Top News Stories
Microsoft Cloud Strategy Outlined by CEO Ballmer at WPC (Channel Insider)
Microsoft executives highlighted the company’s efforts around cloud computing during keynote addresses at the first day of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. The statement of Microsoft’s cloud strategy comes as the software giant faces more competitive threats on all fronts, including operating systems, and productivity suites from companies such as Google and Apple.

Microsoft Promises Partners Windows Tablets, Phones (BusinessWeek)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised a sports arena filled with Microsoft partners that, within months, a number of Windows-based tablets would be hitting the market, and that the company is urgently working to bring its Windows 7 smartphone OS to market. With his usual energetic physical expressiveness, Ballmer kicked off the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), being held in Washington D.C., this week, with a keynote that urged business partners to stick with Microsoft, even as the company has stumbled in keeping up its presence in new device offerings.

Windows Tablets: Already Too Late? (Yahoo! News)
Now that 3 million iPads have been sold, you wouldn’t be out of line to start asking when Microsoft is going to get off its bloated butt and offer a response. Sure, a smattering of Windows tablets are on the market now — including the disastrously conceived Archos 9 PC Tablet — but so far no slate running Windows has had a more than trivial impact on the industry.

Microsoft Azure Appliance May Lure Companies to Cloud (Seattle Times)
Microsoft executive Bob Muglia said he was meeting with a chief information officer last year when the man grabbed him and said, “You don’t get it. We never want another update from Microsoft again.” The man was frustrated by the software updates a corporate customer has to install if it uses Microsoft software — security patches, service packs, other bug fixes.

Ballmer: Windows Mobile Lost a ‘Whole Generation’ (The Register)
Steve Ballmer has delivered a mea culpa to Microsoft’s partners for its slip-ups against Apple and Google on tablets and smart phones. Ballmer told Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows Mobile missed a “whole generation of users” and promised Windows Phone 7 will set things right.

Microsoft Sets Price for Windows Intune (CNET)
Microsoft has put a price tag on keeping Windows in tune. The software giant said on Monday that it plans to charge customers $11 per computer per month for Windows Intune, a cloud-based service that lets small businesses manage and protect their computers. Microsoft announced its plans for Windows Intune back in April, but had not yet said how much it would charge for the service when it is ready for mainstream use early next year.

Microsoft Launches Windows Phone 7 Dev Tools (ChannelWeb)
Microsoft on Monday launched the public beta of the Windows Phone 7 developer toolset and outlined the business opportunity it envisions the forthcoming OS will generate for partners. At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C., Microsoft also revealed its plan to start shipping preview Windows Phone 7 devices to selected developers on July 19, fulfilling the pledge it made last month at the TechEd conference. Developer interest in Windows Phone 7 hardware has been strong, but it looks like some will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on preview devices.

Around the Blogosphere
Effectively Planning, Tracking & Controlling Projects with Microsoft Project 2010 (Meet Dux)
I had the great opportunity to present a 2 hour webcast for O’Reilly Media a few weeks ago on “Effectively Planning, Tracking & Controlling Projects with Microsoft Project 2010.” In the presentation, I demonstrated how to leverage Microsoft Project 2010 from initial planning to project closing. In addition, I demonstrated how you properly:

SharePoint 2010 Guidance from the Patterns & Practices Group (Andrew Connell)
Recently the Patterns & Practices (P&P) group at Microsoft announced their completion and public availability of the SharePoint 2010 Guidance (SPG). The SPG provides technical details on key areas of SharePoint 2010 app development and contains a written guide (as a compiled CHM help file), reference implementations with source code and fully documented in the CHM as well as a library of reusable code. As they describe it:

Win One of Two Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN Subscriptions! (SharePoint Automation)
To celebrate my venture into the brave new world of independent consultancy I’ve decided to give away two MSDN Subscriptions – specifically, the top of the line Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN subscriptions valued at $11,899 each!* In the spirit of full disclosure, Microsoft gave me these subscriptions (plus one more which I’ll give away at SharePoint Saturday Denver on August 7th, 2010 so make sure your register!) for participating in the Visual Studio beta program with the intent that I would give these away at my discretion – well what better way to give them away than to offer them up to readers of my blog and specifically those who have used my tools.

Beginner’s Tip: Save Directly to SharePoint (Screencast) (End User SharePoint)
Today’s screencast from Laura Rogers is a true end-user tip.  She quickly demonstrates how to save a file directly from Office programs to SharePoint.  This tip applies to all version of SharePoint and all versions of Microsoft Office.  Also, when you have favorite document libraries that you work in all the time, use this demonstrated method to save those locations to Office programs.  Do this once, and the shortcut will be available on the “Open” and the “Save As” screen in all Office applications on your computer. 

SharePoint Job Listings*
SharePoint Consultant / Solution Designer – Reston, VA
Bamboo Solutions is currently interested in recruiting a SharePoint® Consultant / Solution Designer to work at our headquarters in Reston, Virginia. The SharePoint Consultant / Solution Designer position will require an experienced, client-facing business professional who provides a variety of information directly to clients for their ongoing SharePoint-related programs, new initiatives, strategic plans. In addition to a strong technical understanding of MS SharePoint and how SharePoint can be used to solve business problems, the Consultant/Solution Designer must have a strong customer service orientation and be experienced contributor who remains current on SharePoint industry and customer trends. The SharePoint Consultant/Solution Designer will value team-work and can work effectively in both the implementation and client-acquisition phases of a project.

