Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

Mitch Tulloch, lead author for the Windows 7 Resource Kit, is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking, and security and has been repeatedly awarded Most  Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products, and solutions.

Now you can download Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions Second edition by Mitch Tulloch for free. The book discusses following points:

Why Virtualization?

Server Virtualization

Local Desktop Virtualization

Remote Desktop Virtualization

Virtualization Management

Cloud Computing

This is 480 Page eBook. Download the eBook in PDF format or XPS format

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Free eBook: Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Well for those of you who want to learn about MS Visual Studio 2010 and are used to earlier versions, here is another great effort from Microsoft and it is free. Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (Microsoft Press, 2011; 336 pages), written by Patrice Pelland, Pascal Paré, and Ken Haines.

The book is not a language primer, a language reference, or a single technology book. It’s a book that will help professional developers move from previous versions of Visual Studio (starting with 2003 and on up). It will cover the features of Visual Studio 2010 through an application. It will go through a lot of the exciting new language features and new versions of the most popular technologies without putting the emphasis on the technologies themselves. It will instead put the emphasis on how you would get to those new tools and features from Visual Studio 2010.

If you are expecting this book to thoroughly cover the new Entity Framework or ASP.NET MVC 2, this is not the book for you. If you want to read a book where the focus is on Visual Studio 2010 and on the reasons for moving to Visual Studio 2010, this is the book for you.

The book is written having three audiences in mind:

• Part I is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2003 to Visual Studio 2010
• Part II is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2005
• And Part III is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2008

You can download a PDF of the book here and can help Microsoft by filling out a survey at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey.

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Free eBook: Petzold’s Programming Windows Phone 7

Just in time for VSLive in Redmond, here’s a second draft preview eBook of Charles Petzold’s upcoming Programming Windows Phone 7! The first preview eBook contained six chapters. This one contains eleven chapters (and 265 pages):

Part I   The Basics
Chapter 1   Hello, Windows Phone 7
Chapter 2   Getting Oriented
Chapter 3   An Introduction to Touch
Chapter 4   Bitmaps, Also Known as Textures
Chapter 5   Sensors and Services
Chapter 6   Issues in Application Architecture
Part II   Silverlight
Chapter 7   XAML Power and Limitations
Chapter 8   Elements and Properties
Part III   XNA
Chapter 20   Principles of Movement
Chapter 21   Textures and Sprites
Chapter 22   Touch and Play

You can download a PDF here (38.6 MB) and you can download the ebook’s sample code here (5.03 MB).

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Defensive Database Programming (Free eBook)

The goal of Defensive Programming is to produce resilient code that responds gracefully to the unexpected.
To the SQL Server programmer, this means T-SQL code that behaves consistently and predictably in cases of unexpected usage, doesn't break under concurrent loads, and survives predictable changes to database schemas and settings.

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Office 2010 Launch and a free eBook

First Look Microsoft Office 2010 by Katherine Murray is available for free to download here. According to the author:

This book was written while the software was in development, so you may find some variance in screen illustrations and procedures, but the overall story is the same: The key to the new features is freedom and flexibility—you’ll be able to see how to get more from your applications no matter how—or where—you choose to use them. Office 2010 is designed to help you express your ideas clearly and creatively, work seamlessly with a group to get things done efficiently and on time, and access and work with your files virtually anywhere with a similar look and feel whether you’re using your PC, browser, or phone.

To showcase these key points, First Look: Microsoft Office 2010 follows this organization:

• Part I, “Envision the Possibilities,” introduces you to the changes in Office 2010 and shows you how you can make the most of the new features to fit the way you work today. Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010,” gives you a play-by-play introduction to new features; Chapter 2, “Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently,” details the great feature enhancements and visual effects throughout the applications; and Chapter 3, “Work Anywhere with Office 2010,” explores the flexibility factor by presenting a set of scenarios that enable users to complete their work no matter where their path takes them.
• Part II, “Hit the Ground Running,” focuses on each of the Office 2010 applications in turn, spotlighting the key new features and showing how they relate to the whole. These chapters provide a how-to guide for many of the top features you’re likely to use right off the bat, and they offer inspiring ideas on how to get the most from your favorite applications.
• Part III, “Next Steps with Office 2010,” zooms up to the big picture and provides examples to help you think through interoperability. How often do you use the various Office applications together? Customer research shows that people often don’t realize how well the applications work together as a complete system—which means they might be laboring over items they could easily incorporate from somewhere else. This part of the book provides examples for integrating the applications and explores Office 2010 security and training opportunities, as well.

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Google Opens Up Its EPUB Archive: Download 1 Million Books for Free

Google just announced that it will now allow users to download over 1 million public domain books in the EPUB format. Google had already made this archive available to some of its partners, including Sony and Barnes and Noble, but until today users weren't able to download these free EPUB texts from Google directly. Google will continue to make PDF versions of these books available for download as well, but users with eReader's will find the new EPUB files far more useful.

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Free ebook on C# 3.0

Our friends at Red-Gate are offering free e-book on C# 3.0. This book is for busy programmers who want a succinct and yet readable guide to C# 3.0 and LINQ.

C# 3.0 Pocket Reference, written by Joseph and Ben Albahari, tells you exactly what you need to know, without long introductions or bloated samples.

Boost your C# expertise and keep ahead of your peers!

Download the free e-book here...

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