Free e-book offer from Microsoft Press – Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

By quicklearnteam

Microsoft is offering a free e-book to partners. Learn about the features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Sign in to download Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, written by industry experts Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker along with the Windows Server team at Microsoft.

Sign in to Microsoft Partner site to download the free e-book.

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BizTalk Server 2010 Released – Developer Edition Now Free

By Nick Hauenstein

Microsoft has just released BizTalk Server 2010, and it is now generally available! Along with this release comes an updated licensing structure that will be a relief for consultants, and companies managing multiple BizTalk environments. While the cost of the Enterprise edition has increased, the cost of the Developer edition has been eliminated. The Developer edition includes the full capabilities of the Enterprise edition, with the limitation being only that you cannot use it in production.

The pricing and licensing page sums this up saying:

Note: Many customers who deploy BizTalk Server implement separate development, testing, and production environments for their BizTalk Server 2010 solution. For the development and testing environments, you can use the free download of the BizTalk Server Developer Edition.

For the production environment, you need a valid processor license of BizTalk Server 2010 Enterprise, Standard, or Branch Edition for each processor on which you install an edition of BizTalk Server 2010.

I applaud this move by Microsoft, as it could encourage a new generation of developers to download and experiment with this powerful platform. This is a move that could drive adoption while at the same time potentially lower the TCO for those organizations managing multiple environments. Given the nature of BizTalk Server, I trust that this will not result in an equivalent of Eternal September for the BizTalk community, but don’t quote me on that remark.

To further help out developers that are new to BizTalk Server in general, we are offering a major discount on our BizTalk Developer Fundamentals online course. Simply use promo code BT2010 when you register, and you will receive $295 off a self-paced registration. This offer expires at the end of September, so act fast!

Finally, go and get BizTalk Server 2010 while it’s still cached at a CDN server near you!