Microsoft Student Partners

Question: Do you know what IDE stands for?
Question: Do you know what languages Visual Studio can use?
Question: Do you like free pizza?

If you answered yes to the last question, then this event is for you!

The Curtin MSP’s will be demoing off Visual Studio – showcasing its ability as an IDE and why it has become industry standard.

So, even if you think you already know everything there is to know about Visual Studio and IDE’s, come along anyway – there will be heaps of giveaways and FREE PIZZA.

For more information, either click the poster (left) or visit http://curtinvs.eventbrite.com/

- Daniel
Curtin MSP

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, or your still reeling from the fact that Tesltra has killed off its home ISDN plans (don’t laugh – I was still using ISDN until the beginning of this year), you probably would have noticed that Microsoft has been busy at work preparing the next generation of client, server and development software that they are so famous for.

As a quick recap, these are the betas\CTP’s that are making news:

• Windows 7 RC
• Server 2008 R2 RC (<- Site is up, and linked to form the Server 2008 home page, but no download likely until tomorrow)
• Exchange 2010 Beta
• Visual Studio 2010\.NET 4 CTP
• Windows Azure
• Live Mesh Beta
• Office 2010 (No beta\CTP available yet…)

So, the question you probably asking is "Why should I care? Why should I spend my time looking at this stuff when it isn’t even finished yet?". The answer to that is simple…

Consider: most of the people reading this blog are students interested in technology and, most likely, Microsoft technology. Most of the betas above are likely to be ready, deployed and industry standard by mid to late 2010. By which time you should have either graduated or be close to it. This means that you’re going to be looking for a job that involves the final versions of there products (on that note, open Microsoft Students to Business in a new tab and register after reading the rest of this blog). At the point where you are in the interview where your potential employer asks "How much do you know about Program X Version Y" how much better will it appear when you can honestly say that you have not only been using "Program X" but you have been running "Program X Version Y Beta" for the last few years and helped submit a number of bugs which were then fixed. Not only does it show that you have a few years experience with the program, but also the fact that you participated in a beta program indicates that you enjoy learning and experimenting and that you aren’t afraid to do some testing and go the extra mile.

Other than that, there is nothing more enjoyable then playing with (and breaking) pre-release software…

- Daniel
Curtin MSP

One of the benefits of being a Microsoft Student Partner is that we get access to free Microsoft Certification Exam Vouchers for ourselves and to give away. Additionally Microsoft announced recently free technical exam vouchers for students through the DreamSpark program.

I thought I might as well work on my MCPD as .NET is one of my primary tools I use to write software.

I got myself a copy of Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Developer Foundation which is part of the self-paced training kit for the MCTS Exam 70-536.

At 794 pages this book is pretty huge. I was kind of overwhelmed at first. However when I started self-studying I found each chapter is broken down into bite-sized lessons. Each lesson is generally specified for about 40 mins, but I found I could read the lesson, and do the included exercise in about half that time. This was great for me, where often I’d only have 20-30 mins here and there to spend on this, and I could easily start a lesson knowing I could finish it off in the time I had free between other stuff I was doing.

The book itself has 16 chapters (listed below) on the fundamentals of the Microsoft .NET Framework. Although it says it expects the reader to have some experience, I found it explained well enough for even newer developers to understand.

Every lesson is followed by both a summary and a small multi-choice lesson review, which is great as we know the key to learning is repetition. Additionally each chapter also gives a summary and a review, along with case scenarios and suggested practices.

Like most Microsoft Press books, this book also comes with a companion CD. This includes practice tests and exam questions from each chapter. One thing I found on the CD was an included PDF of the entire book! This was great for downloading to my phone and notebook and being able to read a lesson when I had a spare 10 mins.

A couple of things I found useful were:

• The small lesson sizes
• “Real World” examples and best practices
• The integration of lessons and exam objectives
• Mini labs

Microsoft also provides resources for universities to teach Microsoft Certification through the IT Academy program. This would allow you to learn through some structured program at your university.

For the rest of us, the self-study training kits are a more cost-effective approach than a third party institution, which for me as a student is not really a feasible choice. But the book provided everything I need to pass the exam.

You can get a copy of this book at www.mspress.com.au.

I also have a copy of Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Developer Foundation to give away to a UWA Student, along with a second-shot exam voucher. To enter, please leave any comment below, and I will randomly draw a winner within the next week. Please use your @student.uwa.edu.au E-mail address in the comment.

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

The Microsoft DreamSpark program provides students access to an awesome list of free Microsoft software and has just got better. Students now have access to free Microsoft Technology Specialist Exam vouchers to be used at Prometric test centers.

This is a limited offer and the voucher must be redeemed before June 30th 2009, so get in quick.

Additionally Microsoft has added several free e-books for download, along with access to the IT Academy program.

Learn more at www.dreamspark.com

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, Microsoft Press is offering  two free E-Books:

Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition

By Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, and Jerry Honeycutt with the Windows Vista Team
ISBN: 9780735625969

An in-depth resource kit with all the information you need to administer Windows Vista (now with info on SP1). Sign up to download the entire e-book from here (PDF, 44.8 MB).

