a beta exam?
Where can I learn more about the registration process?
Where can I learn more about the beta exam invitation process?
Where can I learn more about the new structure of Microsoft Certification?
Who do I contact for help with this beta exam or other MCP questions?
Register for Beta Exam 71-580, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Application Development
You are invited to take beta exam 71-580, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Application Development.
Exam 71-580, TS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Application Development counts as credit towards the following certification(s).
MCTS: Windows Mobile® 6.5, Application Development
Beta exam period runs: November 30, 2009– December 21, 2009
You must register at least 24 hours prior to taking the exam. Please use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: WEMOD Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a seat in the beta; we recommend that you register immediately.
Many of you have been asking about virtualization exams for some time now. Well, the first of the virtualization exams is entering beta soon, so I guess it’s time to open the box and let you see what’s inside.
Here are the exams we currently have on the development schedule:
Passing all three exams will earn you the MCITP: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator credential.
We’ll be opening registration for the 70-659 beta soon. As with every beta exam, seats are limited. We’ll be using our MSL SME database to recruit for the first round of beta participants. For your best chance of participating, create a SME profile by filling out the survey on the MSL SME site on Microsoft Connect. (See this post for more information.) If you have already created your SME profile, make sure that you update it to reflect your interest in taking a beta exam and your experience with virtualization.
A few days before registration opens, we’ll send a notification to qualified SMEs through Connect. The notification will include the beta code. If you have any questions about setting up your SME profile, feel free to e-mail [email protected].
The following beta exam is available for registration on Prometric’s Web site now:
Click the exam title above to view the exam’s preparation guide, which includes a description of the audience for each exam and a list of the skills to be tested. As with every beta exam, seats are limited. So if you have work experience with designing and deploying messaging solutions with Exchange Server 2010, hurry up and register now!
We used our MSL SME database to recruit the first round of beta participants for this exam. SMEs who indicated work experience with Exchange Server 2010 in their profiles were sent a notification that included the beta code before exam registration opened. If you haven’t already created a SME profile on Microsoft Connect, there’s no time like the present. See this post for more information about how to create a SME profile.
Dear Born to Learn readers, this is to celebrate that we pressed this button 1.000 times!
That’s right, this is our 1000th blog post to Born to Learn!
It has been an amazing adventure for us, we started this blog 1.5 years ago. Born to Learn evolved from ‘learning announcements’ into a place where you will find leaning news and more general news on Microsoft Technology. Always with the ‘born to learn’ philosophy in mind, always aimed at helping you learn whether that be by ‘formal learning’ or ‘informal learning, and always open and indeed hoping to have discussions with you, our loyal readers.
We feel we keep improving the mix of news but we are not always the best to decide: let us know how you feel we are doing. Let us know what kind of news you appreciate most, we’re open for suggestions. Our next 1.000 blog posts should be even more relevant and helpful, let us know what that means and help us get there.
Thank you for being our loyal readers. Have a great weekend!
Microsoft Learning is proud to announce the release to manufacturing of MOC course 6430B, Planning for Windows Server 2008 Servers. This three-day instructor-led course teaches server administrators how to plan for installation, deployment network connectivity and core server roles in Windows Server 2008 servers.
Course 6425B was released to manufacturing on November 17, 2009 and is currently available for download on the MCT courseware download center. The course will be available for ordering by CPLS partners on December 2, 2009
MCTs and CPLSs should be aware that 6430B is a three-day course, which replaces the five-day course 6430A. This change was necessary to address customer feedback on course 6430A, but the change in length may require additional effort in including this new course in scheduled training offerings.
You can view the syllabus on the Microsoft Learning web site here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Course.aspx?ID=6430B
Dive into Silverlight 4
Explore the business application development, advanced out-of-browser capabilities and the richer interactive experiences Silverlight 4 can deliver in this online training course. Get hands-on experience with labs that explore the many features in Silverlight 4 using the rich text editing, picture browser, report generator, magic mirror, data wizard and image gallery.
Gerry
The Beta release of Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Microsoft Project 2010, and Microsoft Visio 2010 are now available. To learn more or to download the beta, go to www.microsoft.com/office2010 today. Help us by providing feedback and gain valuable hands-on experience before the release to manufacture later in the first half of the calendar year 2010.
