Microsoft Delivers First Public Beta of 'Orcas' and .NET 3.5

Microsoft Delivers First Public Beta of 'Orcas' and .NET 3.5

Microsoft released Beta 1 of its upcoming IDE and interim framework today. This next version of Visual Studio, called "Orcas" for now, will offer developers as many as 200 new features, according to Microsoft. Orcas is designed to provide a development environment for Microsoft's new and upcoming platform advances, such as those in the Windows Vista operating system, 2007 Office System, SQL Server 2005 and Windows "Longhorn" server. It also adds a wide breadth of tooling for everything from back-end data connectivity and unit testing to Web development and user interface (UI) design.

Read the rest at Application Trends Magazine.

Project 2007 Exam Beta Next Week

Project 2007 Exam Beta Next Week

MCPs who want to prove skills with Project 2007 will have a chance to do so next week, when the Microsoft Learning Group puts one its upcoming Project exams into the beta testing process.

Exam 70-632 TS: Office Project 2007--Configuring will be available for besting from April 24 through May 8. Registration is already open and those who want to take it can register through Pearson Vue and Prometric testing centers as exam 71-632.

More here

Microsoft Unveils New Office Cert Program

Microsoft Unveils New Office Cert Program

This week, Microsoft Corp. released more details on the structure of its upcoming Office-related certification revamp.

In January, Certiport, the company that Microsoft works with to produce its Office-related certifications, said the program would undergo a revamp around specific skills and job roles. Until this announcement, however, the name of the program, its related certifications and the requirements for the title had not yet been publicly released.

Those details came in this week's annoucement. No longer known as Microsoft Office Certifications (MOS or, previously, MOUS), the program is now called the 2007 Microsoft Office system certifications. Within this, there are two titles: Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) and the Microsoft Certified Application.

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The All New CWNPZone Launches

The All New CWNPZone Launches

Your goal is to become a certified wireless network professional.
We're here to help. We currently have practice exams, a CWNA question-of-the-day, and Blogs and forums with tips by CWNEs & CWNTs on how to get CWNP certified. We'll show you the whitepapers to study, recommend the study material to read, and answer your questions. You can also purchase flashcards, study guides, practice exams, test vouchers and more at discount prices in our online store. This site is brought to you by C3-Wireless, a member of the CWNE roundtable, and developer of the official CWNP practice exams. Membership is free so join now and let us help you in your wireless journey!

Take a look for yourself at CWNPZone.com.

Plans for Firefox 3

Browser Aims to Open up the Web

The key developers behind forthcoming changes to the Firefox browser reveal their plans for how the popular program will change. The difference between online and offline, the web and the desktop will blur in the near future, Mozilla's Mike Schroepfer has said.
The vice-president of engineering at the home of the Firefox browser said small changes to the way the web works will have a big impact in the coming years.
"Things that are impossible or hard to do now, will be possible or very easy," he said.


Read the rest of this story at the BBC Web Site

The Final 'Final' Nail in WEP's Coffin?

The Final 'Final' Nail in WEP's Coffin?

Researchers have discovered a new way of attacking Wired Equivalent Privacy that requires an amount of data "more than an order of magnitude" less than the best known key-recovery attacks. In effect, the cracking can be done within a minute, as the title of the paper suggests: Breaking 104 bit WEP in less than 60 seconds. Specifically, only 40,000 data packets are needed for a 50 percent chance of success, while 85,000 packets give a 95 percent chance of success, according to the paper's authors: Erik Tews, Ralf-Philipp Weinmann and Andrei Pyshkin, all researchers in the computer science department at Darmstadt University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany.

Complete article found at eWeek.com.

IT Professionals Feel Upgrading Business Skills is Important

IT Professionals Feel Upgrading Business Skills is Important

IT professionals feel that employers want them to not only be able to do their jobs, but to be personable while they are performing their duties as well. When presented with a list of six different major skills, IT professionals believe that employers value 'interpersonal and communication' and 'technical' skills the most when considering candidates for employment or advancement. However, 'strategic thinking' and 'project management' skills are believed to be of value as well, while 'financial' and 'negotiation' skills are believed to be of least value. These results are from a survey of IT professionals which was distributed via the CompTIA IT Professional Access newsletter.

Article at CompTIA.org.

Tip of the Trade: Back to School, Geek Style

Tip of the Trade: Back to School, Geek Style

Technology changes so much. If you haven't figured out that a career in IT means a lifetime of continuing education, this is probably not the field for you. Sure, Fortran gurus and COBOL cowboys still eke out meager existences, but the world marches on, and continual change is the norm. The Internet itself is the world's biggest library, and anyone with drive and time can learn just about anything. There is also formal education available for folks who prefer more structure. Thus, O'Reilly Media, the largest computer book publisher, and the University of Illinois have partnered to create the O'Reilly School of Technology.

Read the whole story at ServerWatch.com.

MCSA/MCSE Upgrade Exams Head Out to Pasture

MCSA/MCSE Upgrade Exams Head Out to Pasture

In keeping with an exam retirement policy that has been in place since Oct, the Microsoft Learning Solutions group has announced retirement of two exams for Windows 2000 next year. Those announcements were unveiled during a Certification Live Meeting that took place online this week.

The Two exams placed on that retirement list are 70-292, Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003 for an MCSA-Windows 2000, and 70-296, Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining Windows Server 2003 for an MCSE-Windows 2000.

Read more here

The slides to the Live Meeting are here its worth noting that these are not the only exams that are retiring but all Windows 2000 related exams are - see the pdf for more details

IBM Beefs Up Hardware Certs

IBM Beefs Up Hardware Certs

IBM recently added a number of new certifications to its line of "System" certifications, including System i, System p and System x.

Since the beginning of the year, the company has added more than a dozen new hardware certifications, most of which debuted this month. The additions include:

• Five new certifications for its System p series of titles. The System p track of certifications debuted last year (replacing AIX).
• Three new System i certifications (and retired several eServer certifications).
• Two new System x certifications for IT administration.
• Two new System z certifications; one for IT support, one for sales.

Click here for more information