To attend this event you will need to bring your own laptop with you.  To connect to the labs you will need the Remote Desktop Connection Client 7.0 Update installed.  This client is built into Windows 7 and is a free download for Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1 and SP2. We have already run these events in other countries and it works very well.  Each event is hosted in the local Microsoft office or a location with good internet connectivity.  So with those details out of the way let’s hope many of you decide to take up this offer.  There will be food provided and in each city we will be giving away a copy of the latest Hyper-V Resource Kit.  So to the agenda:

Event Overview

Two day workshop focused on Hyper-V and Microsoft Virtualization technologies.  The 2 day workshop will be a mixture of theory presentations and hands on labs.  Participants will walk away with a better understanding of Microsoft’s Virtualization technologies.

Agenda Topics

• Day 1
  • Virtualization 360 Overview
  • Evaluating the Environment & Planning:  MAP Tools and IPD Guides
  • MAP Lab
  • Hyper-V Architecture and Implementation – Hypervisor architecture, virtual disk and networks, security and licensing.
  • High Availability – 2008 R2 Clusters, Quick and Live Migration, Storage Implications
  • Lab:  Setup a 2-Node Hyper-V Cluster
• Day 2
  • System Centre Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 – Creating a Library, Physical to Virtual Migration, Optimal Placement
  • System Centre Operations Manager – Overview and integration with Virtual Machine Manager
  • System Centre Data Protection Manager – Overview and integration with Virtual Machine Manager
  • Architecture Considerations and Best Practices – Sizing Servers, storage and designing for high availability
  • Considerations on Dynamic IT – Integrating Hyper-V, SCVMM, SCOM with PowerShell to build a dynamic environment
  • Lab: Setup SCVMM and SCOM

Dates and Registration Details:

Other Details

We are capping registrations at 70 participants per city due to room capacities and because we can take up to 40 concurrent connections to the infrastructure back in Redmond.  If we get more than 40 participants then we will need to double up attendees when doing the labs.  This will be fine as the labs work fine with a partner.

So with that I hope to see many of you at this free Virtualization event.  Did I mention it was free and you might win a book and you will get fed!  What more could you ask for!  I will be conducting the training in Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide.  Giovanni will be covering the Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Coming from a C++ (build everything yourself) background, I was not every enthusiastic about using XNA, thinking that it is just a dodgy cover to DirectX. But it is FAR from that, XNA is a brilliant tool, to build fun games quickly and easily.
The book is very much the same, it sets you up for a gentle ride into the XNA world, but before you know it you have fallen in love with a great programming tool. It is packed with detailed information describing everything you need to know to get started with XNA. From creating your first program, all the way up to multi-player networked games, there is even a bit of AI in there as well.

If you’re thinking that this is a code heavy book then you are quite wrong. Yes there is code on almost every second page, but Rob has only placed small snippets in so you don’t get lost in pages of black and white code. Every bit of code is explained very well, there were only a few times where I had to look back and think about what was explained.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised about how easy this book is to read, as I am no book worm at all. I cannot stand the dribble of university books, so this was a very comforting change. For anyone out there wanting to get into XNA programming, or just learning some of the trick on how to make games this is a great book.

NOTE: There is no Service Pack 3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you are running the 64-bit version of Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are on the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014.

Customers running an unsupported version of Windows or service pack will not be eligible for any of our support options. Updates, including security updates released with bulletins from the Microsoft Security Response Center, will be reviewed and built for the supported versions and service packs only. The most current service packs are available to organizations, and they are easily deployed via Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services/Microsoft System Center, and the Microsoft Download Center. To better understand the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy and your support options visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page.

There is no supported migration path from Windows 2000 to Windows 7 using the Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT). You will need to upgrade to Windows XP and then migrate to Windows 7 using USMT 4.0, a tool included with the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK).

With Extended Support for Windows 2000 Server also ending on July 13,2010, the product will no longer be publicly supported after this date. Self-Help Online Support will be available for Windows 2000 Server after Extended Support for the operating system ends. For more information on Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server End of Support visit Windows 2000 End of Support Solution Center. A direct upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported. The Solution Center will provide information about migration paths, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.

Updating your Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 2000 PCs before the end of mainstream support dates will ensure your PCs stay supported and receive security updates. The best way to be secure and supported is by migrating to Windows 7. There are tools to help test and mitigate application compatibility issues, including the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, Windows XP Mode, and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) to help migration. To learn more about these tools, visit the Springboard Series on TechNet.

Just imagine the doors that could open with that on your CV.

Register now, download the brief and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Microsoft Marketing Protégé. Demonstrate via written submission how you would market the new Microsoft Office 2010 software to tertiary students.

We’ll provide you with a full Marketing Brief and tips on how to get started.

To learn more go to www.microsoft.com.au/protege

Not only do you get nine awesome applications to help you create, organise, communicate, and more – buy Office 2007 between 5 March and 30 September 2010 and get a bonus Office 2010* upgrade when it is released later this year. Not bad eh?

All you need to enjoy this student perk is an edu.au email address

Simply go to itsnotcheating.com.au, register your student edu.au email address and buy now. This is an exclusive offer, available to all Australian Uni and TAFE students and faculty only.

Be sure to check out the other great student offers available via itsnotcheating.com.au where students can upgrade to the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system for a limited time at just $49.95^.

How does it work?

Each month, we’ll host a new Rally challenge. The top five students each month will win a prize.
The top ten each month qualify to compete in the final challenge for the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship.