Microsoft® Visual C#® 2008 Express Edition: Build a Program Now!

By Patrice Pelland
ISBN: 9780735625426

Not sure where to start on Visual Studio, .NET and C#? Then grab a copy of this book and Visual Studio Express and start learning! Sign up to download the entire e-book from here (PDF, 7.8 MB)

DreamSpark is now available to any university student who has an edu.au E-mail address.

DreamSpark is a program that gives university students access to 100% free software, including Window Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 along with others.

DreamSpark together with the It’s Not Cheating program empowers students to reach their potential with awesome free tools.

Even better, very soon all TAFE students will also have access to DreamSpark. Watch this space!

Luke
Australian MSP Lead
UWA

As we are gearing up for the new academic year here in Australia, I would like to remind everyone that the It’s Not Cheating Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate for $75.00 deal is still on.

Here’s how it works:

If you are a university or TAFE student, or staff member, you can use your institution E-mail address to get Microsoft Office 2007 completely legal for $75.00 outright or as a $25/year subscription.

You purchase online, and can download the software instantly or have it sent to you by mail.

Either way, you are up and running quickly, easily and cost effectively, ready to go for the new year.

Click on the banner to get your copy now!

Luke
UWA MSP

In case you missed it, XNA Game Studio 3.0 has now gone live!

The biggest feature of course if the ability to create games and distribute them through Xbox Live Community Games.

Remember, as a student you can get access to XNA Game Studio free of charge through DreamSpark!

Luke
UWA MSP

There’s only two days before Imagine 08 so if you haven’t already registered CLICK HERE to register now.

Luke
UWA MSP
http://twitter.com/ekulmi

Microsoft Tech.Ed Student Day is coming up on this Tuesday 2nd of September in Sydney!

If you are a student and haven’t already registered, go to this page and register for FREE today.

The Student Day will be comprised of two sessions and includes the launch of Dreamspark in Australia, the Microsoft program giving students free Microsoft software such as Visual Studio 2008 Professional.

WA MSPs Luke and Oren will both be at Tech.Ed so we hope to see you there!

Luke
UWA MSP 

Hot off the press – Group Shot is a nifty little toy from Microsoft Research that solves the group shot problem. Have you ever taken multiple photos of a group of people, only to be thwarted time and time again by different people closing their eyes?

Group Shot solves this by allowing you to select the “good parts” (i.e. all those open eyes) of all the images and then joining everything together into one final shot. You can use this to make sure that everyone in that family shot is looking at the camera, and that those unwanted photobombers are history!

Check out the example (and tutorial) or go straight to Group Shot for a download.

It’s exam period as well, so Good Luck to all, and stay tuned for exciting happenings coming to a University near you!

In what can only be described as “it’s about time” DreakSpark is set to land in Australia on September 2^th during the Australian Tech. Ed 2008 (Sydney) Student Day.

What do I get with DreamSpark?

DreamSpark currently contains:

• Visual Studio 2008 Professional
• Windows Server 2003 Standard Version
• Expression Studio
• XNA Game Studio 2.0 (+ Creators Club)

So what’s so great about DreamSpark you ask?

Yup, you get all the software it comes with via MSDN-AA anyway – but there are two big differences:

1. The license is unencumbered so you can use it for profit
2. XNA Creators Club! Perfect for those with Xboxs (and Zunes soon) the Creators Club grants you access to exclusive content and the ability to develop and debug games directly on the Xbox (but you already know that of course, because you attended game camp!)

It’s nice to (finally) see DreamSpark make it’s way down South – we’ll keep you posted as more information roles in!

Register Now at xna.wamsp.com.au

UWA MSPs are pleased to announce Installfest 08.

The idea behind InstallFest is to help out students and staff get software on their PCs that they may normally find difficult, such as downloading large amounts of data from MSDNAA.

We will have hard media available for people to install from, and Installfest techs available for questions.

Venue: Computer Science Room 1.24
Date: Monday 7th Apri
Time: 1pm – 3pm 

For more information, please post at http://forum.wamsp.com.au

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Feb. 18, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates today will unveil a software giveaway that will ultimately provide millions of college and high school students around the world with access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge to unlock their creative potential and set them on the path to academic and career success.

The Microsoft DreamSpark student program (http://channel8.msdn.com) makes available, at no charge, a broad range of development and design software for download. The program is now available to more than 35 million college students in Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. Broad global coverage, as well as an expansion of the program to high school students around the world, potentially reaching up to 1 billion students worldwide, will continue throughout the next year. Gates will share details with students and faculty at Stanford University as part of a U.S. and Canada college tour that kicks off today.

“We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth,” Gates said. “Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students to explore the power of software and encourage them to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”

Click here for the entire article.

Unfortunately Australian students won’t have access until around the middle of this year, your local MSP will be able to tell you more closer to the release date. Until then, there have been reports that students with an International Student ID can register and start benefiting from the free software right away.