Earlier this week, we hosted the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Cloud Computing and Virtualization Special Interest Group (SIG) at our Microsoft offices for a talk on Microsoft’s cloud computing strategy. This event was the first of their “Cloud Computing Learning Journey into Major Cloud Providers” series of talks which they are organizing for their members. This was also one of the events which kicked-off our Microsoft Cloud Week this week. The turnout was fabulous (100+ attendees), and we all had a lot of fun sharing with the SCS folks what Microsoft is doing with the cloud. [gallery link=“file” orderby=“rand”] Here are the presentation slides from that night: [slideshare id=3743394&doc=scsopeningjohnfernandes-100416021239-phpapp01] [slideshare id=3743390&doc=scsmicrosoftcloudserviceswalterbenjamin-100416021208-phpapp02] [slideshare id=3743398&doc=scsprojectnimbusnenggiinyap-100416021239-phpapp02] [slideshare id=3743401&doc=scswindowsazureplatformjonathanwong-100416021257-phpapp02] [slideshare id=3743387&doc=scsddcdarrylchantry-100416021137-phpapp01]

Thank you everybody for attending our MSDN Mix-It-Up and TechNet Event on Mar 25. For everybody who wants the slides here they are: For MSDN Mix It Up slides here. For TechNet Event slides here Keep posted on our future events here. Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter or Facebook!

Visual Studio 2010 announcements and impact on MPN – This is a very good resource that describes the changes that this launch will bring to the Microsoft Partner Network, in terms of SKUs that Certified/Gold Certified ISVs (and other partners) will receive the the Microsoft Partner network. In summary: Download the deck for details: Visual Studio 2010 announcements and impact on MPN

Learn more about Windows Phone 7 development! We’ve been seeing a lot of interest with Windows Phone 7 and people want to know how you can develop on it. We got two community events that you wouldn’t want to miss if you want to learn more about Windows Phone 7 development. SGDOTNET April User Group Meeting Windows Phone 7 Development Chris Ismael, Developer Evangelist April 16, 2010 2000hrs – 2100hrs The new Windows Phone is coming! Learn how you can get started with Windows Phone 7 app development using Silverlight. This session is targeted for developers who would like to learn how they can start building apps or games for the phone, touching on some phone-specific features, using free versions of Visual Studio 2010 and Blend 4. There will also be a post-session discussion on Marketplace. Register at http://www.sgdotnet.org/News/Pages/201004Newsletter.aspx ...

Silverlight MVP Michael Sync created a step by step tutorial on how to install the multi-touch simulator for Windows Phone 7. Michael Sync is one of the founders of the Singapore Silverlight User Group. Check out his complete post here: http://michaelsync.net/2010/04/06/step-by-step-tutorial-installing-multi-touch-simulator-for-silverlight-phone-7

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/9824912[/vimeo] Created by passionate people who loves innovation, Project Nimbus is an initiative that hopes to solve innovators’ problem of finding data sets and services by offering a central place for authoritative and reliable data and services access from government and commercial entities in Singapore. From their website: http://projectnimbus.org Our goal: To unite the voices of Singapore Innovators and identify data sets and services we as Innovators want To work with content owner and government entities for the appropriate release of these data sets and services to Singapore Innovators To ultimately help innovators focus on innovation (instead of the silly stuff that burdens us all today) We have been working with the Project Nimbus guys and they have been churning out a lot of things! If you want to know how you can innovate faster and focus on creating awesome mashups be sure to check out their website! ...

Microsoft has just launched the new “Windows 7 Buyer’s Guide” at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/windows7.aspx. This is a recommended tool for those of you guys in the ISV Royalty Program and all Volume Licensing customers as your first stop for Windows 7 questions related to basic licensing, product keys, activation, or configuration including XP Mode and virtualization. Benefits Designed to reduce CS costs through helping customers self-service their basic questions Streamline and speed the pre-sales experience for upgrading Windows customers Provides customer service agents with a single “how to buy” resource to support Volume Licensing customers with Windows 7 Check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/windows7.aspx

Spanning a week of activities, the Microsoft Cloud Week will get you up to speed with the Windows Azure Platform. Things to look out for. Mon, April 12 - Microsoft Hosting Day (0900-1630) Mon, April 12 - SCS Cloud Computing and Virtualization SIG (1800-2000) Tue - Wed, April 14-15 - Metro Windows Azure Deep Dive Workshop (registration closed early though) And the main event: Tue, April 13 MSDN Presents: Windows Azure Platform Speakers, David Chappell of Chappell & Associates and Chris Auld of Intergen Ltd will be present to deliver their own insights into the world of Windows Azure. Today, over twenty million businesses and a billion people use Microsoft’s cloud services. The Windows Azure Platform is a key component within the Microsoft cloud, and we are happy to announce that it is now commercially available in Singapore. Windows Azure offers a flexible, familiar environment designed to create applications and services for the cloud. With Windows Azure, you can shorten your time to market and adapt as demand for your service grows. We invite you to come to this event, and discover your potential with Windows Azure. ...

I was reading through the UI Design and Interaction Guide for Windows Phone 7 Series and found out that there is currently no panoramic application template or control provided as part of the standard application platform. Nothing stops us from creating our own though. To make things easier, I’ve made a behavior library for everyone to use that will handle flick gestures. I’ve also included a “GoToNextState” behavior which I based on http://gallery.expression.microsoft.com/en-us/MIXBehaviorPack. If you want to follow along, you’ll need to download my behavior library. Also, if you don’t know where to get the Blend bits, check out this post: http://electricbeach.org/?p=460 So, let’s start by creating a new Windows Phone Application project in Blend 4. ...

Last night at MIX10 held at Las Vegas Microsoft announced its developer story for the Windows Phone 7 Series. If you didn’t catch the keynote last night you can watch it MIX10 Keynote A quick summary: Silverlight 4 is now on RC. Final build will be out next month Silverlight on 60% of all internet connected devices Expression Blend 4 preview out. Free upgrade to Expression 3 owners. Windows Phone 7 uses Silverlight and XNA. Uses the same Silverlight you know on the web. Uses Visual Studio 2010 with free tools. Visual Studio 2010 for Windows Phone Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone XNA for Windows Phone Same XNA platform for PC, Phone and Xbox Tonight will be another big night full of releases. Hope to see you there! Chris was our man on the street reporting live from Vegas. ...