This next wave of business productivity tools have been designed to deliver the best user experience across the PC, mobile phone and browser. By installing today, you can start learning more about the products, we’ll be here with more learning tools asap, enjoy!
Download the Beta Now
Sitting here at PDC this week and watching the loooooonnnng line for the Azure hands-on labs. Wow!
Not at PDC, or perhaps you are but you don’t think the camera or mouse is worth the wait? Try out the new training from Channel 9 online. On Tuesday, November 17th, Channel 9 launches 3 additional online training courses created by developers for developers.
Channel 9 has always been about giving direct access to the engineers and future technologies from Microsoft. These videos and labs, with links to extensive training kits, allow developers to get started on hands-on-learning about emerging technologies at your own pace.
Windows Azure Platform Training Course
Learn how to build applications that utilize Windows Azure and SQL Azure in this self-paced course of videos, samples and hands-on labs. http://r.ch9.ms/winazd
Discover Claims-Based Identity
Identity has never been so easy. Whether you develop ASP.NET web sites or WCF web services, this self-paced training course will show you how you can take advantage of Windows Identity Foundation, the newest addition to the .NET Framework family, to handle identity and access for your .NET applications in simple and interoperable fashion. The hands-on labs assume no prior knowledge of the subject, covering the most common task first, while more advanced scenarios allow the developers who chose so to explore the topic in more depth.
http://r.ch9.ms/idec
Windows HPC Server 2008 Training Course
Created for software developers as well as IT professionals, this training course includes videos, white papers, datasheets, presentations, and webcasts—all designed to help give you a thorough understanding of the productive, cost-effective and high-performance computing solution that Windows HPC Server 2008 and other Microsoft technologies provide.
http://r.ch9.ms/hpcc
If not, you can join us online, just go here!
Missourians, take note: free training opportunities are now available to you through Elevate America. There are more than 24,000 vouchers available—request yours today! See here, here, and here for more.
Post a Haiku on Twitter; win Xbox 360, home theatre system.
We just announced a contest on Twitter where you can write a haiku (yes, stay within 140 characters :-)) that captures the benefits of Windows Server 2008 R2. The winner takes an Xbox 360 Elite and a home theatre system.
It’s not that hard, we offer a Haiku Composer to help you out, go for it!
To get inspired, use this free e-book from Microsoft Press: Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2! Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker, is a great resource for learning about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Download your free copy.
TechNet offers many resources, see below some that you may not expect – how to find jobs, build your resume, use your network.
Whether you’re a first-time job seeker or a seasoned veteran, searching for a job on the Internet can be a daunting task. This training will help you look past the basic information provided in the job postings and learn how to search for your ideal job opportunity. http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032430008&Culture=en-US
Your traditional printed resume must be supplemented now with a 21st century version that is compatible with email and with Internet and database search technologies. These days more and more employers want their prospective candidates to find job openings on company web sites or Internet job boards. Online platforms allow you to have multiple resumes that can be crafted to highlight your skills to different types of positions or employers. Learn how to create profiles that are optimized to attract more employers and position you as an ideal candidate. http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032430151&Culture=en-US
The importance of career networking shouldn t be discounted when you are in the midst of a job search. In fact, career networking should become a part of your daily work and career-related endeavors. Your career network should be in place for when you need it, both for job searching and for moving along the career ladder. Since you never know when you might need it, it makes sense to have an active career network, even if you don t need it today. This training will provide you with career networking tips to help you with your job search and arm you with networking experience for future opportunities. http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032430155&Culture=en-US
The following beta exams are available for registration on Prometric’s Web site now:
Click the exam title above to view the exam’s preparation guide, which includes a description of the audience for each exam and a list of the skills to be tested. As with every beta exam, seats are limited. So if you have work experience with configuring or developing for Windows Mobile 6.5, hurry up and register now!
We used our MSL SME database to recruit the first round of beta participants for this exam. SMEs who indicated work experience with Windows Mobile 6.5 in their profiles were sent a notification that included the beta code before exam registration opened. If you haven’t already created a SME profile on Microsoft Connect, there’s no time like the present. See this post for more information about how to create a SME profile.