1.  Visual Studio LightSwitch homepage - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/ff796201.aspx

• How Do I series for beginners
• Lots of videos and articles on LightSwitch development
• Starter Kits, Samples, Examples etc

2.  LightSwitch Help Websight  - http://lightswitchhelpwebsite.com/Home.aspx

• complete examples of building a working application with code views, custom queries, etc

Thus far we have visited:

As part of this, I deliver an agenda similar to the below, and utilize the presentations attached to this message.  I do all the demos from the Brian Keller ALM Hyper V image.  If you don't see your city on the list, please let me know and I will see what we can do!!

To see the presentations or download them, here is the link to them on SkyDrive

Agenda:

The good news is we have recently announced the release of the latest SSDT  (SQL Server Data Tools), and it is available for download for both VS 2010 and VS2012.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ssdt/archive/2012/09/14/new-ssdt-power-tools-now-for-both-visual-studio-2010-and-visual-studio-2012.aspx

• SSDT is available as a free component of the SQL Server platform and is available for all SQL Server users.
  • SSDT targets: SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012 and SQL Azure
• SSDT was initially released on the web alongside SQL Server 2012
  • SSDT with SQL Server 2012 was initially hosted in the Visual Studio 2010 SP1 shell. It can install standalone or combine with existing Visual Studio 2010 Professional SP1 or higher installations
• SSDT also shipped with Visual Studio 2012
  • In Visual Studio 2012, SSDT replaced and provided conversion capability for existing Visual Studio database projects
  • You can download Visual Studio 2012 from the  Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2012 download site

The FAQ page for SSDT gives a LOT of good background info as well.  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/hh322942

I will start by saying there is a TON of new stuff, but it can be boiled down to several large improvements.  

1. VS 2012 IDE enhancements
2. .NET 4.5
3. TFS 2012 Enhancements
4. Packaging Changes

 I am not going to go into all the little things that have changed in the product.   There are already some great resources out there that going into great detail on this, and I encourage you to take a look at those if you need this detail.

• MSDN Site - What's New in Visual Studio 2012
• ASP.Net Site - What's new in ASP.NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012  

So, the IDE enhancements...what are the Biggies in my mind?   First, there was a lot of work in the general IDE of 2012 to clean things up a bit.   The general feel is the same, but seems like all the windows / layouts are more consistent than before.   Coding syntax help (ie Intellisense ) is better, and more current ( HTML5, JavaScript editor etc ).   Interop between VS2010 sp1 and VS2012 projects also now exists, so you can have devs on each platform on the same project.  The obvious support of new frameworks ( MVC4, Entity Framework, ASP.NET 4.5 etc ).  Search across the IDE... such a simple thing, yet its been missing.  Nice new Code Review windows to allow you to work better with teammates.    There are so many things to go into here, and this is where I would checkout the MSDN link above for deep details.

The .NET 4.5 enhancements focus primarily on scale and portability.   Allows for the build of assemblies to work on multiple target platforms (phone,store,desktop apps).  Many little performance things were addressed allowing for greater scalability.  Obvious support of Windows 8 platforms, ASP.NET 4.5 enhancements with web forms, webapi etc

The changes to TFS 2012 to me are some of the best of the entire package.  The best part of the changes though is that they aren't at the cost of change in direction... Its more about cleaning it up, making it more powerful, and adding new functionality.   Way to much to go into here, but will refer you to the TFS Blog that has a good overview of the changes.

The packaging changes in VS2012 really revolve around the move of VS Test Pro down from Ultimate to Premium.  There are definitely other small changes (including no more Premium or Ultimate w/o MSDN), but overall the message seems to be that Premium is the Bang for Buck SKU now.   There are two good pages to checkout that break this down.   First, is the full capabilities and feature comparisons between the products, and second shows the differences in the MSDN subscription between the various versions.

