Rangers Flash - January 2012

Article
02/02/2012

Projects News

Visual Studio Coded UI Microsoft Word Plug-in (VSCUG) … as part of the latest sabbatical, we improved the code quality and are preparing the Codeplex project.
Word4TFS (TFSWP) … The big change to the design experience is now implemented, we have two bugs to clear and then testing can begin in earnest again.
Visual Studio 11 Readiness … has entered the BETA stabilization phase. 16 of 20 projects are represented at the internal Microsoft TechReady event that is being hosted in Seattle, as we type this flash in the form of breakout, chalk talk or hands-on lab sessions. The Ranger teams are freezing their BETA release in February and will then continue working towards the release candidate and release.
Watch the following blogs for release announcements:
- https://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm
- https://blogs.msdn.com/b/willy-peter_schaub
Common question: “OK , ALM Rangers, how about being even more transparent and answering the when? ” You asked and we are herewith sharing our current BETA timeline for the ALM Ranger solutions.

In essence any of the Visual Studio 11 ALM Ranger projects that get the signal from the product owner (PO) on or before the 13^th February, will make an appearance on Codeplex in the second half of February. The other projects will trickle in when and as the product owners are satisfied with the features and quality of the relevant BETA.

Community News

Rangers Sabbatical #4 … the fourth sabbatical started on January 23^rd, but ended abruptly when Michael Fourie had to return to the UK. While CodedUI Add-In part of the sabbatical was postponed as a consequence, the Word4TFS part of the sabbatical is being worked on by Bob Hardister. Kudos to Charles Sterling “Chuck”, for being there for the MVPs, when he should have been in his own TAP session and for always going the extra mile to make the MVPs feel at home or ensuring they can get home.
New Rangers who were mentioned on the Rangers Index this month: William Salazar. If you are an ALM Ranger and not yet listed on the index … why not?
News from TechReady 14 - TechReady 14 Report … T-3 days and a going back to the future - TechReady 14 Report … T-1 days and getting nervous - TechReady 14 Report … T+0 - Day 1 was focused on Ruck and Quick Reference Guidance - TechReady 14 Report … T+1 – Four ALM Ranger Sessions dominated the day

ALM Rangers who invest their “vacation” to work on ALM Ranger solutions close/as-part-of the product group! The huge value to the product group and the ALM Rangers is razor sharp focus, collaboration and innovation. The value to the ALM Ranger, other than making great contacts, remains to be a mystery :)

… William Salazar, latest Ranger on our Rangers Index

The special Heroes Corner

Context: One of our Dev11 Readiness projects had a burn-down chart that inspired fear into anyone who dared to watch it and placed the project in a DEFCON 1 state, placing it on the queue for potential cancellations for TechReady 14 and the readiness wave.
Our hero: John Bergman (pictured on the right), who incidentally is also contributing to other projects, came forward and asked “where can I help?”. You will notice the sharp dip and rapid burn down on the chart above. That was 99% thanks to John’s efforts, tenacity and collaboration, which left everyone gobsmacked! The project is back on the readiness grid and probably down to DEFCON 3.

In other words, we are still wearing helmets, but have started smiling again

Visual Studio Gallery and Other Bits and Pieces

AIT TeamSystemPro Team has released a new version of our AIT Dependency Manager to the Community
New version of Skype and Messenger providers … Nico Orschel was busy over Christmas :)
Work Item Visualization … a super cool utility by Jeff Levinson and Tiago Pascoal.

Call to Action for ALM Rangers!

CALL #1 … One thing we love is celebrating your successes. Unfortunately not being omniscient we simply don’t know about many of them. So if you have done or know of some outstanding contributions/actions please send them to Chuck and Willy to post in our internal newsletters that go to our upper management and the MVP leads.
CALL #2 … Update your personal contact details in the Ranger Contact Details to avoid losing access to the ALM Ranger infrastructure if you have not already done so!
CALL #3 … The Dev 11 Readiness project teams are desperately looking for reviewers to help them review and improve the BETA content. Are you interested in reviewing one or more of the Dev11 Readiness projects? Contact us if you have time and an interest in helping!
CALL #4 … You may receive a re-invite to the Visual Studio ALM Rangers UserVoice forum. Do not reject the invite if you want to raise ideas and vote on future Ranger projects!

Closing Humo(u)r

… for all our TechReady presenters J

For more information refer to: Rangers Website | Rangers Solutions | Rangers Blog .
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