Blogs

I have been wondering how to do this recently for one of my own projects and then the subject came up internally. A very unassuming Hovsep then wrote up the answer, so as a tip here it is - if you follow the link at the bottom you will see a step by step process with screen shots to help you along the way. Excel 2007 - How to connect to and import data from an XML Web Service Many organizations have adopted a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) as the architecture of choice. SOA allows a company to expose its services and data in a manner that is compliant with industry standards. SOA is the buzzword these days. Down the wire of SOA is XML data that is exchanged between entities. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 has built-in features that allow a user to connect to and consume XML data. Such data can be stored in an XML file on the local hard drive, shared in a portal or returned from an XML Web Service. If you’d like to use Excel to import XML data from a Web Service, follow these step-by-step guidelines. For the...

The Video I have delivered a number of Vista and Office demos over my time, so I decided to record a number of them for others to borrow, use, learn from or anything else they choose. This video covers the following subjects in enough detail for people to hopefully understand what they need to know on how to use these tools: Use of the recycle bin Use of shadow copies to undo changes to a document Use of the DVD writing tools to copy and update files on a DVD Use of the built in Vista Backup tools To see the Backup Video played using Silverlight (just try it) click here *. If you want to download it as a WMV file then head over to the new bCentral - the UK Small Business Center on MS.com - It should appear on this page soon. * it will take a few moments to open if you have Silverlight installed and require you to download Silverlight if you don't, but it is a 1MB download How I made it I simply ran through part of my normal demo talking as I went. When presenting to an audience it is easy to correct anything...

Someone asked me how to do this and I discovered that you can't have a negative discount percentage, negative quantity or negative price. So this makes it impossible to do... well, no, but it is not quite as easy as we would like. To make it work you need to create a Product and Service csv file to import to make it work. Here are the step by step instructions on installing it and using it. Installing the trade-in items Go to the BCM menu and select the Product and Services menu item Press the import button at the bottom of the dialog to get the screen shown on the left Create a csv file on your desktop called tradein.csv (start / run "notepad %homepath%\tradein.csv") Copy and paste the text below into the text file and save Trade In (10000), Trade in, -10000 Trade In (1000), Trade in, -1000 Trade In (100), Trade in, -100 Trade In (10), Trade in, -10 Trade In (1), Trade in, -1 browse the csv file on your desktop and press import Job done Using the trade-in items in an opportunity Now we have these...

I have to shout about this, Nigel who lived just down the road "popped" off to Calgary a couple of weeks ago to compete in the World Championships Blacksmiths . This competition is hard work - doing something most of us computer people never really experience - lifting a heavy hammer and beating red hot iron into the shapes required (horse shoes and many others) over a blisteringly hot fire for hours on end. I'm not saying that we don't work hard, but this is physical endurance that you should not have to experience when installing SBS!!! Anyway, so off went this Brit, where the end result out by a 3 mm would mean disqualification, and beat his way through many rounds to be ranked number 10 in the world!!!!! I've seen the work Nigel does, from special shoes for lame horses to sausages on a BBQ and the result is always perfect. His achievements managed to make BBC news - http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6290000/newsid_6293700?redirect=6293726.stm&news=1&bbram...

Just a FYI, 6 days after my birthday Microsoft launch another storming set of products. Microsoft announced at its partner conference on July 10 that it will launch Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 together in a single launch on February 27, 2008, in Los Angeles. MicrosoftBlog.com » Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 to Launch on February 27, 2008 ttfn David Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008 , Visual Studio , SQL Server 2008 , release date

Office Live is already a great success, but today Microsoft announced even more to make it a business for partners to make success for them and their customers. We've released information about partners, solutions and using Windows Live, sample sites and more information on how to make it a business success. Have a look at Microsoft Office Live Launches Partner Program, Helps Partners Reach Small Businesses for more information. Add to this the extra opportunities that Windows Live also brings and the new tools to build on there too ( http://partner.live.com/windowslive/ ) and you really start to get something amazing. The press release Microsoft Office Live Launches Partner Program, Helps Partners Reach Small Businesses includes a reference from Solution Canvas: Solution Canvas is a Glasgow, Scotland-based Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that uses the Microsoft Office Live platform to host justia, a powerful practice management system for small legal firms. justia offers a cost-effective solution that provides...

I'm not there, so can't tell you what they said, but I can point to others who have and point you to their blogs: WWPC PreDay Recap MAPS Training Requirement for MAPS WWPC Cougar WWPC Small Business Symposium WPC Small Biz Symposium Kicks Booty At the Small Business Symposium http://www.iqubed.biz/blog/2007/07/04/countdown-to-microsoft-wwpc-07/ ttfn David Technorati Tags: SBSC , WPC , Partner Conference

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is an amazing opportunity to understand what Microsoft is planning on doing for its partners over the next 12 months, what changes will be happening to our products, look Microsoft in the eye and ask your question and to build relationships with other partners and people inside Microsoft to benefit your business. Some of the speakers include UK Small Business partners, such as Susanne Dansey , Gareth Brown and Andy Trish . They represent two areas of the community and their own companies, Westcoast a Microsoft distributor aiming at the small business end of the partner market and thriving, now Gold Certified SBSC partners who two years ago were not on Microsoft's radar and have made being a SBSC partner a real benefit. In terms of what is on that is just for small business partners we had the Symposium yesterday. As to what was expected, here is the small business blog http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2007/07/03/3677168.aspx Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference...

