Alexander’s Blog

Check out these MSDN Virtual Labs and TechNet Virtual Labs if you haven’t already. These are a series of guided, hands-on labs which can be completed in 90 minutes or less. The best part is these labs don’t require any installation and are available to you immediately for FREE. Here are the topics that are currently available to you.

MSDN Virtual Labs

ASP.NET 2.0
ASP.NET
BizTalk Server
Commerce Server
Fritz Onion’s Intro to ASP.NET
Internet Information Services (IIS)
JPlusN (J+N)
Microsoft Expression
.NET Framework 3.0
Soup to Nuts
Visual Studio
Visual Studio 2008
Visual Studio Team System
Visual C#
Visual J#
Visual Basic
Visual C++
Connected Systems
Data Access and Storage
Office
Security
Smart Client
SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2005 Upgrade
Visual SourceSafe
Web Services
Windows Embedded CE 6.0
Windows Live
Windows Mobile
Windows Vista
Windows XP Embedded
TechNet Virtual Labs

TechNet Virtual Labs

Antigen
BizTalk Server
Configuration Manager
Enterprise Search
Exchange Server
Forefront Security
Groove Server
Identity Integration Server (MIIS)
Internet Information Services (IIS)
Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server
Office Communications Server
Office System
Operations Manager
SQL Server 2005
SQL Server 2000
SharePoint Server
Systems Management Server (SMS)
Windows Mobile
Windows Rights Management Services (RMS)
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows SharePoint Services
Windows Small Business Server
Windows Vista

If you are working in a virtual PC environment, like most of us trainers do, you may have run into situations where you can’t afford to install Exchange Server for various reasons but would like to have the ability to test e-mail functionality. For example, you may be working with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 to configure alerts or you have installed a Web server and want to receive e-mail messages without installing a full-blown messaging server. Using the built-in POP3 service in Windows Server 2003 is a perfect solution.

Here’s a nice step-by-step tutorial from Sharee English on her blog on how to setup POP3 Service on Windows Server 2003 How to configure POP3 to test email settings in MOSS without Exchange Server.

Interested in learning about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 installation? Check out this video on Sharee English’s blog at VisualStudioBlog.com. It shows you how to properly configure server type, file locations, database settings, port numbers, security configuration and lots of other useful installation options……..and it’s FREE!

Whether you are a developer or just a techie, here’s a blog that you might want to check out. The blog is written by Sharee English, Director of Information Services at SeattlePro Enterprises. Sharee is a Web developer, trainer, consultant, author and a public speaker who holds several certifications, such as MCT, MCSD, MCAD, CTT+, etc. Her detailed bio is available here.

Her blog (VisualStudioBlog.com) is a great resource not only for Visual Studio information but also SharePoint technologies and some other fun stuff and gadgets that she finds.