New Courses on Microsoft Virtual Academy

  • Article

New Windows 8.1, Windows Azure and Visual Studio 2013 courses are now being offered on Microsoft Virtual Academy. For those who are not familiar with Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA), it offers online Microsoft training delivered by experts to help technologists continually learn, with hundreds of courses, in 11 different languages. It's mission is to help developers, knowledgeable IT professionals and advanced students learn the latest technology, build their skills, and advance their careers. MVA is free of charge, and the entire service is hosted on Windows Azure. In a nutshell, it is a Free Microsoft Training Delivered by Experts.

Here is my monthly pick for you:

Windows 8.1 UX Design Jump Start

In this Microsoft Virtual Academy Jump Start, you’ll learn how to apply your skills as a designer to create Windows Store apps for Windows 8.1. These apps will be an expression of your creativity, while feeling native to Windows, giving users an experience that is both unique and familiar.

Course Outline

  • Designing User Experiences for Windows
  • Less Is More
  • UI Controls
  • Navigation
  • Layout
  • Windowing
  • Search
  • Share
  • Contacts and Appointments
  • Start, Tiles, Notifications, and Lock Screen
  • The Windows Store
  • Great Windows Store Apps

Designing Your XAML UI with Blend Jump Start

Whether you’re a developer familiar with XAML, a designer without coding experience, or a developer preparing for your first XAML-based project, this training can help you to get the most out of the latest tools. During this course, you will learn how to use Blend and Visual Studio 2013 to create a XAML-based UI by working your way through a collection of task areas that apply to Windows Store apps, Windows Phone apps, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), and Silverlight. Many of the demonstrations include Windows Store app-specific features and highlight new features in Visual Studio 2013, but the majority of the training can be applied by any XAML-based app developer. Learn to use the latest version of the tools from the people who know them best.

Windows Store Apps with HTML5 Refresh Jump Start

This course builds on everything you’ve already learned about developing apps in these HTML5 courses: Developing Windows Store Apps with HTML5 Jump Start and Advanced Windows Store App Development Using HTML5 and JavaScript Jump Start. This fast-paced refresh course filled with real-world scenarios shows you how you can make your apps richer and more integrated, using the new features available in Windows 8.1. This course is targeted at anyone making apps or aspiring to make apps for the Windows 8 platform using HTML and JavaScript.

It will help you prepare for Microsoft exams 70-481 and 70-482.

Advanced Windows Store App Development Using C# Refresh

Developers, take this Jump Start to learn lots of new techniques for building Windows Store apps, such as the new windowing model, advanced contract scenarios, branding, monetization, and animations. Microsoft Technical Evangelist Jerry Nixon and the co-founder of Crank211, Daren May, will show you how to implement these new features and APIs and how to differentiate your apps in the marketplace. You'll also learn about the new Windows Live SDK and how to take advantage of SkyDrive from within your apps.

Windows Azure Web Sites - Deep Dive Jump Start

Website developers, here's your chance to learn how you can use Windows Azure to develop, deploy, and scale your large-scale web apps in a matter of minutes. If you're new to Windows Azure, this is a good starting point for finding out how it can help you save on time and resources, integrate with Office 365 and Elastic Search, and broaden your audience. Experienced users, this is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge of the product and to find out about new features, such as the website capability model and the storage object distribution pattern. You'll find out what you need to know from the people who developed the features.

Course Outline

  • Web Sites Overview
  • Development Tools
  • Continuous Deployment
  • Scaling and Configuration
  • Go-Live Checklist
  • Case Studies—Music Store and dynamicdeploy.com
  • Lightning Round

  What’s New in Visual Studio 2013

Developers, are you trying to figure out what Visual Studio 2013 has to offer you? Whether you develop for the web, Windows, or Windows Phone, and whether you are using C#, XAML, HTML, or Visual Basic, this course is for you. It focuses on some of the key new features, addressed individually in sessions throughout the day, so that you can tune in to the specific tools that will help you develop more quickly and easily. Start by learning about the IDE (integrated development environment) and then attend sessions including improved IntelliSense, easier debugging, and better tools for ALM (application lifecycle management).

Course Outline

  • Visual Studio Tips and Tricks, Debugging
  • Web and Cloud, App Development
  • Application Lifecycle Management, Testing
  • Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Store

Happy Learning :)