The great guys on the StyleCop project have now released StyleCop 4.7.4.0 which now has VS11 preview support.

It also gives support for new templates which unlike the visual studio supplied templates are StyleCop compliant and it also supports the Async CTP.

Get it here

b.

it has in general the past year has been quiet for BizTalk but it looks like 2012 will be quiet different.

The BizTalk Team have announced that during 2012 BizTalk 2010 R2 will be out however its release will be dependant in VS 11 and Windows Server 8 and so no dates just yet

New Platforms and Infrastructure

• Windows Server 8*
• SQL Server 2012*

Increased Developer and IT Productivity

• Visual Studio 11 and Windows 8 to develop solutions
• In-place migration from BizTalk Server 2010

Extended Platform Integration

• DB2 client connectivity to SQL Server,
  conversion of commands to T-SQL,
  migration of packages to stored procedures
• Adapter connectivity to new data sources, including IBM Informix V11 and IBM IMS/DB V11

Agile Alignment to Industry Standards

• Regular updates to schemas, accelerators certifications and adapters. Highlights include:
• Healthcare: HIPPA 5010 extensions: 2777CA, 999, HL7 2.5.1
• Finance: SWIFT SRG 2011 support, SWIFT SRG 2012, SWIFTNet 7.0 (new messaging platform)

Improved Performance and Scalability

• HL7 MLLP adapter performance improvements
• Better performance with ordered send ports
• Enhanced scale out configuration with multiple hosts
• Expanded adapter options for faster batch processing

Extend on-premises solutions to the cloud

• Easily extend your on-premises BizTalk Server solution to the cloud in a secure manner
• Tighter integration of on-premises BizTalk Server applications with Windows Azure Service Bus

Improved Licensing

• Adjustments to licensing that are geared towards cloud hosting, including:
• Purchase from a hoster on a monthly basis (SPLA)
• Register your existing license with a hoster (License Mobility)

Also cumulative update 3 is now available for BizTalk 2010 get it here

Well it looks like Microsoft has killed off the Zune Hardware, although only available in the US, many of us had Zune’s. I have to say the Zune devices are/were great.

if Microsoft have decided not to make the hardware, it must be said it puzzles me why they don’t license the software to other vendors, a model I think they might already be quite familiar.

so come on Microsoft find it in your hearts to rescue this rather wonderful bit of kit and maybe make some money with some great hardware vendors.

b.

My great friend Alan Smith has recently released a really great guide to AppFabric, Alan is well known for his BizTalk Bloggers guide and I expect that this volume will enjoy as much if not more success.

The guide is well written and comprehensive, saying that my understanding is that Alan plans to keep updating it over time.

if you are into AppFabric at all get it here

b.

Microsoft have just released CU3 for BizTalk Server 2009 get it here , it contains a bunch of fixes. Installation is straightforward (stop the services, install and reboot)

b.

On the long road to Windows Phone 7, Zune and Zune HD laid a solid foundation, now in many peoples eyes these really excellent devices have been side-lined. I must admit being somewhat fond of my(now my daughters) Zune HD.

But this week a new set of free games and tools have been launched for the Zune HD adding just a bit more life to the platform.

Go to your Zune Desktop, plug your Zune in and look for the new apps and games

they include

• Finger Paint
• Calendar
• Trash Throw
• Slider Puzzle
• ColorSpill
• Splatter Bug
• Vine Climb
• Decoder Ring
• Tug-O-War

Zune HD was only sold in the US, so if by any chance you are using a non US pc, just change your location to US before starting Zune Desktop and reset after (no system restart needed)

I know it is a forlorn hope but I do wish Microsoft keep the Zune Brand

b

A series of updates are available for Enterprise Library and Unity and a few other bits of general interest

There is an update for the Enterprise Library 5.0 which is only required if you are using the Silverlight Integration Pack and need WCF RIA Services Integration or configuration tool support. get it here

However the most interesting development is a version of the Enterprise Library for Silverlight developers get it here it contains Caching Application Block, Exception Handling Application Block, Logging Application Block, Policy Injection Application Block, Validation Application Block, and Unity Application Block allowing you to develop best practice effectively.

