2007 comes to an end ... 2008 will be exciting
Before we all vanish, I would like to thank all my colleagues for a really great technology 2007 year, during which we conquered many technology and technology awareness challenges.
The most recent success story is the latest release of the Power Tools, which includes the 2008 compatible TFS Best Practice Analyzer tool. Find information and download the latest treasure chest from here. See summary below.
Next year we are looking forward to a growth in SA Architect, a technology event in Kuwait (watch this space), the MVP Summit and many, many more technology information sharing and awareness events. The focus in our area is all around Team Foundation Server 2008, Interoperability between Windows and Linux and trying to keep afloat in the huge wave of innovation that we will be faced with during 2008.
Our message for 2008 is "Using the right technology for the right solution, making interoperability a feature not dream and as always keeping it simple".
The following illustration has created great turmoil when it appeared on the home page of our internal technology readiness portal, but it will remain because it represents our commitment to make technology integrate and communicate seamlessly.
For many, many years (started in the NT 3.1 CTP days...) we have been telling Microsoft that they should market their immense interoperability capability more aggressively ... now that we have WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) and a set of open standards, we will prove that it is not only possible, but a viable business and technology initiative.
I wish everyone a happy and safe jump into 2008! May the new year bring happiness, success and simplicity to your life!
TFS Power Tools summary ... what's new in a snap view?
- Find in Source Control tool provides the ability to locate files and folders in source control by the item’s status or with a wildcard expression.
- Open a selected folder in Windows Explorer straight from Team Explorer.
- Quick Label feature allows labels to be easily applied to a given selection of files and folders in the Source Control Explorer.
- Build Notification tool that runs in the Windows task bar notification area monitoring the status of the build definitions you have specified.
- Additional TFPT.EXE commands for configuring Team Explorer connection settings (tweakui) and for destroying Work Items and Work Items Type Definitions (destroyWI, destroyWITD).
- TFS Best Practices Analyzer for use with a Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server deployment.
- The Process Template Editor updated for use with Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server.
- Bug fixes and removal of Power Tools that are now included within Team Foundation Server.