Alexander's Embedded Techwire

Windows Server 2008 will be complete with the final release of the Hypervisor very soon. Therefore, it is time to have closer look at it as well as get to know all the cool new features. Join some well respectet experts from Microsoft, experienced Microsoft partners and myself on July, 15th 2008 at the Nuremberg Initiative for Communication (NIK) event "Windows Server 2008 inside". Get a full day of high quality and well-targeted information You will not find anywhere else.

Would be my pleasure to see You there! BTW., I will be talking on the powers of power shell, whhich might even be intereting to non server guys.

 

Alexander

Just after my session on the management of XPe devices using Systen Center Configuration Manager 2007 I was asked to blog the settings You need to do to achieve this.

So here we go:

Edit the SMS_def.mof file that controls Your SCCM inventory collection and set the parameter information for OSProductSuite from FALSE to TRUE. This enables the collection of this parameter from the field devices. You need to wait some time until results arrive.

The create a new collection in the SCCM MMC using the selection criteria OSProductSuite = 64, which is contained in the Operating System object.

After this You should see your XPe devices (and only them) in that collection. If You need to distinguish between pre and past FP 2007 devices look for the string "Embedded" in the OSName property. Devices pre FP 2007 do not have this addition in the name.

 

Alexander

 

Here are some great books on .NET (C#) as well as the .Net Micro Framework I just came across. One is Professional C# 2005 by Christian Nagel a true compendium, which nevertheless stays undertandable and reader-friendly.

The other one is Expert .NET Micro Framework by Jens Kühner. It gives a good overview on quite a few of the availble MF dev boards as well as a good entry into the world of .NET on micro controllers.

 

I am writing this sitting at Munich airport waiting for the plane to Orlando.

Weather is getting colder again over here, therefore a little tropic Florida breeze is always welcome.

I will be at the Blogger Lounge set up by the TechEd Team next to the TechEd Online Stage tomorrow from 2-3 pm.

 

Yes, it is TechEd time again.

 

This year I will be speaking at TechEd IT-Professional (June 10-13, 2008) about topics around the use of XP embedded in Enterprise and medical scenarios: 

 

XPe and System Center Configuration Manager 2007

Using XPe in medical settings

XPe Enterprise Security

Would be my pleasure to see You there!

 

Alexander

Even if You are not building robots, Microsoft Robotics Studio is able to deliver good value in Your project. What are robots other than a certain form of connected devices?

Check out the new CTP at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=EB00C558-2163-45A5-BEFE-531AD48BC525&displaylang=en

 

Alexander

 

There are two kinds of CF cards available. A lot of them are intended for use in cameras and  PDAs, etc. and have a bit set indicating that they are removable. The problem is that it is not possible to boot XPe on them without getting the bit set to fixed (there cannot be more than one partition on them either). There are tools in the market that will do this, but these do not always work reliably.

My advice would be to buy (industrial grade, of course) cards with the bit set to fixed to avoid that hassle and maybe negative side-effects.

 

Alexander

 

 

Distributed applications on mobile devices are hard to handle as soon as You need to have a reliable and robust communication mechanism. But wait, did You ever think about using email as transport layer for Your application?

Doing this is not too hard leveraging the new WCF capabilities in .NET CF 3.5!

Have a look at Andrew Arnott's article on MSDN to find our more about the details: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc164240.aspx.

 

Alexander 

Lots of products and tools are cranked out by the product teams in Redmond every year. Therefore it is quite important to get some guidance through that wealth. The Windows Mobile Line of Business Solution accelerator is both. Great architectural guidance as well as a great implementation sample. Go and check it out!

 

Alexander

 

My friend and fellow embedded MVP Sean Liming recently released a new tool that helps to manage the Device Update Agent change management infrastruture on XP embedded devices.

Check out this article: http://www.embedded-computing.com/news/db/?10134 or get it from http://www.sjjmicro.com/Products.html

 

Alexander

 

One year ago we did a great event in Nuremberg, Ansbach and Munich just right for the arrival of Windows VISTA. Rooms in all three cities were packed and expectations have been quite high.
After one year being in the market people's opinions are mixed on VISTA. Of course, there were problems with drivers, the new security and so on, as with every new major OS release . On the other side, some people are really fond of the new UI as well as programming models and would never want to go back to XP.
We think, that this is a great opportunity to bring everybody together again, exchange experiences and give direct feedback to high class Microsoft speakers, who are going to join us for the event.
In addition, this is also a great chance to get first hand information on the further Windows roadmap regarding VISTA SP1 and beyond.

I will be doing a session on the new VISTA Preinstallation Environment (WinPE 2.0), that will be a workshop with very little Powerpoint slides and a lot of demos.
It would be great to see You there.

 

We start in Nuremberg on the 28th of February 2008 and will also have one event in Munich (date to be announced).

Please register here: http://www.nik-nbg.de/asp/Veranstaltungen.asp?

 

Alexander

The XP embedded group is hosting a MSDN chat about HORM (Hibernate Once Resume Many) and servicing of field devices on January, 29th, 10.30am -11.30am (PST - that is 19.30pm - 20.30pm GMT for Europeans). 

I feel very honored, having the chance to participate as a guest expert on this occasion and I do hope a lot of You reading this blog are going to join us asking loads of questions around all aspects of XPe.

The more, the better - I am sure it will be great fun!

Maybe we can even shed some light onto interesting HORM/Update experiences some people might have run into.

So please, come in and be our guests.

Alexander

ClickOnce is a great technology to handle change management for applications in the field. Unfortunately its support is a bit confusing. Especially, if you are writing SQL Server Compact Edostion (SSCE) applications. SSCE claims support for ClickOnce, which is correct only for applications based on the normal .NET Framework running on desktop or tablet PCs. .NET Compact Framework apllications are unfortunately left behind. So, be awrea of this. It is, at least in my eyes, really a missing feature.

Of course, You are able to create something similar using the SSCE synchronisation features yourself, but this means to develop infrastructure code that ideally should come with the platform you are developing on.

 

Alexander

Conference season has just begun and some very important ones are pretty close.

One is VSONE in Munich, 13.-14-02.2008. It takes place directly in the IMAX cinema at the German Museum. What a venue! 

 

 

I will be speaking in two sessions about the handling of medical data on mobile clients and on how to leverage XP embedded on secure clinical workplaces.

Yes, medical applications are this years main topic. ;-)

 

So, be there or be square!

I am looking forward to see You!

 

Alexander