TechNet Flash - Volume 16, Issue 8: April 16, 2014
Top News Worldwide
Accelerate Your Insights: Watch the keynotes
Quest of the Cloudwalker: Play a game, sharpen your IT skills, and possibly win an Xbox One
Live event: Register now for a guide to DevOps for IT pros
Edge Show: Get an overview of Generation 2 virtual machines
Top Downloads
System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager
Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
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Your Featured Content
Join the new Office 365 IT pro network
Have a question about SharePoint? Want to share a tip for Exchange? The Office 365 IT Pro Network is the place for sharing and discovering information about Office 365. Interact with the Office engineering team, Microsoft MVPs, and thousands of IT professionals.
Office 365 cross-platform experiences featuring Office for iPad
Jeremy Chapman and Michael Atalla look at an array of Office experiences across a variety of platforms. See them demo the recently released Office for iPad and OneNote for Mac, and watch as they discuss the core tenets for designing great experiences for screens of all sizes.
Gain new insights from big data using HDInsight
HDInsight (powered by Apache Hadoop) can help you analyze your unstructured data to gain actionable insights and make more informed decisions. Check out these tutorials and guides to help you get started.
Sessions from Build 2014 are now available on demand
Build is over, but you can still view the keynotes and all the sessions. Check out informative discussions about Microsoft Azure, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8 right here.
Get ready for Windows 8.1 update
A new Windows 8.1 update is now available via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Keith Mayer offers a list of resources to help you learn about and deploy Windows 8.1, as well as educate your users on the new features in Windows 8.1.
Critical design considerations for a bring-your-own-device infrastructure
Created with system architects and system designers in mind, this new guide provides a collection of design considerations that need to be addressed when planning a BYOD infrastructure to ensure you protect company data.
A new way to add Microsoft certifications to your LinkedIn profile
Microsoft has teamed up with LinkedIn – the world’s largest professional network – so you can easily add your Microsoft Certification credentials to your LinkedIn profile. This offers a great and uncomplicated way to enhance your profile. Here’s how.
See how SQL Server 2014 is setting new performance marks
Check out the new SQL Server benchmarks and performance page to see how SQL Server 2014, with in-memory capabilities, performs on industry, partner, and Microsoft benchmark tests.
Integrate all your data with the new Analytics Platform System
The Analytics Platform System combines Microsoft’s massively parallel processing data warehouse technology – the SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) – with HDInsight (Microsoft’s 100% Apache Hadoop distribution) and delivers it as a turnkey appliance. Find out more about this solution.
New pricing for Microsoft Azure compute and storage
Recognizing that economics are a primary driver for some customers adopting cloud solutions, Microsoft announced it is cutting prices on Azure compute by up to 35 percent and storage by up to 65 percent. Get the details.
Windows XP support has ended: Prepare for your transition to Windows 8.1
In this on-demand course, Microsoft Technical Lead Kyle Rosenthal guides you through the upgrade process and discusses the tools that can help with your transition to Windows 8.1. Take the course now.
Learn how to use the new features in Power BI for Office 365
Power BI allows your organization to be smarter by enabling users to work with and analyze data. Get an overview of the features and plans available, set up a trial, and start working with Power BI.
How to move a Microsoft Azure VM to a different subnet within a virtual network
Learn how an administrator can use PowerShell to migrate a virtual machine from one subnet to another within the same virtual network. This offers an opportunity to reorganize an application topology for better managing subnet capacity and grouping. Start your 1-month Azure free trial now.
Training and Books
Windows XP support has ended: Prepare for your transition to Windows 8.1
In this on-demand course, Microsoft Technical Lead Kyle Rosenthal guides you through the upgrade process and discusses the tools that can help with your transition to Windows 8.1. Take the course now.
Events
Microsoft PDW: Modern data warehouse with big data analytics
April 29, 2014, 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time, online
Join Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) architect Brian Walker and SQL Server BI expert Sanjay Soni for an informative Jump Start on PDW – the logical next step in the evolution of your data warehouse. Find out how you can tackle your big data and business intelligence needs. Register here.
Microsoft-sponsored webinar: Taking In-Memory OLTP Mainstream
May 6, 2014, 10:00 A.M. Pacific Time, online
Join GigaOM Research and Microsoft for a free analyst webinar about the significant impact in-memory technology is having on databases and the unique in-memory design points from leading database software vendors.
Register now: A guide to DevOps for IT pros
May 7, 2014, 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time, online
DevOps is changing the way IT pros work by accelerating delivery of software and updates, optimizing resources, and improving application quality. It can even strengthen your career. Join Microsoft experts David Tesar and Morgan Webb as they discuss DevOps for IT pros.