Check it out.

http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/rally/

The business applications course includes 8 modules with extensive hands on labs as well as accompanying videos that walk you through key aspects of building a business application with Silverlight. Key aspects in this course are working with sandboxed out of browser features, elevated trust out of browser features, the new RichTextBox control, implicit styling, webcam, drag and drop, multi touch, validation, authentication, MEF, WCF RIA Services, right mouse click, and much more.

Start developing on Silverlight today!

A Real World Experience like No Other. As an intern or Fulltim’er at Microsoft, you’ll have real responsibility, real work, and real opportunities to jumpstart your career. (You’ll get paid, too!) It’s an experience you’ll never find in a classroom. You’ll be given manageable assignments that you can complete while you’re here, and your efforts will likely take shape in Microsoft products—or be used by Microsoft teams—long after you return to school. And imagine millions of customers, not to mention your classmates, seeing your work! Some interns even parlay their experience into a job offer.

An Opportunity to Shine. Our employees make a real difference. Not by filing paperwork or running errands, but by developing real products. Here, you’ll run your own projects and put your skills to work. This is why our internship program is one of the most successful in the industry. You’ll learn more in 12 weeks than you would in a whole school year. It’s the kind of work that gets noticed by millions of people all over the world. Kind of redefines the whole concept of internships, don’t you think?

Current Internship and Fulltime opportunities with Microsoft:

1) Software Design Engineer (SDE) Intern or Fulltime

Work at the Core of Every Product We Build
This internship is where the fun begins for code gurus like you. As a hands-on Software Design Engineer intern, you’ll learn how to make decisions about design and feature implementation, using your mastery of technical tools to help make a product vision a reality. If you would like to write code and design efficient data structures and algorithms to develop next-generation applications or operating systems, listen up. This internship shows you how SDEs bring products to life by working with Program Managers to ensure strong design and Software Design Engineers in Test to ensure quality through testing. Ultimately for the SDE, it’s your code that turns concepts into new technologies and services.

Qualifications:

· Fluency in C/C++/C# and a passion for writing quality code using computer science fundamentals

· Ability to derive creative and innovative solutions by thinking “outside the box”

· Ability to solve complex problems, sometimes by testing and debugging code

· Expertise in feature definition, design, and feasibility

· Demonstrated skill in estimating development time

· Be available to relocate to our corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, U.S.A for a 12 week internship (Microsoft Corporation pays all costs associated with relocation)

· Functional level English Language skills, written and spoken requirement

2) Software Design Engineer in Test (SDET) Intern or Fulltime

Discover Life on the Last Line of Defense
As an intern Software Design Engineer in Test (SDET), you’ll own it, break it, fix it, and own it again. You’ll ensure a product’s quality by making sure it performs as users expect it to. Part of the fun is how creative you can be devising ways to manipulate, crush, and sabotage software into submission—while creating innovative testing technologies along the way. Ultimately, as an SDET intern it’s your input that can help make the difference between joy and frustration for the customers. Since you’re keen on how things work, and making them work better, you’ll work hand in hand with the Program Managers and Software Design Engineers to design, develop, and maintain automation systems for use in development and testing cycles. Using the tools you create, you’ll help pour over source code for trouble spots, debugging and isolating problems, and executing creative tests to find new bugs while regression testing recent fixes.

Qualifications:

· Fluency in C/C++/C#/VB.NET and experience designing and developing tool architecture

· Ability to solve complex problems and write automation systems and device drivers

· Ability to author test plans and cases, conduct security and stress tests, and debug at source level after identifying, investigating, and prioritizing bugs

· Demonstrated skills in negotiation and conflict management

· Demonstrated interest in customer advocacy derived from a holistic understanding of the product from the code level to delivery

· Be available to relocate to our corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, U.S.A for a 12 week internship (Microsoft Corporation pays all costs associated with relocation and helps with housing)

· Functional level English Language skills, written and spoken requirement

Whatever position you choose, you’ll make a real impact in the dynamic world of product development at Microsoft. All intern positions are12 weeks and located in the United States at our corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. All fulltime positions are located in the United States.

Send Us Your Resume
Submitting a resume is the only way to get to the next stage of consideration, the interview. Our recruiting team travels to Australia regularly to meet bright and enthusiastic people like you, and we look forward to receiving your resume. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are updating your resume to send to us:

· Clearly state your graduation date, degree/major and the university are attending

· Specify your technical skills (including programming languages and other development tools you know well), project details (both within university and at any jobs or internships you have held), and technologies you have used on those projects

· Describe your role in the projects that you worked on, and what you personally achieved

· Provide an active e-mail address, physical address, and current phone number  where we can reach you

If interested, please send your resume by the 15^{th of February}

^{to: lisabar@microsoft.com}

^{A recruiter will review it, and if interested will set up a phone interview as a first step. And, by the way, we have many positions available, so if there is someone else you think we should know about; please share this information with them.}

^{If we invite you to interview, we will cover your travel expenses. If you receive an offer, we will cover costs for visa processing and provide help with relocation. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity.}

This is my final year as being a MSP, as I’ve finished being a student. I highly recommend submitting an application – the MSP program is a lot of fun, offers a lot of unique opportunities, lots of free stuff (the free MSDN subscription is awesome) but most importantly gives you a huge head start in things like the Microsoft Internships (MSPs get somewhat preferential treatment), as well as being able to put down you worked with Microsoft on your résumé!

Several of the teams were very evenly matched, with four of the games ending up at 50-to-49!

With about 50 people show up, it was a great night. Thanks to the guys who helped out setting up and packing up, without their help I don’t think we would have been able to successfully pull of the night!

Congratulations to Cobra Commanders (from Deakin!), who took out first place. Sabo, Camberwell Clowns and Silhouette took out second, third and fourth respectively. 

See the rest of the photos up on flickr