Thursday, November 30, 2006

Mohammad Yousuf achieves landmark

Mohammad Yousuf has broken 30 years old world record of highest runs scored in calender year, he has also created world record of highest number of centuries (9) in a calender year. Conversion to Islam has changes his life from every angle, he has mentioned this so many times since his conversion to Muslim. What a man..

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Google's online documents and spreadsheets

I'm using www.backpackit.com for my online notes, links and scribbles, its okee but pretty basic ... just today i saw Google's docs and spreadsheets service something really professional where not only you can edit multiple documents but you can share and get them publish... isn't it great..

Real Vista experience

Well today i explored some unique features of windows vista and after that its getting some respect out of me ;)

Bit Locker
It gives extra protection to your PC by protecting your information even if ur PC got stolen, it does it by keeping encryption key on some external device like usb, active directory etc.. which is required to boot your PC but this feature also requires some especial hardware support

Tags (Meta data)
A good feature just like blog tagging.. but the bad thing is it doesn't support all file types like TXT files are not supported

Encrypting Files (EFS)
Provides encryption/decryption on your normal files

Speech Recognition
voice dictation and commands support

Windows Backup and Restore
Looks like an excellent backup and restore operation which can take file backups and whole windows/partition backup..a much needed feature

Sleep
A new way of temporary blocking your PC something in the middle of standby and hibernate.. it takes only 4-5 sec to sleep and resume

Previous Versions
No need to worry if you delete your files accidentally or intentionally.. windows keeps previous versions and you can easily restore your deleted files..

I'll play few more days on vista.. but will install it again after January next year..

Now i know why Microsoft takes such long in shipping products

One vista feature story how it got implemented... just imagine rest of the features ;)

One more evidence

Once again people finding it difficult how to respond with microsoft upgrades... Enjoy!

Article supporting my comments on Vista

have a look!

My hands on Windows Vista

At last I’ve installed Windows Vista Ultimate Edition RTM, so here’s my first impression after playing few hours on it (its more than 1 at night.. so writing in hurry)

My notebook
Intel Core Duo 1.86 GHz
1 GB Ram
100 GB HDD
Intel Graphics Card (shared memory)

Installation
- It took more than two hours to upgrade from WinXP to WinVista (isn’t it slow)
- It took 6GB of more space after installation (isn’t it too much)

Programs Compatibility
Lots of previously installed software stopped working including
Nero, Norton, Acronis, Bluetooth etc

Performance
- If you don’t run any software it takes more then 500mb of memory all the time
- My PC becomes slow in running few software but overall performance of windows is ok
- In fact I was not able to uninstall Norton Antivirus, it gets hang every time
- Overall software install/uninstall is quite slow

New Features
- Major stuff is UI enhancements nothing else (like Glass, Flip etc)
- Overall ease of use is introduced everywhere
- Windows Transfer Utility, Network Properties, Games are good
- Still lots of windows applications are old
- I didn’t found any major stuff except some cool UI features

Conclusion
I didn’t found any major stuff in windows Vista especially if you see its release after 5 years of WinXP. Its nothing just an enhanced/improved version of WinXp although i just played few hours on it but still i don’t think so there’s some major feature or you can say major architectural change.. like still i found programs can get hang and destabilize the windows and you have to do same end task, I hate it! I won’t be using it for at least another 3-4 months or so and will back to winxp, as it'll take time to have availability of windows vista compatible software, moreover it needs more memory and hdd space which I cant spare at the moment J

Friday, November 24, 2006

Visual Studio .Net Orcas features out

Although Visual Studio .Net Orcas CTP is available but still there are bunch of features not present in CTP but will be there in the final version, so if you have to take any decisions based on Orcas release, do check out!

Short Reviews on their way..

Since last few years I'm using some useful resources like websites, services, products etc.. well i think i should share them with everyone with pros n cons of each, so keep watching...

Excellent review of Team Foundation Server

Finally someone showed up and has written something almost true about Team foundation server, not complete but fair…

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Have question on Vista?

Nice FAQ, will answer end user questions on Vista

Download and play TV Shows and Movies with XBox

One more shot! Microsoft continuously exploiting PS3 shortage in the market and truly it’s been a huge difference now as Microsoft has just celebrated first anniversary of Xbox 360 while PS3 just arrived… so Microsoft is on edge I guess...

A good year for Microsoft

A nice read... summary of the year for Microsoft.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Got an idea?

