Chris Birmele's Blog

Technology is a means, not an end.

Lets get our priorities right!

I usually ask my customers about business priorities before a Microsoft Development Toolset...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/02/2010

New VS2010 Testing Courses available now!

KJ Ross, a premium Microsoft Partner, is now offering Visual Studio 2010 based Testing Courses (see...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 08/11/2010

Important TFS Updates

You should be aware of a number of updates to TFS 2010, one is available now, the other two coming...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 08/09/2010

Upgrading TFS from Beta2 to RC

Given the Team Foundation Server 2010 Release Candidate has been released, you may want to upgrade...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/07/2010

Inaugural ALM Conference & Visual Studio 2010 Launch (Luna Park Sydney) - early bird offer!

The Australian ALM Conference Early Bird OfferThe inaugural Australian ALM Conference and Microsoft...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 01/24/2010

VS2010 Beta2 - limited production support

As you probably know, VS2010 ships March 22nd 2010, but there is no need to wait until then. Beta2...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/10/2009

Microsoft acquires TeamPrise - THE Team Foundation Server integration for Java Developers

Microsoft has finally decided to acquire TeamPrise - a long overdue decision! TeamPrise provides an...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 11/09/2009

Visual Studio 2010 - "The ULTIMATE Offer" roadshow - invitation

The next wave of the latest Microsoft technologies is about to land on our shores, providing new and...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/29/2009

Free VS2010 & .NET 4.0 Online Training available now!

Now that VS2010 Beta 2 is available, check out the Channel 9 Learning Center for updated VS2010...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/21/2009

Instructions of where to get & how to install Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate - Beta 2

Now that Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 is available, why not install it? Check out Brian Keller's video...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/19/2009

Visual Studio 2010. Launch date March 22nd 2010!

Finally the cat is out of the bag - the next version of Visual Studio will be available Monday, 22nd...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/18/2009

VSTS2010 Extensibility Points

I am busy getting people excited about VSTS2010 (it's not very hard :-)) and often I get questions...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 09/24/2009

Visual Studio Team System 2010 - coming soon to a computer near you ..

I get more and more questions about VSTS2010 - Microsoft's next generation tool platform - as the...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 09/02/2009

VSTS Essential training offered in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

Enhance ALM, a Microsoft Partner in Australia, offers training courses this month to get you started...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 06/02/2009

Agile Development with TFS - Training in Brisbane

Readify, one of Microsoft's best partner is running a 2-day workshop in Brisbane, covering agile...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 05/13/2009

Visual Studio Team Test - Quick Reference Guide released!

If you are using Visual Studio Team Test (VSTT) I suggest you download the new VSTT Quick Reference...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/31/2009

Activity, Deliverable or Outcome?

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Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/29/2009

Want to know the magic formula of how to develop software successfully?

The magic formula is: Success == People + Process + Tools Well this is hardly a revelation of...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/24/2009

Want to migrate source code from Subversion, StarTeam or CVS to TFS?

TimelyMigration offers a migration tool to move your Subversion, StarTeam and CVS repositories to...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/24/2009

Reminder - there is a 30% promotion available until 30th June 2009 ..

In case you haven't heard (or haven't read my blog!) there is a 30% promotion available to step up...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/22/2009

The cost of having - or not having - quality in your software

In my role as a Visual Studio Team System technical specialist I spend a lot of time talking to...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/22/2009

Why should I care about 'Quality'?

Quality is one of those words that seem to be self explanatory - "of course we want quality, lots of...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 03/04/2009

VSTS 2008 on Windows 7 - very nice!

I couldn't resist... Windows 7 and Visual Studio Team System 2008 - all on HyperV .... very nice!

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 01/09/2009

Updated VPC / HyperV images for VSTS

In case you don't know, our VSTS virtual demo images expire in a couple of days, but thanks to Santa...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/28/2008

The Road to Visual Studio 2010!

After Steve Ballmer last week, we have another illustrious person visiting us from Corp (no wonder,...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 11/09/2008

TFS Powertool - October 2008 Release downloadable!

If you monitor Brian Harry's blog you already know we have released a new TFS Powertool. I am not...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 11/09/2008

VSTS workshop training (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth)

Readify, one of our partners here in Australia is offering a one day workshop focusing on Team...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/06/2008

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Usually I don't blog about product futures, but I make an exception... Microsoft released a few...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 09/30/2008

Buy one Visual Studio Edition - get another one for free!

Well I said we announce something today - and we did ! All well and good, but much more importantly...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 09/26/2008

Lots of new SP1's released!

Now I understand why I haven't heard much from our product groups lately - they have been cutting a...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 08/11/2008

Team Foundation Server Admin Tool released!

If you are responsible for managing a Team Foundation Server check out the Team Foundation Server...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 01/26/2008

Upgrade from TFS Trial Edition to Full Version?

I get asked this question a lot - usually when TFS stopped working because the trial license...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 01/21/2008

New MSSCCI Provider for TFS 2008 released!

If you are using one of the technologies listed below and want to use TFS 2008, you may want to...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/23/2007

TFS 2008 Powertools released!

The VSTS2008TFSPT (short for Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Power Tools) have...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/23/2007

Upgrading to TFS 2008? Need a migration tool?

If you plan upgrading from TFS 2005 to TFS 2008 you may want to have a look at this migration tool....

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/23/2007

Do VSTS 2005 bits work with VSTS 2008 bits?

Every now and then I get asked whether or not VSTS 2005 bits work with VSTS 2008 bits and vice...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 12/13/2007

Visual Studio Team System 2008 Released!

... and available now for those with an MSDN subscription! Check here to find out what's new in VSTS...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 11/19/2007

Requirements Management with VSTS?

So you think we can't do this in VSTS? Steve Lange has written an elaborate 4-part series about how...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 11/08/2007

Requirements? What exactly do you mean?

Have you ever wondered why specifying requirements continues to be a major challenge for most...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/31/2007

Test Center community website - learn & share

Microsoft has created a Test Center community website for anyone interested in the quality aspect of...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/22/2007

Lost in translation - or the Bulls Eye framework

A software development effort is essentially a "translation" of a business need into a software...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/17/2007

Team Foundation Server - Operations Guidance Released!

Planning the installation and operation of a Team Foundation Server can be daunting at times, there...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 10/02/2007

New Team Foundation Server 2005 Powertool version released!

The new version of the TFS 2005 Powertool includes a "Best Practices Analyzer" that can tell you...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 09/29/2007

What's new in Team Foundation Server 2008?

For a definitive list of feature in Team Foundation Server 2008 (i.e. Orcas) check out Brian Harry's...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 08/08/2007

Hosted Team Foundation Server?

Do you want to use Team Foundation Server but don't want to bother with the maintenance? Do you want...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 08/02/2007

What version of TFS am I Running?

Do you need to know what TFS version you are running? Our resident genius Andrew Coates whipped up a...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 06/21/2007

Project Server 2007 integration for TFS available now!

If you are developing an integration of Project Server 2007 to Team Foundation Server (TFS) - stop...

Author: ChrisBirmele Date: 06/13/2007

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