Access No-Cost Training from the Channel 9 Learning Center

Channel 9 is the online community site dedicated to providing developer-focused content and behind-the-scenes insights from Microsoft developers. Channel 9 is also an open forum for both Microsoft employees and developers to discuss emerging technologies. Explore the following training courses, which are available now to help you learn to develop applications, rapidly build solutions, and keep up with the latest developments from Microsoft at your own pace.

•	Silverlight 4 Training Course
•	Identity Developer Training Course
•	Windows HPC Server 2008 Training Course
•	Windows Azure Platform Training Course

Free virtualization e-learning collection

Free virtualization e-learning collection offer

Take clinics in the Microsoft E-Learning Collection 6333: Exploring Microsoft Virtualization Technologies, including:

• Clinic 5935: Introducing Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008
• Clinic 6334: Exploring Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
• Clinic 6335: Exploring Microsoft Application Virtualization
• Clinic 6336: Exploring Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008

Download ten free Windows 7 chapters

MS Press has added three more chapters to the Microsoft Learning Windows 7 portal, where you’ll find links to numerous training resources related to Windows 7. The following chapters from recently published Microsoft Press books are now available.

From Windows 7 Inside Out:

• Chapter 2, “Installing and Configuring Windows 7”
• Chapter 11, “Backup, Restore and Recovery” (new)
• Chapter 21, “Performing Routine Maintenance”

From Windows 7 Resource Kit:

• Chapter 23, “Support Users and Remote Assistance”
• Chapter 29, “Deploying IPv6”

From Windows 7 Step by Step:

• Chapter 1, “Explore Windows 7”
• Chapter 2, “Navigate Windows and Folders”

From Introducing Windows 7 for Developers:

• Chapter 2, “Integrate with the Windows 7 Taskbar, Part 1”

From Windows 7 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant:

• Chapter 5, “Managing User Access and Security,” and Chapter 9, “Installing and Maintaining Programs” (new: a single download)

Elevate America: Mississippi

If you’re a resident of Mississippi—regardless of your employment status–you can take advantage of free training opportunities from Microsoft and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. There are 19,200 vouchers available—see here, here, and here for more information.

Source: http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/2009/11/elevate-america-mississippi

Great Article: Seven Rules For Succeeding As A Brand-New Leader By Michael D. Watkins

Seven Rules For Succeeding As A Brand-New Leader

Michael D. Watkins

You must do certain things even before you start the job.

The actions you take during your first few months in a new role have a major influence on whether you ultimately succeed or fail. Transitions are pivotal times, in part because they are when everyone expects change to occur. They’re also times of great vulnerability, when new leaders lack established working relationships and detailed knowledge of their new roles. If you fail to build momentum during your transition, you will face an uphill battle from then on.

What does it take to make a successful transition into a new role? My research has led me to compile seven rules that can help any newly appointed leader take charge more effectively:

Rule 1: Leverage your time before entry.

Your transition begins during the selection process when you’re being picked for the job, not when you formally enter the organization. If you fail to use the time before your move effectively, you’ll undermine your ability to get on top of the job right from the start. It’s a priceless period for absorbing information about your new organization and beginning to plan. Wise new leaders therefore use the time between the decision to take a new position and the formal start date to jump-start the transition process.

Rule 2: Organize to learn.

Taking on a new role can feel like sailing into a dense fog. You can see only a short distance and must exercise great caution as you strive to get your bearings. Because expectations for you are high and your time is precious, you must be an active learner. This means organizing to learn as efficiently as possible everything you need to learn about your new role. Plan early on to focus on three distinct types of learning: technical, political and cultural. Technical learning means understanding products, markets, customers, strategy and operations. Political learning means assessing how decisions are made, understanding who is most influential and identifying key sources of power. Cultural learning means understanding your new organization’s norms and values, its accepted ways of working and all the habits that make its character unique.

Rule 3: Secure early wins.

By the end of your first few months on the job, you will have to have made substantial progress energizing people and focusing them on solving the business’s most pressing problems. It is crucial that people see momentum building from the start. Tangible improvements motivate employees, encouraging them to try for still more and better. So plan to secure early wins by identifying significant problems that can be tackled in relatively little time. Their solutions must yield identifiable operational and financial improvements in performance.

Rule 4: Lay the foundation for success.

Early wins will help you get off to a good start, but they won’t suffice for continued success. You must also lay a foundation for the deeper changes that can bring sustained improvement in your organization’s performance. Your efforts during the first six months to lay that foundation must focus on building the team, transforming key structures and processes and developing all the skills you yourself will need to achieve your goals.

Rule 5: Construct a personal vision.

To get people to buy in and go the extra mile, you need to conceive a personal vision for your organization and make it a shared vision. You do this through cycles of observation, imaginative visualization and clarification. The new leaders best able to formulate a vision of what they want to accomplish are those who observe most carefully how their new organizations work. Thoughtful observation of the situation at hand, and hard-headed assessment of potential threats and opportunities, enables you to imagine–and communicate–what might be.

Rule 6: Build alliances.

You can only transform an organization if powerful people and groups find that helping you do so is in their own interest. New leaders can learn and plan, but they can achieve little on their own. Armed with knowledge of the political landscape, reach out and consolidate potential sources of support. Strive to convince those who can be convinced. Early in the transition, many people will be neither dedicated supporters nor implacable opponents. They will be indifferent or undecided–and, hence, persuadable.