Convert your idea into business using Microsoft Office Accounting 2007.

Vista's ReadyBoost... an excellent idea

I'm feeling relief to know that my spare USB flash drives will be used somewhere.. guess where? nothing else but Vista, Vista's ReadyBoost feature will boost your computer performance by using Flash drives as memory alternatives.. nice one.. but have to wait and see..

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Samsung has created world's thinnest LCD

Today Samsung has announced that it has created world's thinnest LCD which as thin as a Credit Card which will allow more thinner/slim mobile phones. Isn't it amazing?

Office 2007 unfinished product

I installed Office 2007 and found one very annoying thing, the major feature of Office 2007 because of which somebody will think of upgrade is its new UI BUT the new UI is only available with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and the rest are same as ever. It looks like an unfinished product. Isn’t it?

Monday, November 20, 2006

Very good site for interview questions

I found a very good site for interview preparation especially for big 5 company recruitment processes.

Great Book: Essential Windows Workflow Foundation

I'v just grab a latest book right from the creators of Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), its just published last month and had some great reviews.. let me read it..

Call from Islamabad

A nice article, it shows how difficult it is to run a business in Pakistan especially the one which requires a infrastructure at mass level and how easy it is to run a business in west where you don’t have even basic issues :)

Gears of War: Next generation gaming starts here

Cant believe it.. stunning graphics, game play.. things looks like almost real.. i read some reviews.. watched some videos..its truly awesome .. people are saying its the best game available for Xbox

See you on battle field...

Friday, November 17, 2006

Reporting Model and Builder looks cool

Today I'v strated working on SQL Server Reporting Services Model and Builder, just generated a Model and created a basic report. Everything worked smoothly, i think its a good attempt by microsoft to enter into the BI domain (btw they'v purchased the report builder tool from some company).. lets see for the complex ones :)

Xbox 360 promotions reactivated!

Its first weekend after the launch of PS3 in USA and its yet to arrive in UK and BANG! Microsoft is doing XBox 360 advertisements as its released few days ago.. as today’s Metro (Daily Newspaper here in UK) completely overshadowed by XBox 360 games advertisements.. Isn’t it a cunning marketing tactic ;)

Keep watching.. the WaR..

Skype goes mobile!

This is cool.. no need to preplan your Voice Chat back in Pakistan.. neither you need headphones nor a PC as you can do VC right from your mobile, isn't it great?

Skype Rocks even more!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Hottest Wars around

These days there are two hot wars going on and as expected in both wars Microsoft is opponent :)

- Zune vs IPod
- Xbox 360 vs PS3

keep watching!

IE7 running on Linux! will you believe

Great.. no need of portability just write IE compatible pages.. kidding :)

Enjoy!

TFS Power Toys

Some cool power toys for Team Foundation Server..

Enjoy!

Windows Power Shell Released!

Here is some good news for us and especially for Administrators.. as more powerfull scripting tool has been released.. let me play with it.. :)

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

.Net must have TOOLS

Well I'v compiled this list of must have .net tools... ofcourse, major part came from MSDN 10 Must Have .Net Tools.. Enjoy!

MSDN Wiki, well........ yeah! a good idea..

I think with so much information available alone on Microsoft platform, there was a much needed requirement of wiki for Microsoft.. and here we go.. MSDN Wiki :)

Microsoft Steps into Security via MS ForeFront!

Microsoft is covering Security from every direction i.e. Client, Server & Network (Edge) under the flag of ForeFront. There are lots of Security products coming like Forefront Client, Exchange, Sharepoint, ISA Security and much more.. Of course its a result of acquiring some VPN and Antivirus organizations :)

MSF updated!

Microsoft has updated MSF for Agile software development with the process guidance for Visual Studio Database Professionals... so now database developers officially comes under Team System flag :)
you can download the latest MSF at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=63524

Microsoft slew of products launch continues...

