Thanks to everyone who attended.  Sorry about the audio difficulties.  Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do once the webcast starts.  The deck is here.  The code is here. 

You will need Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Refresh, Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, Microsoft Silverlight Tools Alpha Refresh for Visual Studio (July 2007) , Microsoft ASP.NET Futures (July 2007).  There are links to download all four from http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/.  There are links for the Expression tools as well.

If you missed the webcast, you can watch the recording here.

Do you have a need to produce cross browser video with Closed Captioning that targets both Windows and the Mac?  If so, then check out my screencast which shows you how to do it here. 

Details here.

I've been doing quite a bit of LINQ & LINQ to SQL talks lately.  One of the things I have told people is that INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE operations are sent in batch using DataContext.SubmitChanges().  I found out in an internal discussion today that LINQ to SQL does not batch updates. I'm a bit embarrassed and feel compelled to apologize for misleading you.  Age must be affecting my memory because I swear I confirmed batch updating before I started making the statement.  Maybe I dreamt it:(. 

One of my pet peeves is when public speakers say something that is incorrect because they think saying "I don't know" somehow makes them look unintelligent.  I didn't quite do that, but came close.  I did believe I knew what I was talking about.  Turns out I didn't.  I am sorry.

UPDATE: I am aware that the registration link is broken.  I am working to get the proper link from the company who sets these up for me.  Sorry about the broken link.

UPDATE2: The link has been updated and now works:).

Come see a demo-rich overview of the new features Visual Studio Code Name “Orcas” has to offer for Smart Client Windows Applications. This talk will introduce new client services that allow your applications to authenticate users providing role-based UI, and be occasionally connected with offline data storage. It will also demonstrate how you can leverage both Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Forms in a single application to build the right experience for your customer. Finally, we will show feedback-driven improvements to existing features in Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation, and ClickOnce.

When

August 1st 2:00P-3:30P EST (11:00A-12:30P PST)

Register at this link:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032346225&Culture=en-US

Note: Audio will be via the Internet.  Your machine will need a speaker.

Microsoft Silverlight is a technology for delivering rich, cross-platform interactive experiences for the Web and beyond. Silverlight will enable the creation of rich, visually stunning and interactive content and applications that run on multiple browsers and operating systems. In this session, learn more about the benefits of Silverlight from a developer perspective and get an introduction to building Silverlight applications using JavaScript and C# using Microsoft developer and designer tools.

When

July 31st 2:00P-3:30P EST (11:00A-12:30P PST)

Register at this link:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032344018&Culture=en-US

Note: Audio will be via the Internet.  Your machine will need a speaker.

Silverlight 1.0 RC will be soon!  More details here.

I just reviewed the questions log from the webcast.  It appears that some of the questions that were in the Q&A manager disappeared before I was able to view them.  I want to sincerely apologize if you felt that I ignored your question.  I did not.  I always do my best to answer every last question to the best of my ability.  In my opinion, getting your questions answered is the greatest benefit of attending a live event instead of just watching a recording.  As a mea culpa, I have gone through the questions and posted my best answers.

Q: Does the .NET Framework 3.5 require IIS 7.0? Will it on Windows Server 2003 / IIS6.

A: IIS 7.0 is not required.  The .NET Framework 3.5 works on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

Q: Does LINQ to SQL require SQL Server?  What support does it (or will it) have for other RDMS?

A: LINQ to SQL requires SQL Server.  LINQ to Entities will enable support other RDBMS.  For more details see http://blogs.msdn.com/data/archive/2007/04/28/microsoft-s-data-access-strategy.aspx.

Q: Are AJAX Control Toolkit controls production-quality

A: My opinion is yes.  Every release of the AJAX Control Toolkit goes through rigorous testing.  As with any software, bugs are possible.  All known issues are available for viewing at http://www.codeplex.com/AtlasControlToolkit/WorkItem/List.aspx.

These are the only questions I don't remember answering.  Please let me know if I missed any.

Thanks to everyone who attended!  You can download the deck and code from here. 

A question came up that I did not have time to answer deeper than "Yes, you can do it."  The question was "Can I update XML using LINQ to XML?"  There are two fundamental ways.  The first is to do in-memory XML tree modification using procedural code.  This is similar to how you would update XML using XmlDocument, but instead you would use the new LINQ to XML classes like XElement, XAttribute, etc.  For example, let us work with the following Customers.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Customers>
  <Customer>
    <ID>ALFKI</ID>
    <Name>Alfred</Name>
    <State>MD</State>
  </Customer>
  <Customer>
    <ID>VMI98</ID>
    <Name>Marc</Name>
    <State>VA</State>
  </Customer>
  <Customer>
    <ID>ALFKO</ID>
    <Name>Alfonso</Name>
    <State>MD</State>
  </Customer>
  <Customer>
    <ID>VMI01</ID>
    <Name>Adam</Name>
    <State>VA</State>
  </Customer>
</Customers>

If we want to append "_UPDATED" to the names of all customers who live in VA, the code would look something like:

var customers = XElement.Load("Customers.xml");

foreach (var cust in customers.Elements())
{
    var state = cust.Element("State");
    if (state.Value == "VA")
    {
        cust.Element("Name").Value += "_UPDATED";
    }
}

Console.WriteLine(customers.ToString());

The second approach is taking the source XML and creating new XML by transforming it using  a query.  To do the exact same thing above using a transformation query would be quite a bit more code, so I would not personally take the transformation approach.  I'd stick with the above code.  However, let's say our goal was to take Customers.xml, remove all the customers who don't live in VA, and then append "_UPDATED" to their name.  This scenario feels more appropriate for a transformation query such as:

var customers = XElement.Load("Customers.xml");

var newCustomers =
    from c in customers.Elements()
    where c.Element("State").Value == "VA"
    select new XElement(
        "Customer", new XElement(
            "ID", c.Element("ID").Value), new XElement(
            "Name", c.Element("Name").Value += "_UPDATED"), new XElement(
            "State", c.Element("State").Value)
        );

var newCustomer = new XElement("Customer", newCustomers);

Console.WriteLine(newCustomer.ToString());

Hope this answers the original question from last night!