Rule 7: Manage yourself

Finally, knowing and managing yourself is as important as knowing and managing the organization. The physical demands of a transition are high as you log endless hours traveling and attending meetings and face ever more work. The emotional demands are also great as you try to cope with not only challenges at work but also disruptions in the usual rhythms of life at home. You must therefore prepare for the emotional burden of transition by developing ways to maintain your equanimity. The key is to build the right networks for advice and counsel that can help you to exercise clear-headed judgment, stay focused and maintain emotional evenness.

It’s up to you.

Success in putting these seven rules into practice won’t guarantee a smooth transition. Even the best-laid plans can go awry. But care in planning and carrying out a transition can substantially improve your chance of success–and your chance to get opportunities to make further transitions in the future.

Michael D. Watkins is the author of Your Next Move: The Leader’s Guide to Navigating Major Career Transitions. He is co-founder of Genesis Advisors, a leadership development firm in Newton, Mass., that specializes in transition acceleration programs and coaching. His previous books include The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels and The First 90 Days in Government: Critical Success Strategies for New Public Managers at All Levels.

FREE Tutorial Videos of SQL Server 2008 training

• sql server 2008 samples video on Profiler (sql profiler tutorial)
• sql server samples video on Installation  (sql server 2008 installation guide)
• sql server 2008 samples video on sql commands (using sql commands in sql server)
• sql server samples video on Management Studio (sql server 2008 management studio tutorial)
• sql server samples video on Backup Database with compression (sql server 2008 compression)

Microsoft Training Kits

Microsoft has been releasing some Training Kits for the technologies that are running on market today. I’ve found some of them and the links are below:

SharePoint 2007 Training Kit: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=673dc932-626a-4e59-9dca-16d685600a51&displaylang=en

Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1C333F06-FADB-4D93-9C80-402621C600E7&displaylang=en

Visual Studio 2008 Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=8BDAA836-0BBA-4393-94DB-6C3C4A0C98A1&displaylang=en

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=752CB725-969B-4732-A383-ED5740F02E93&displaylang=en

SQL Server 2008 Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=E9C68E1B-1E0E-4299-B498-6AB3CA72A6D7&displaylang=en

ASP.NET MVC Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1E0BE0B2-910A-4676-9F3A-41E4D9C0FC08&displaylang=en

.NET 3.5 Enhancements Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=355c80e9-fde0-4812-98b5-8a03f5874e96&displaylang=en

Hope you would find these useful.

Windows 7 and Visual Studio 2010 Training Courses

Want to learn more on the latest versions of Visual Studio and Windows coming out of Redmond?  Do you like how-to videos and hands-on labs?

Explore Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 with a new training course on Channel 9

The developer evangelists who bring you the 10-4 Show are providing videos and labs for you to get familiar with .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010. This exclusive opportunity lets developers access courseware online in a self-paced learning experience.
URL to link to: http://r.ch9.ms/vs10b2f

The most comprehensive Windows 7 Developer training is now online on Channel 9

These videos, hands-on labs, and real-world samples are the quickest way to ramp up on the new developer features in Windows 7. Our new online offerings allow you to learn at your own pace and download only those modules that interest you.  Go ahead and jumpstart your Windows 7 developer skills now!

URL to link to: http://r.ch9.ms/winf

Source: Born to Learn

FREE Windows 7 Developer Boot Camp, Nov 16

Jump-start your Windows 7 experience, the day before the conference begins (November 16), by joining some of the top Windows 7 engineers, including Mark Russinovich, Landy Wang, and Arun Kishan, for an intense, high quality training session. Whether you are looking to create more performant, reliable, or secure applications, or you are an application developer looking to leapfrog past your competition, this FREE Boot Camp can get you from zero to hero in less than eight hours!  More About the Boot Camp >>

REGISTER TODAY AND SECURE YOUR SPOT!  You must register for this free Boot Camp to attend, and space is limited. 

Instructions for PDC09 conference attendees.  Enter the regular registration process through the Registration page, and click on the orange register now button.  Select ‘register for the event’ as your registration type.  You’ll be able to add the Boot Camp as a workshop during the registration process.  If you have already registered for a Workshop and would like to attend the Windows 7 Boot Camp instead, simply email the Registration Desk to reserve your spot in Boot Camp. 

Instructions for non-attendees.  Enter the regular registration process through the Registration page, and click on the orange register now button.  Select ‘register for workshop only pass’ as your registration type.  When you get to the workshop selection page of the registration form, you’ll be able to pick the Windows 7 Boot Camp as a free item.

Still have registration questions?  Contact the PDC09 registration desk at pdc09@ustechs.com

FREE Exchange 2010/Unified Messaging content!

Get a head start and become the go-to messaging person within your organization. Microsoft Learning has developed some great, free resources on Exchange Server 2010, including Silverlight Learning Snacks on Unified Messaging, High Availability and Storage, eLearning Clinics highlighting the new features in Exchange 2010, and finally, a PrePress preview of the upcoming MS Press Administrator’s Companion Book.

Here are the links to all of this free content:

Free Silverlight Learning Snacks:

- Unified Messaging in Exchange 2010

- High Availability and Storage in Exchange 2010

Free PrePress Chapter Downloads:

- Free Chapters from Exchange 2010 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant

o Chapter 1: Exchange Server Administration Overview AND Chapter 6: Mailbox Administration

Free eLearning Clinics:

- Collection 6899: Exploring Features in Exchange 2010 (2-hours)

- Collection 6900: Introduction to Exchange 2010 (1-hour)

- Collection 6901: Exchange Server 2010 in an Enterprise (1-hour)

Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2010 Learning Portal:

- www.microsoft.com/learning/exchange

Source: http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/2009/10/free-exchange-2010unified-messaging-content