Microsoft has announced launch of Interop Vendor Alliance, Forefront Security Application and of course Zune following .Net 3.0 release.. and of course vista, office 2007 and Visual Studio Database Professional to follow..
So guys don’t keep your fingers crossed.. do something ;)

TFS Build Troubleshooting

Team Build TF42046: The Build Service used in the build process is not reachable

Whenever you get above error, plz make sure following:

  1. That Team Build is installed on the build machine. This can be found on the Team Foundation Server installation CD in the BB directory. Run setup to install Team Build
  2. Make sure the Team Build Service is running. Open the services MMC snapin and look for Team Build Service. Make sure the service is running. Also note the account that the service runs as; you will need it for the next step
  3. Make sure the Team Build Service account (from step 2) is in the “TFS Service Accounts” group. For more information see http://blogs.infosupport.com/raimondb/archive/2005/11/28/bbsvcacc.aspx
  4. Make sure the designated Team Build port is listening and available thru any firewalls. By default, the port used is 9191. Open a command prompt on the build machine and run “netstat”. Make sure TCP port 9191 is listening. You may want to make sure The Team Build service has this port and not another application on the build server. Make sure this port is not blocked by the window’s firewall or any other firewall in you enterprise.
  5. Make sure the paths defined in your PATH system variable do not have any invalid characters. This includes any “” around the paths. Part of the Team Foundation Build Client source code attempts to build the path to msbuild.exe using the paths defined in this environment variable. Unfortunately the exception that is thrown when the system attempt to call Path.Combine on a malformed path is masked by the misdirecting TF42046 error.
  6. If all else fails, turn on verbose tracing by navigating to the build server’s build service install directory and uncomment the trace flags in the TeamBuildService.exe.config file. You can find this file at “:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\”. You can verify this directory by checking the run directory listed in the properties window of the TeamBuildService found in the services snapin.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

IE7 Clear-Type Text Rocks!

Well since IE7 has arrived with almost same features as FireFox 2.0 is offering, i'm little bit confused should i use IE or Firefox, there are two features are like most in IE7 i.e. Clear-type text and Quick Tabs.. I v found awesome experience in reading websites with clear-text on .. and quick tabs is also very good in switching to the required tab..
may be i'll start using IE again ;)

Zune is out!

So guys the wait is over.. though i dont know how many were waiting for it ;) .. anyway it looks good especially i'v heard some excellent feedback of display quality and transfer rate is quite high as well.. like it did transfered 394mb in just 54 secs..

well may be Zune is for me as i'v still not got any Ipod and i'll be upgrading to vista as well.. its free upgrade for me so why not to try it ;)

Enjoy!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Free Microsoft eLearning!

Go and grab some elearning courses offered by Microsoft, yes! free of cost. Free courses includes WPF, WF, WCF, SQL Server 2005 etc.

Enjoy!

Team System Widgets

Some excellent resource to get everything for TFS, especially the free stuff and in the form of Widgets.

Keep exploring...

Reshaping...

My search is on and on, trying to find something new that can last with me for the rest of my life. Some interesting new domain with not much dynamic behavior as programming has, which can lead me towards consultancy, management and can help me in grabbing some good position in Big Four. Is it Information Security or Enterprise Application integration, don’t know. Its time to take some bold decisions, Lets see.

New Applications for Vista

As Vista launch is coming closer as expected there are bunch of applications debuting as well, especially utilizing WPF. Have a look

ZAM 3D - WPF Editor for Developers & Designers
http://www.erain.com/products/ZAM3D/DefaultPDC.asp
Times Reader - Times eNewspaper Reader utilizing WPF for better user expereince
http://firstlook.nytimes.com/?category_name=times%20reader

Keep Rocking!

Awesome tool for TFS

Excellent work by Attrice, you can manage following:

- Complete Source Control History
- Lock Status
- Workspace

Great!

A big week for Microsoft and thier Customers

Here you can download everything, Microsft released this week. Go and grab them by clicking on the blog Title.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

WCF or WF or WPF or WC or AJAX or LINQ?

Ah! so much new stuff, from where to start? Ahan good question :)
Start everything otherwise you'll be outdated and not able to find attractive jobs :)

Leave .Net 3.0, Start developing for .Net 3.5 ;)

hi guys, with the release of .Net 3.0 Microsoft has also released ASP.Net Atlas beta 2 and it reminded me that next year .Net framework 3.5 is coming, So quickly gets your hands on .Net 3.0 and betas/CTPs of .Net 3.5 as its coming as well. Enjoy!

.Net Framework 3.0 and supporting tools has been Released

So Guys the long wait is over as Microsoft has released .Net 3.0, lets start a new war again in implementing WCF/WPF/WF in your new projects and be ready for learning new stuff again. You can download everything from http://www.netfx3.com/

cheers!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Microsoft Live Search Virtual 3D Map is awesome

Great, i'm loving it.. so smooth, now its so easy to find your destinations with 3D map.. this is something i cant stop to appreciate from Microsoft. Must try it..