This book has one primary goal: to get you working in Expression Blend 4 effectively using the features and functionality of the tool. This book is not about XAML, not about code nor explicit work flows. It is about simply dragging, dropping, drawing, and defining the experience and vision for a user interface and rich interactive experience. You will learn how to work with the core features of Blend, edit Styles and Templates, and more importantly, understand what they all mean. You will also work in detail with Parts, States, and Behaviors to understand how collectively they can provide your solutions advanced functionality without the need for code or hand-cranked XAML. Animations and Storyboards will allow you to bring life to your vision, as will working with data efficiently and learning how to create and manage Resources. In short, this book will give you the answers to many questions asked in forums by new and experienced users alike. Microsoft Expression Blend 4 Unleashed is a stunning, full-color resource with hundreds of screenshots and informative figure references. It has also been authored sequentially, to enable you to build your knowledge step-by-step and gain confidence through repartition and fearlessness in discovery. Detailed information on how to… Create, edit, and work effectively with Styles and Templates Master Parts, States, and Behaviors to enable XAML and code free functionality Use Blend’s Animation and Storyboard workflows to bring life to your solutions Create and manage Resource Dictionaries, Skins, and Themes Create sample and live data Implement effective XML, CLR Data binding, and Control Template binding using Expression Blends advanced data support tools Use Blend as part of your designer/developer workflow to create rapid prototypes with SketchFlow Use design resources to start creating solutions for Windows Phone 7 Work with WPF, Silverlight, and Silverlight for Windows Phone 7 platforms

"Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch represents a breakthrough in business application development for Windows clients, the Web, and the cloud. Using this new tool, you can build powerful data-centric applications with far less code than ever before. Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch Unleashed is the first comprehensive, start-to-finish guide to this powerful new tool. ... You learn how to use LightSwitch to buld modern, scalable, customized line-of-business applications that automatically leverage technologies such as Silverlight, WCF, and SQL Server Express ..."--Back cover.

Microsoft® Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed is an end-to-end, deep dive into the Visual Studio development environment. It’s meant to provide you guidance on how you can squeeze the ultimate productivity out of the many features built into the .NET development tools. Understanding how to use your tools will make you a better developer. This book was written with that premise as its focus. The authors have folded in real-world development experience alongside detailed information about the IDE. The result is practical, easy-to-employ information that will make you a more productive and complete developer. This book also helps to ease your transition from other development environments and former versions of Visual Studio. Finally, this book provides an entire section dedicated to Visual Studio Team System. It will help you understand how the Team Architect, Team Developer, Team Database Developer, and Team Tester work with the Team Foundation Server to increase team collaboration, visibility, and productivity. Microsoft® Visual Studio 2008 Unleashed provides straight, to-the-point answers to common developer questions about the IDE. Detailed Information on... What’s new in Visual Studio 2008 Working with solutions, projects, editors, and designers Writing ASP.NET applications Writing and consuming Web Services using Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Writing Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications Creating and hosting workflow-based applications using Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) Working with data and databases Refactoring code Debugging code Automating the IDE Writing macros, add-ins, and wizards Using team collaboration and the Visual Studio Team System products Managing source code changes Tracking projects with Team Foundation Server and work items Modeling applications Performing unit, web, and load testing Working with Team Foundation Build

Full Color: Figures and code appear as they do in Visual Studio Windows Phone 7.5 Unleashed is the first comprehensive, start-to-finish developer’s guide to Microsoft’s brand-new Windows Phone 7.5. Written by Microsoft MVP and leading WPF/Silverlight innovator Daniel Vaughan, this full-color guide covers everything developers need to rapidly build highly competitive Windows Phone 7.5 mobile apps. Vaughan teaches through complete sample apps that illuminate each key concept with fully explained code and real-world context. He presents real-world best practices for building highly functional and attractive Metro interfaces; integrating touch, rich media, and data; testing; profiling; and more. Throughout, he shares expert insights available in no other book, drawing on his exceptional access to the Windows Phone development team through the elite Microsoft Silverlight and WPF Insiders group. Along the way, he presents exceptionally practical and thorough coverage of many powerful new Windows Phone 7.5 platform enhancements--including full chapters on sensors, the camera, XNA graphics, local databases, scheduled actions, and background file transfers. Detailed information on how to... Get started fast with Silverlight Windows Phone development in Visual Studio Master the Capabilities Model, threading, and the Execution Model Create attractive Metro interfaces using Windows Phone’s rich set of controls, including the Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit Make the most of the application bar and other interface elements Enhance user experience with advanced support for touch, gesture, and sensors Build location-aware apps that use Bing Maps and location services Quickly internationalize apps for global markets Leverage Windows Phone 7.5’s improved camera support Connect apps to online services via SOAP, REST, and ODATA Validate user input on the client side or via Web services Use Windows Phone 7.5’s powerful new local database support Implement background actions, file transfers, and audio playback Incorporate game-style XNA graphics Unit test to find defects earlier, saving time and money

By using Microsoft's new Opalis IT process automation software, your IT organization can dramatically reduce operational costs and improve efficiency by replacing resource-intensive, error-prone manual activities with standardized, automated processes. Microsoft doesn't sell Opalis as a separately licensed product: thousands of customers who've licensed Microsoft System Center with SMSE/D already have the rights to use it. They simply have to learn how. If this sounds like you, System Center Opalis Integration Server 6.3 Unleashed will help you do so. This book's expert author team offers you start-to-finish, step-by-step coverage of implementing key Opalis 6.3 features for maximum business value. Drawing on their extensive experience, they bring together coverage of related topics and techniques in ways that enable you and IT professionals to deploy Opalis more quickly and apply it more successfully. The authors begin with a high-level overview of Opalis 6.3 and the potential value it offers to your IT organization. Next, it guides you through architecture, installation, policy basics and design, foundation objects and integration packs, the SDK, and best practices based on real-world implementations.

Printed entirely in color, with helpful figures and syntax coloring to make code samples appear as they do in Visual Studio and Expression Blend! Using Silverlight 4, you can build richer and more powerful applications than ever before, and deploy them seamlessly in browsers, on desktop computers, and even on Windows Phone 7. In Silverlight 4 Unleashed, Microsoft Silverlight MVP Laurent Bugnion covers everything you need to do all this, and much more. The only full-color, example-rich guide to Silverlight 4 for experienced Microsoft developers, Silverlight 4 Unleashed illuminates the entire development process: from installing Silverlight tools to building great user experiences, managing data to optimizing application performance. You’ll master core Silverlight features such as controls and properties; communicating with web services; efficiently creating data-oriented line-of-business applications; working with external frameworks, and more. Bugnion concludes by showing how to use advanced features such as 3D-like effects and multitouch to deliver an even smoother, richer experience. Install and use Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio Extend Silverlight applications with user and custom controls Group, sort, filter, page, bind, and validate data Take full advantage of the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern in Silverlight Access Web resources and services Control the application’s appearance with resources, styles, templates, and Expression Blend Sketch user experience and build iterative prototypes by easily getting feedback from end users Create data-oriented applications more easily with the WCF RIA Services framework Adapt Silverlight desktop applications for Windows Phone 7 Integrate effects and media into your applications Use Unity, MEF, and the MVVM Light Toolkit to write more maintainable, extensible software Optimize performance by reducing download size and memory footprint, and increasing execution speed