Just in case you don't have the Enterprise library you can get it here

Microsoft Unity 2.1 is a dependency injection container. this is a minor update on Unity get it here , I also recommend you visit the Patterns and Practices page for Unity here

There is also a port of Unity 2.1 for Silverlight here

if you need to learn how to use these great libraries there is of course a Hands On Labs (HOL) for Enterprise Library 5.0 here

b

New

BizTalk 2009 and Adapter Pack 2.0 as recently had some rollup updates

Cumulative Update Package 1 for BizTalk Server 2009 (KB 2429050) contains 60 fixes get it here

Cumulative Update Package 1 for BizTalk Adapter Pack 2.0  (KB 2444952) contains 11 fixes get it here.

More great news, There is now a poster available for the ESB Toolkit. You can get it here.

for people looking to draw up BizTalk for architecture diagrams, Sandro Pereira has produced a Visio 2010 stencil for BizTalk 2010 get it here

General Resources

Toolkits

BizTalk 2010 ESB toolkit:    http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11847

Useful Code/Supplementary applications

I recommend highly you look at

BizUnit , a BizTalk testing framework http://bizunit.codeplex.com/

BizTalk Loadgen http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8af583f-7044-48db-b7b9-969072df1689&displaylang=en

BizTalk Benchmark Wizard http://bbw.codeplex.com/

BizTalk Mapper Extensions http://btsmapextutilitypack.codeplex.com/

a set of functoids for date time/password generation/guid generation and base64 encode/decode

Thanks to Derek @ Storm for the following links

i)a useful wizard I use for creating BizUnit test steps. http://bud.codeplex.com/

ii) a BizTalk custom pipeline component wizard: http://btsplcw.codeplex.com/

Guides

BizTalk Performance Optimization Guide http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377064%28BTS.10%29.aspx

BizTalk Hyper-v Guide http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/dd722825%28v=BTS.10%29.aspx

ESB Toolkit core components http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ff189324%28v=BTS.10%29.aspx

BizTalk Operations Guide http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ee308947%28v=BTS.10%29.aspx

Mikes guide to testing http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/BTSTestGuide/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=3786

Training

BizTalk Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17956

the training kit has a section on Operations Management

ESB introduction videos http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/biztalk/dd876606.aspx

Posters

BizTalk 2010 ESB Architecture Poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11976

BizTalk 2010 BAM Poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=380

BizTalk 2010 Poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=7142

BizTalk 2010 Runtime Poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=22226

BizTalk 2010 Scale out poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=15223

BizTalk 2010 DB Infrastructure Poster http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=443

 

b

I looked back and realised I had missed a few updates to post ( I blame Microsoft for bringing out lots of great things all at once )

Light switch Beta 2 is out get it here, the site now suggests that a July 26th launch date is on the cards

StyleCop 4.5 has now been released get it here , if you haven’t tried StyleCop, its main aim is to help deliver standards of code style and standards across an organisation, but it is in fact a perfect pair to FxCop (see the Windows 7.1 .net 4.0 SDK) as FxCop analyses binaries , StyleCop analyses source code.

if you haven't already scoot over to Richards blog for updates from the ALM Rangers on some cool TFS work

b.

Spelunking through the internet I came across a project at Microsoft to engage people with various Microsoft Technologies using comic form. Black Marble have been producing Xmas comics over the last few years and the results have been great.

The series of comics follows “Squishy” the stress ball, Leah and Zach in a Manga inspired view of IT and development

In "Climbing Mt. PowerShell" the heroes learn PowerShell and the power of scripting to save the day, get it here

"Conquering Virtual Sprawl" Leah and Zach fights the chaos of large numbers of servers and harnesses virtual servers to save the day get it here

finally the heroes go where no heroes have gone before “Into the Cloud” get it here

the guys over at the Microsoft Born to Learn site really should be applauded at their efforts of tackling these subjects in such a great way

b.