The Salty Korean

This was originally posted at http://www.mysoftwarestartup.com on 12/16/2007

Just as with Windows Vista logo program, Microsoft is either giving away free certifications or reducing the price on their Logo certifications for Windows Server 2008.  This time, they are calling it their Innovate on Windows Server initiative.

If you want your application tested for FREE, you must be one of the first 300 to submit by February 2008 and part of the ISV Microsoft Partner program (note that VeriSign will charge you money though).  This is only good towards the “Works with Windows Server 2008” program.  After February, the test fee is a mere $500 through June 30, 2008.

The Certified for Windows Server 2008 also has some significant discounts as well as some marketing benefits if you certify early.  You can read more about all of the benefits for both programs here on Microsoft’s website.

One of the things I noticed is different, is that you now have to use a Microsoft Product Identification Tool.  Note that these tests can be a real pain, but can alleviate your customers minds and give you some marketing capital (as in something to create buzz for your customers).

The next step is creating a Winqual Account with VeriSign, which will actually cost you some money.  The last time I attempted this program on Windows Vista, since my company is completely virtual, I had difficulties signing up with VeriSign.  We’ll see if that continues as I attempt to do this program.  As such, I have a very bad view of VeriSign.  Especially considering their web certificates are so expensive.

The second to last step is signing up with either VeriTest or Wipro.  I haven’t ever gotten this far, so I don’t have any words of wisdom.

Lastly you’re supposed to submit your test logs for verification.

I’ll try and update you all as I go through the process.

http://microsoft.mrmpslc.com/InnovateOnWindowsServer/

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Michael Klein’s plane was found on Christmas Day containing the bodies of his 13 year old daughter, pilot and himself.  Michael Klein was the President and CEO of eGroups, Inc. before it was sold to Yahoo! in 2000 and is now known as Yahoo! Groups.  He was traveling to or from his personal eco resort in Panama when the plane went down.  The survivor was a friend of his daughter.

While this doesn’t have any current impact on technology, I found that it was interesting, if not ironic in some sense.  He was 37 when he died, not much older than I or a majority of other industry influencers.  And I say ironic because just like rock singers who make it rich, he too died in a plane crash.  It’s definitely sad that his daughter passed away since it leaves her mother behind.  But at least the girl’s friend is going to live.

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I was very pleasantly surprised when I got this popup while looking for some Vista Power Tools.  Low and behold, it does actually use it, however I didn’t see anything impressive about their implementation.  You can access the beta by using the following URL.

http://www.microsoft.com/beta/downloads/Default.aspx

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Just think about how much greenhouse gasses you can save if you don’t fire up the fireplace, but instead turn your TV on and watch your favorite Yule Log show.  Set your DVR to WGN from 1:30 to 4:30 or you can watch it all day on Christmas on MOJO in HD from 6AM to 8PM.  There are a few local TV stations that also broadcast it, so check your cable or satellite provider.

You can find out more about the history of the Yule log by visiting Slate and watching their video.  If you didn’t know, the Yule Log is a tv show of a fire burning in a fireplace.  I suppose the old screensaver of an aquarium got it’s origins from the Yule Log.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you remember the real reason for the season, celebrating Christ’s birth.

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The Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2008 features and a variety of framework technologies including: LINQ, C# 3.0, Visual Basic 9, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX, VSTO, CardSpace, SilverLight, Mobile and Application Lifecycle Management.

http://www.microsoft.com/

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