IIS7 is coming in Windows Server 2008 (Longhorn). Microsoft is hosting microsoft.com using it and you can with others too. This information is from Technet. More free IIS7 Web hosting offers hit the Web Posted 6/15/2007 10:29:00 PM Since my last post introducing the bleeding edge IIS7 hosters who started offering free hosting on Beta 3, several new Web hosters joined the mix, including gate.com, parking.ru and myhosting.com who went live today! If you're looking for a free Web ... http://blogs.iis.net/bills/archive/2007/06/15/more-free-iis7-web-hosting-offers-hit-the-web.aspx www.Microsoft.com is live on IIS7 beta 3 - are you? Posted 6/15/2007 8:59:04 AM The www.Microsoft.com guys have been running IIS7 on some of their servers since early beta days, but I was excited to get an email this week which announced that they are running IIS7 on all of their servers! (except for a single box which ... http://blogs.iis.net/bills/archive/2007/06/15/www-microsoft-com-is-live-on-iis7-beta-3-are-you.aspx TechEd Video...

IIS7 is the web server in Windows Server 2008 and is not only already getting great press, but is already running Microsoft.com for us !! Once again, pinched from Technet. Administering IIS7 on Server Core Installations of Windows Server 2008 Posted 6/26/2007 3:34:00 PM As you may have seen from TechEd 2007 announcements and recent Bill Staples’ (IIS Product Unit Manager) blog, IIS7 is now supported on Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008. We are hoping to address customer requests by offering lo ... http://blogs.iis.net/metegokt/archive/2007/06/26/administering-iis7-on-server-core-installations-of-windows-server-2008.aspx IIS7 on Server Core - June CTP build released! Posted 6/26/2007 3:06:00 PM I'm excited to announce that a new build of IIS7 and Windows 2008 Server is available for testing by Beta testers. This build includes updates and fixes made since the Beta 3 release earlier this year, and includes the previously announced IIS7 on Se ... http://blogs.iis.net/bills/archive/2007/06...

With a tear in my eye the time has come for me to move my stick hut somewhere new. I have loved working in and with the small business community and with a set of awesome partners who can complain and nag, but normally with good cause and that are more willing to say thank-you and "good job" when the time is right. To you all I take my hat off for making me feel so welcome. As a legacy we now have SBSC up and running, partner groups that support themselves, a voice into Microsoft from the smaller end of the partner community and a better understanding of the motivations of both Microsoft and our partners. We also have a new level of engagement with customers. I wish I could take credit for all of this, but I am just a figurehead for a great team of people inside Microsoft. A nice chap called Mark in the OEM team will be helping to drive Cougar knowledge through the community when the time comes (no, this is not the time yet, trust me), SBSC has been supported by Jen as many of you would have seen from...

There are a couple of recent announcements with regard to the current range of products that I thought I would cover off. One is about licensing and has been written up by Matt McSpirit at http://blogs.technet.com/mattmcspirit/archive/2007/06/22/microsoft-virtualisation-licensing-client-and-server.aspx and covers how many licenses you get when. The other is Virtual Server SP1: Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Is Now Available Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 is the server virtualization technology engineered for the Windows Server operating system to increase hardware utilization and enable IT staff to rapidly configure and deploy new servers. Register to download the free software and you will receive relevant resources that are strategically assembled to address the challenges you will face as you discover, assess, and deploy the software. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7042993 The What is New page shows (plus more on the page) - note the x64 support for more memory. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/virtualserver/evaluation...

Events/WebCasts Windows Server 2008: Maximize Protection, Control, and Flexibility Watch these on-demand webcasts and learn how you can capitalize on new features to improve your organization's networking infrastructure, security, server performance, and reliability. Also, test drive Windows Server 2008 in a virtual lab and download the latest audio podcasts. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7043006 TechNet Radio: Review of Server Management in Windows Server 2008 Listen in as Andrew Mason (Principle Program Manager for Server Core), Jeffrey Snover (Architect for PowerShell), and Eduardo Melo (Program Manager for Server Manager) discuss the role of Server Management in Windows Server 2008. Each will briefly discuss some of the new features of Server Core, PowerShell, and Server Manager. We also talk with Jeff Woolsey about the latest updates in Virtualization. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7043008 TechNet Webcast: Technical Overview of Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2008 (Level 300) Monday...