Thanks for attending!  If you missed it, you should be able view the recording here.  The deck and code are here.  If you are looking for today's code, then make sure you download WebDevVS2008_democode_beta2 and FuturesJuly2007_democode.  You will, of course have to wait for Visual Studio 2008 beta 2 & the ASP.NET Futures July CTP to be release.  Stay tuned...

Robert just posted some links to a bunch of Team System virtual labs here.

There are going to be some breaking changes in the upcoming Silverlight RC.  We want to prepare people so they are aware before we actually release the RC itself.  Tim Sneath talks about it here (including links to breaking changes).  You can download the preview SDK here.  Even better, Tim Heuer put together a Preparing for Silverlight Release Candidate screencast here.

Thanks to everyone who attended.  If you missed it, you should be able to download the recording from here.  The deck is available here.  You can find more details on IDV Solutions' Visual Fusion Suite at http://www.idvsolutions.com. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dan Shaver, Business Development Manager at dan.shaver@idvsolutions.com.

Our team does somewhat monthly "Developer Dinners" in the DC area.  I will be presenting on LINQ at both the NOVA & DC dinners next week.  Stop on by, grab some free pizza, stick around for a chance to win an XBOX 360, and come prepared to ask questions:).  Robert has all the details here.

Just caught this from James Conard's blog.

"The kit includes 15 presentations on topics ranging from IIS7 to the .NET Framework 3.0 technologies, HPC, and virtualization.   It also includes 7 hands-on labs, all based on the DinnerNow scenario.  These labs include: 

• Introduction to Windows Communication Foundation
  This lab provides the basic introduction to building services and clients including the use of data contracts, service contracts and configuration of both. The lab also includes information on how to declaratively secure a service. 
• Integrating CardSpace into Web Sites
  This lab walks the user on how to can integrate CardSpace into Web sites. The user will modify existing registration and sign-in pages to allow customers to use CardSpace for site features that require the customer’s identity. 
• Introduction to Windows Workflow Foundation 
  This lab walks the user through the basics of creating a workflow and learning about the Visual Studio environment for building workflows. The lab also covers some of the common base activities and passing parameters to a workflow. 
• Using Windows Eventing 
  This lab introduces the improvements made to the event logging, viewing and management features in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. 
• Extending Windows PowerShell and the Microsoft Management Console
  In this lab, the user walks through the creation of Cmdlets for Windows PowerShell and a Snap-in for Microsoft Management Console 3.0 (MMC) using managed code. 
• Extending IIS 7.0 with Custom Handlers 
  This lab walks the user through the extension of IIS administration interface and addition of custom handlers written in managed code. 
• Using Transactional NTFS (TxF) 
  This lab is focused on adding Transactional NTFS capabilities to an existing application by using managed wrappers, in just a few lines of code."

Details here.

You might want to entertain attending even if you've seen me present this one before.  I will be showing new Visual Studio 2008 beta 2 features like LinqDataSource, improved design time experience for ASP.NET AJAX extender controls, AJAX Web Part drag and drop, and anything else I find between now and then:).

This session will cover some of the great new features that will be coming soon with Visual Studio "Orcas" & the Microsoft ASP.NET Futures.  Learn how web development with .NET will continue to improve and evolve, and talk about some of the upcoming features and how best to use them.  We will be covering:

• Targeting a specific version of the .NET Framework (2.0, 3.0, 3.5)
• The new ASP.NET page designer (split view, CSS and improved layout support, nested master pages, etc.)
• Better control of markup using the new ListView control
• ASP.NET AJAX / JavaScript Intellisense & Debugging improvements
• LINQ integration
• New controls in the Microsoft ASP.NET Futures (Back button support, Silverlight controls, SearchDataSource control, Dynamic Data Controls, etc.)

When

July 25th 2:00P-3:30P EST (11:00A-12:30P PST)

Register at this link:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032344016&Culture=en-US

Note: Audio will be via the Internet.  Your machine will need a speaker.

I've been delivering a "What's New for Web Developers in Visual Studio 2008 & the Microsoft ASP.NET Futures" session over the last few months to various customers and partners.  All of the features / demos I have shown were based on Visual Studio 2008 Beta 1.  When Beta 2 is released, there will be a few features you most likely have not seen.  One of them is the LinqDataSource control.  Scott Guthrie just published LINQ to SQL (Part 4 - Updating our Database) which (in addition other things) is a walkthrough of the LinqDataSource control.  I will be delivering What's New for Web Developers in Visual Studio 2008 & the Microsoft ASP.NET Futures on Wednesday, July 25th, as part of my team's July Webcasts.  Wednesday's webcast will be the first time I demo the Beta 2 features.

One of the things I hear from folks interested in SharePoint is that there isn't enough content for SharePoint developers.  The Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies Team Blog just blog'd a Tons of New SharePoint Now Content Live on MSDN post.  That should feed your SharePoint appetite:).

I'm getting ready to dig into SQL Server 2008 a bit over the next few months.  While I was surfing around looking for what's available, I came across some recorded on demand webcasts at https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=5553.  The page says there are more webcasts to come.  Here's what's up there now:

Analysis Services - Dimension Design
Change Data Capture
Star Join Query Optimizations
Table Valued Parameters
Declarative Management Framework
MERGE SQL Statement