SharePoint Administrator – Washington, DC
Hands-on experience in administrating SharePoint 2007 to include the following: installing and configuring medium web farm topology; applying patches, service packs, and infrastructure updates; configuring and executing Sharepoint and SQL Server backup/recovery process; creating, configuring, and maintaining Shared Service Providers to enable and enhance site search functionality; supporting DBAs and developers in deployment of SharePoint related solutions (e.g. addition custom web parts); adding and configuring custom properties to documents so that they may be searched; recommending best-practices that enhance end-user experience and promote both system efficiency and maintainability; elevating Sharepoint capabilities by evaluating and integrating third-party solutions; addressing the technical questions/needs of management, technical staff and SharePoint end-user community in a timely and professional manner.

Microsoft Updates
Description of the SharePoint Server 2007 hotfix package (sts-x-none.msp): June 29, 2010 (Microsoft Support)
This article describes the Office SharePoint server 2007 issues that are fixed in the hotfix package that is dated June 29, 2010.

SharePoint Events*

• July 13, Washington, DC, WPC Business Leadership One-Day Event - Click for Discount Details
• July 14, Online, Workflow Conductor – Automating Business Processes Webinar
• July 14, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• July 14, Online, PM Suite Webinar – Building Blocks for Implementing Your Own Project Management Solution
• July 20, Reading, England, SharePoint 2010 – Overview and Introduction
• July 20, Reading, England, SharePoint 2010 – ECM and Records Management
• July 21, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• July 21, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• July 21, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
• July 21, Online, Workflow Conductor – Automating Business Processes Webinar
• July 21, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• July 24, Chicago, Illinois, SharePoint Saturday
• July 28, Online, Workflow Conductor – Automating Business Processes
• July 28, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• July 28, Online, PM Suite Webinar – Building Blocks for Implementing Your Own Project Management Solution Webinar
• July 29, Online, From MyMerck to OneMerck – Enterprise 2.0 Webinar
• July 31, New York, New York, SharePoint Saturday
• August 5, Basingstoke, England, SharePoint 2010 – Internet Development
• August 7, Denver, Colorado, SharePoint Saturday
• August 14, Columbus, Ohio, SharePoint Saturday
• August 18, London, England, SharePoint 2010 – Overview and Introduction
• August 18, London, England, SharePoint 2010 – Social Computing and Collaboration
• August 24-27, Washington, DC, SharePoint Best Practices Conference
• August 28, Baltimore, Maryland, SharePoint Saturday
  
• September 8, Basingstoke, England, SharePoint 2010 – Overview and Introduction
• September 8, Basingstoke, England, SharePoint 2010 – Internet Development
• September 11, San Francisco, California, SharePoint Saturday
• September 16, Anaheim, CA, SharePoint Intelligence
• September 23, Basingstoke, England, SharePoint 2010 – ECM and Records Management
• September 23, Denver, Colorado, SharePoint Fest
• September 28-29, The Hague, SharePoint Connections 2010
• October 20-22, Boston, Massachusetts, SPTechCon

SharePoint Training*

• Online, Enterprise Social Computing at Deloitte
• July 19-22, Washington, DC, Office SharePoint 2007 Power End User – Mindsharp
• July 19-23, Washington, DC, SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer Beta – Mindsharp
• July 26-30, Minneapolis, Minnesota, SharePoint Designer 2010 Beta – Mindsharp
• July 26-30, Huntsville, Alabama, Administrating Office SharePoint Server 2007 – Mindsharp
• August 2-6, Minneapolis, MN, Developer’s Guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Mindsharp
• August 2-6, Online, Developer’s Guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Mindsharp
• August 5, Online, Maximizing SharePoint End User Adoption Webinar – Mindsharp
• August 9-12, Atlanta, GA, Office SharePoint 2007 Power End User – Mindsharp
• August 9-13, Atlanta, GA, Customize SharePoint Sites without Writing Code Using SharePoint Designer 2007 – Mindsharp
• August 11, Online, Live Meeting: Introduction to SharePoint – Mindsharp
• August 19, Online, Webinar: Maximizing SharePoint End User Adoption – Mindsharp
• August 25, Online, Live Meeting: Introduction to SharePoint – Mindsharp
• August 30 – September 2, Online, Office SharePoint 2007 Power End User – Mindsharp
• September 2, Online, Webinar: Maximizing SharePoint End User Adoption – Mindsharp
• September 8, Online, Live Meeting: Introduction to SharePoint – Mindsharp
• September 13-17, Online, Customize SharePoint Sites without Writing Code Using SharePoint Designer 2007 – Mindsharp
• September 13-17, Minneapolis, MN, Developer’s Guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Mindsharp
• September 13-17, Online, Developer’s Guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 – Mindsharp
• September 16, Online, Webinar: Maximizing SharePoint End User Adoption – Mindsharp
• September 20-23, Online, Office SharePoint 2007 Power End User – Mindsharp
• September 22, Online, Live Meeting: Introduction to SharePoint – Mindsharp

* Please contact Chris Dooley (chris.dooley@bamboosolutions.com) to be included in SharePoint Daily.

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