Join us in Redmond, WA October 29 - November 2, 2007 to learn about Microsoft’s current portfolio and long-term strategy for SOA and Business Process initiatives. Participate in breakout sessions, chalk talk discussions, hands-on-labs, peer networking, and social events covering technology, architecture, and business value topics. Register today! More info

Virtual Lab Express is the fastest and easiest way to test drive Microsoft products and the Virtual Lab environment. These are 30-minute hands-on overviews of some of your favorite Microsoft products and developer tools. Try them out online now. More info

First, an abbreviated Windows 2008 Server trip report: it is freaking awesome in too many ways to enumerate at the moment. Now, on to the regularly scheduled foray into the DotNetosphere. Today Scott Guthrie gave us a very impressive first look at Silverlight 2. Don’t miss the tutorials on building the Digg [...]<br style="clear: both;"/> <img alt="" style="border: 0; height:1px; width:1px;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=4a3a67bba2c883c6e72e8863f909dc58" height="1" width="1"/> <img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=4a3a67bba2c883c6e72e8863f909dc58" style="display: none;" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/> More info

Scott Guthrie has made the very, very cool announcement that the bulk of the .NET framework source code will be released! If you have ever spent hours trying to decypher ASP.NET in reflector, or pulling your hair out trying to make custom controls play well, this should make you a very happy person. <br style="clear: both;"/> <img alt="" style="border: 0;" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?i=d47a52dea4e724716008c80cf796f326"/> More info

Time Warner's new CEO Jeff Bewkes said Wednesday that AOL is being split in two. Its web portal and advertising business will be separated from its nose-diving Internet access business, the operation that made AOL into a household word and led Time Warner into one of the worst mergers in American corporate history. The move, which should take a few more months, TW said, obviously puts AOL in play, raising speculation of a possible spin-off or sale. More info

Buy this book! I don't often give such a blanket endorsement but this book works on many levels. It's one of the few books that really addresses the needs of more experienced ASP.NET developers as well as providing a well thought out text that can be used by instructors. There's a plethora of things in this book that make it worthwhile. There are walkthroughs, code listings, in depth examples, and code snippets. There are 16 chapters and an appendix. At the end of each chapter there's a summary, exercises, key concepts, and references for further investigation. More info

Brussels-based VRcontext has announced the release of Walkinside Version 5 virtual reality software. Walkinside software has been redeveloped to deliver faster, more intuitive navigation of large complex production assets using .NET technology, which enables remote collaboration through the Internet with online virtualization tools that are accessible even from low-end workstations. More info

The clock is ticking and the time is near for the 2008 Server and Tools Launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 marking the largest ever IT Professional and Developer outreach in the history of Microsoft. More info

As portals gain in popularity, both as consumer-focused information portals and corporate collaboration tools, developers are increasingly being told to integrate customized portal features. In this article, I'll take a look at the solutions Microsoft offers for creating Web portals and how you can extend these portals by building custom modules. More info

SpringSource, formerly known as Interface21, has announced the final release of Spring.NET 1.1, an application framework for the development and deployment of enterprise .NET applications. With roots in the widely used Spring Framework programming model for Java, Spring.NET extends the features of the Spring Framework to the .NET environment. More info