 Lastly, we have been working hard at getting the word out... I know I alone have done countless Launch events for SLG customers across the country.   If you have not been able to get to one of these, I encourage you to visit the virtual launch site with all the great content and demos on demand.

First, some background.   There is a good interop story here where you can continue to use VS2010 and connect it to TFS 2012 (and vice versa).   You would obviously lose some functionality that is built between the two, but overall it works well.    The key here is you can upgrade your TFS environment now to 2012 w/o forcing your clients to upgrade.   Since the change is on the server side, you can do this now, and then work on upgrading your clients as necessary.

Overall, the upgrade process is much smoother than in the past.  the 2008 to 2010 upgrade was not as smooth as we would have liked, but the same is NOT true with the latest edition.   TFS 2010 to TFS 2012 is a much less painful process.   Now, as with anything, the more you customized things, the more you have to account for, but overall its a straight forward process.

In the following post, we outline and breakdown the steps necessary to consider when doing the upgrade.  

This site really breaks it down into step by step with great graphics through the whole process.

 In addition, lots of great TFS resources / information in general can be found on the TFS homepage.

For those of you migrating from VSS still, there direct migration tools available on our site as well.  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms253060.aspx#features   This site walks through the various tools and considerations when going through the migration from VSS to TFS.

 One last thing for you folks in Public Sector - In nearly every meeting I have, I inquire about the development process that is followed.  I get hands on usually everything, and then usually the comments that there is a desire to utilize more Agile methods, but the inability to do so based on strict agency guidelines.   Well, hopefully we have a solution for you.   Some bright folks on my team created a custom TFS process template that was designed to help address the need of teams who wish to follow Agile Development methods, yet still report up to a waterfall project approach.   If this sounds at all interesting, the full details are on our Codeplex page.

• MSDN - User training - So, if you have a current MSDN subscription, we do offer course collections to assist developers in training.  
• First, login to your MSDN Account.   https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/manage/default.aspx
• Click on Register next to:  Microsoft E-Learning course collections --- Here is a link to the course collections.  
• To activate and use this benefit, you will need to login to your MSDN account, and manage your benefits.  Once there, you can click to activate this benefit. Access e-Learning here
• Pluralsight Training - in an effort in increase the training options available, Microsoft has contracted with Plural Sight to provide additional online training.   The signup deadline to get this 12 month subscription is 9/15/2012, however so far they are letting folks sign up past this deadline... however, act fast as I have no idea when this will go away.  I have attached a PDF with additional details on this program.
• Webcasts - There are a TON of webcasts available from many sources, both live and recorded that you can take advantage of for getting up to speed on a technology
• Microsoft webcasts - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/aa740361
• Partner webcasts- Below are some of the ones I am familiar with, and if you have others to be added, just let me know.
• Imaginet - http://www.imaginet.com/Webinars/Pages/default.aspx  ( these are primarily focused on ALM and Team Foundation Server )
• Northwest Cadence - http://www.nwcadence.com/events ( Developer and ALM focused )
• Download Hands on Labs - Microsoft provides an EXCELLENT downloadable virtual image with associated hands on lab scripts that are available to folks.  Brian Keller has a blog where he posts and updates this image, and I highly encourage you to take advantage of this.   Click here for Brian's Blog, with full details.
• Channel9 - Channel9.msdn.com is a great online resource for really anything developer related.   Spend some time poking around and you find a LOT of info
• Free Downloadable eBooks - Here is a link to a great blog post with a TON of free ebooks for a ton of technologies... not just Developer.

This should provide you with a good start.   Take a look and let me know if you have others to add. 

Pluralsight Starter Subscription for MSDN.pdf

I work for Microsoft as a Developer Solution Specialist in the State and Local Government vertical, and will be blogging and posting resources to assist my customers with commonly asked questions or resource requests that I receive.

I have been with Microsoft for nearly 11 years in a couple positions, all in the SLG space.

Please let me know if there is anything I can assist you with.

thanks

Wade,