I have recently completed a set of exams [CRM 2011 and .Net 4.0] and almost thrice a week I check if new exams are released on CRM 2011, especially Extending Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 as this one is very important for CRM/xRM developers out there.
And good news is this exam is already out. Surprisingly the release date is 29th December 2011, I mean how many of us would have thought of checking released exams during the holiday season?

Anyways I am glad it is finally here and I intend to give it a shot ASAP. If you are looking for more information about the exam then follow this link.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=MB2-876

If you have not already noticed that CrmXpress has always been run by BlogEngine.Net then well... know that it has been powered by BlogEngine.Net. As the new year arrives [Gujarati New Year is generally the next day of Diwali]. There were some unexpected problems during the upgrade and it brought this blog down for almost 3 days and I hope that it did not affect any one. If it did, sorry for the trouble caused and I would like to assure you all that in future we will not do an in-place upgrade without putting in effort to make sure that everything is working as per the expectations. Anyways now things are in control except our CrmXpress theme which shall be up and running soon.

Wish you all Happy Diwali and a Very Happy New Year!!! Stay tuned we have many gifts lined up for you.

Whoa!!! This is big. I generally do not use Y! as a mail service. I've moved on to Gmail for a while for plethora of reasons. And suddenly I got a mail from Y! saying that they are going into a beta and I thought let me give it a try and I must say it is surprisingly fresh UI. Check it out the screenshot below. Apart from that you can also see applications on the left side navigation - Social Networks, Storage, Photos and more. And all these come with unlimited storage.

Today Microsoft announced an increase in for various Microsoft Certifications.

This is what the official announcement has to say:

Effective July 1, 2011, the retail price of Microsoft Certifications will increase worldwide.* This change reflects the significant value that our certifications provide to our customers and our continual investment in new and enhanced Microsoft Certifications and other program improvements.

Microsoft recognizes the increased pressures on students and academic institutions during these challenging economic times. Although some of the prices for Microsoft Certification exams for students and academic institutions will increase, the discount will remain significant. Microsoft is dedicated to helping students become more employable for entry jobs in the IT industry. IT Academy members, high school, college, or university students enrolled in a degree or diploma program will continue to receive a discount off the retail price of select Microsoft Certification exams.

Exam prices can vary by country or region. See the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) information below for more information regarding this change.

Use our pricing tool to determine your current and future Microsoft Certification exam prices. (requires Microsoft Silverlight)[This is pathetic, they are trying so hard to push silverlight :|]

Note Microsoft Learning does not anticipate that this price increase will impact Microsoft Certified Master (MCM), Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA), Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA), and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification exams.

*Price change will be effective in India on August 1, 2011.

The prices in India are going to be USD 80 compared to the old price USD 50, this is 60% increase in the fees. So rush and take advantage of the low prices before 1st August 2011.

You can find the official announcement at : http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-pricing-FAQ.aspx

If you have been waiting for CRM 2011 certifications to come out then here is the first one.This certification exam measures your ability to understand and articulate how to customize and configure Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 including configuring a Microsoft Dynamics CRM organizational structure, managing users & teams and security, customizing attributes and entities, customizing relationships and mappings, configuring auditing, managing forms & views and charts, and implementing a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution.

Exam Topics Covered

• The following list includes the topic areas covered on this exam.
• Configuring a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Organizational Structure
• Managing Users & Teams and Security
• Customizing Attributes and Entities
• Customizing Relationships and Mappings
• Configuring Auditing
• Managing Forms, Views, and Charts
• Implementing a Microsoft Dynamics CRM Solution

For more information visit : http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=MB2-866

This book is a gift from the Windows Phone 7 team at Microsoft to the programming community, and I am proud to have been a part of it. Within the pages that follow, I show you the basics of writing applications for Windows Phone 7 using the C# programming language with the Silverlight and XNA 2D frameworks. For more information, check out this page : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2010/10/28/free-ebook-programming-windows-phone-7-by-charles-petzold.aspx

You can download a PDF here (12.5 MB).

You can download an XPS here (26.7 MB).

And you can download the ebook’s sample code here (5.03 MB).

Yes... finally I found some time to come back and start blogging again. Anyways, there has been a lot many incidents in last 1 month or so since my post on 9th August.

For example, Visual Studio LightSwitch beta has come out, CRM 2011 on premise as well as online betas are launched. [And trust me when I say this, I DONT like the base requirement for CRM 2011], I took a short trip to home n after that I was so sick I almost stopped working and had to take a break.

Got my car from HYD and have been having fun driving in Pune and things are going Ok Ok I would say. Now things have been little hectic and I had to stop posting here but I am back and I have some good stuff with me this time and I am gonna put it all here. Keep visiting and leave comments in case you like/dislike something.

So Here comes one more product based on SilverLight, the following is taken from the official LightSwitch site : http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/lightswitch. The free, public beta will be available starting August 23rd. I am eager to get my hands on this one. I've some interesting things to try with this one. Will keep you guys posted here.

Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch Beta helps you solve specific business needs by enabling you to quickly create professional-quality business applications, regardless of your development skills. LightSwitch is a new addition to the Visual Studio family. Visit this page often to learn more about this exciting product.

QUICKLY CREATE PROFESSIONAL-QUALITY BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

With LightSwitch, you can build custom applications that rival off-the-shelf solutions. Get a head start by using pre-configured screen templates that give your application a familiar look and feel. LightSwitch also provides prewritten code and other reusable components to handle routine application tasks, along with helpful step-by-step guidance. However, if you need to write custom code, you can use Visual Basic .NET or C#. You can deploy to the desktop, browser, or cloud (post-Beta) to share your application with others more easily without the cumbersome installation processes.
 

EASILY ACCESS EXISTING SYSTEMS AND DATA

Applications created with LightSwitch support exporting data to Microsoft Office Excel for fast and easy sharing and reporting. You can also attach your application to existing data sources, which makes it easy to collect, analyze, and reuse information from a variety of data sources including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Azure, SharePoint, Microsoft Office Access (post-Beta), and other third-party data sources.

BUILD FOR TODAY, PREPARE FOR TOMORROW

With LightSwitch you can create custom applications for the way you do business. Keep your technology and business options open, while building a practical yet scalable application that matches your current needs now and in the future. The pre-built templates and components in LightSwitch are fully extensible, so you can get the specific functionality your application demands. In addition, your application can grow to meet the increasing demands of popular applications using the Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud Hosting option.