Hello, I'm   Jason

Which device would you choose? Let me know at http://www.windowsadvice.com/forums/958/ShowPost.aspx.

I saw a preview of IIS 7.0 today. IIS 7.0 has many new features that will send IT Professionals and Developers into a “tailspin.” Unfortunately, the first public beta of IIS 7.0 won’t be until Longhorn Beta 2. IIS 6.0 will be part of Longhorn Beta 1.

Configuration and Admin Tool The Configuration and Admin Tool is not similar to the existing IIS 4, 5, or 6 admin tools. Rather, it is in a control-panel format. IIS 7 can be managed completely through an admin website that runs on port 80. The tool can also be exposed to additional users in a limited fashion by the admin setting up rules. So, web hosters can now offer a managed solution with doing minimal work.

Core Server The server now allows features and functionality to work as a “plug-in-play” format. What I mean is that all of the functionality for IIS 7.0 is setup in what they now call modules. So, third-party companies can now write add-in modules for the system. Also, the ASP.NET configuration tool is now integrated in IIS.

Diagnostics Administrators can now diagnose issues happening with their IIS box by establishing traces and performance monitoring within the Admin tool. They can even see if multiple processes or a single process is tying up the server. Administrators can define traces to be as granular as a particular page, type of document, and error type.

Security The security options now include supporting non-Windows authenticated models. Since the server now uses a component-based model, there is now a reduced risk for attacks.

According to a press release from earlier, eWeek has learned that ASP.NET 2.0 breaks existing 1.1 applications. I’ve done my part to test my apps in 2.0 and they all seem to work just fine. Some of the namespaces and classes will eventually go away because of enhanced functionality. So, when building your applications, you should take note of any warnings listed. You can find out more about compatibility at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnnetdep/html/netfxcompat.asp.

I have published an article on ASPAlliance.com about the MultiView and View controls that can be found in ASP.NET 2.0. In ASP.NET 1.x, developers often used Panel controls to hide or show a grouping of other web controls and content. In ASP.NET 2.x, coding time is reduced with the new MultiView and View controls.

To read the article, visit http://aspalliance.com/675.

According to the GotDotNet Workspaces website, “Many of Workspaces’ errors and access issues have been fixed, and we’ve upgraded to a new version of Passport.” I’m not quite sure what this means :-), but I was using it last night and believe it or not (nearly 5 years later), it is much better. Kudos to the GotDotNet team for finally improving the workspaces. Now I feel like I can use them again.

Microsoft has released a SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence webcast list. You can view the list of webcasts and other events here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/sqlserverbi.mspx

The first release of the Photo Gallery module for ASP.NET 1.1 has been posted. It is a modified port of the photo gallery module that the ASP.NET 2.0 team wrote for the Personal Starter Kit. If you make any modifications to this download, please post your modifications to Source Control or the Message Board.

A working example of the PhotoGallery module can be found at www.jasongaylord.com. However, I’ve made some additional modifications to this site that I will be posting soon.

You may find out more information about the project at http://www.jasongaylord.com/projects/photogallery.aspx

Finally, I’ve added search capabilities to my site. After reviewing many ASP.NET search engines, I chose EasySearchASP.net. EasySearchASP.net allows users to begin to type in a search phrase and see what search terms can be found in a “drop-down” box. It also is an engine that runs with the site application and does not need to be setup as a Windows Service. So, if you host your site with an ISP, it will work for you. To see how the search engine integrates with a website, visit my site at www.JasonGaylord.com.

.NET Valley (PA) - Microsoft announced at the Microsoft MVP Engagement yesterday in Malvern, PA that they will be increasing their support for user groups. As part of this initiative, .NET Valley will be handing out a free copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2. This year, Microsoft will release two of the most anticipated releases in the company’s history; Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The DVD includes Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition Community Technology Preview, and the newest edition to the Visual Studio 2005 family, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System.

In addition to receiving Visual Studio 2005, everyone in attendance will receive other swag including a copy of the latest ASP.NET Pro magazine. Also, we will be raffling off three copies of Microsoft IT Professional software. The winner will have their choice of receiving Microsoft Project, Microsoft Virtual PC, or Microsoft Digital Image Pro.

In continuing these efforts, Microsoft will sponsor the .NET Valley events in June and July at Luzerne County Community College in Nanticoke, PA. More information about these events will be release at a later date and time.

I must say that the RSS feeds with Gmail are nice for feeds that you check out from time to time. However, for feeds you read through every day, it’s not. I don’t see how viewing one item at a time can be beneficial for users. The other problem with it is that they finally decided to sneak in sponsored links. I had a feeling that it would only be a matter of time. Free email with a capacity of over 2GB (and climbing daily) is too good to be true. Let’s see what else they have up their sleeves…