Windows Web Solutions UPDATE—brought to you by Windows Web Solutions, the Windows & .NET Magazine print newsletter with tools and solutions for managing your Web site.
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July 2, 2002—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
- Beginners and Pros Will Benefit from ASP.NET Web Matrix
2. KEEPING UP WITH IIS
- New Security Hotfixes
- Results from Last Issue's Instant Poll: Creating Prototype Solutions
- This Issue's Instant Poll: ASP.NET Web Matrix
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- The Enterprise-Management Solutions You've Been Searching For!
- July Is Hot! Our Free Webinars Are Cool!
4. RESOURCES
- Event Highlight: Opticon 2002
- Featured Thread: Adding and Removing Virtual Root Entries
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
- Web-Service Enable Your Business Systems
- Submit Top Product Ideas
6. CONTACT US
- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
In the past two issues of Windows Web Solutions UPDATE, I've discussed the power and ease with which Visual Studio .NET helps you build Microsoft .NET applications. In this issue, I discuss a new release from Microsoft that many people believe is much more interesting and even easier to use than Visual Studio .NET. On June 17, Microsoft publicly released ASP.NET Web Matrix on the Microsoft ASP.NET Web site ( http://www.asp.net ). ASP.NET Web Matrix is a free, lightweight, easy-to-use tool for developing Web applications with ASP.NET. ASP.NET Web Matrix is great for building small Web sites and hobby applications. If you've never tried ASP.NET, ASP.NET Web Matrix uses a series of tutorials to get you started and links to the ASP.NET community, which can quickly answer your questions. ASP.NET Web Matrix's 1MB download includes a WYSIWYG Web forms designer.
Microsoft made a bold move by releasing ASP.NET Web Matrix free of charge. The company has never released a developer tool or any product of this magnitude for free before. Clearly, Microsoft is aiming the product at professional developers as well as entry-level, high-school-age, and college-age developers who might have migrated to Java because of their schools' curriculum. Additionally, a link to download Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), which is the free runtime version of Microsoft SQL Server, is available on the ASP.NET Web Matrix download page.
In the June 13, 2002, issue of Windows Web Solutions UPDATE, I wrote that because Visual Studio .NET is so easy to use, technologists outside the realm of software development are beginning to use the tool to build prototypes and pilot projects. Many readers sent me email messages asking me how to acquire Visual Studio .NET. The .NET Framework is a free download, but Visual Studio .NET isn't; all versions of Visual Studio .NET are quite expensive. Users who tried the tool complained about having to pay for the developer tool in addition to the server licensing. Microsoft seems to have heard those complaints, and the company's response is the free release of ASP.NET Web Matrix.
One of my first questions when I heard about ASP.NET Web Matrix was about its apparent market position in relation to Visual Studio .NET. Here's my paraphrase of Microsoft's explanation of the product's positioning: Visual Studio .NET is a great tool for professional developers, and ASP.NET Web Matrix was built with hobbyist developers in mind. ASP.NET Web Matrix concentrates on Web application development in single-developer environments, doesn't provide support for team-based development, and doesn't support features such as IntelliSense (i.e., syntactical completion of words while typing) and debugging. ASP.NET Web Matrix provides a very fast way to build ASP.NET applications that you can later upgrade to Visual Studio .NET. Microsoft has promised to provide an upgrade wizard in future ASP.NET Web Matrix versions.
The ASP.NET Web Matrix product is built entirely on the .NET Framework in the C# programming language, which helps prove that .NET applications are for real; more .NET applications are appearing on the market every day. In the future, I'll cover specific aspects of using ASP.NET Web Matrix to build ASP.NET applications because, at first glance, this product seems too good to be true and even has some features that Visual Studio .NET doesn't.
Tim Huckaby, News Editor, [email protected]
2. KEEPING UP WITH IIS
Microsoft released six security hotfixes in June. The hotfixes eliminate minor to major security vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0, Internet Explorer (IE), Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server, Proxy Server, SQL Server 2000, the RAS Phonebook service, and MSN Chat. The RAS flaw has the greatest effect and is the most crucial to repair.
http://www.windowswebsolutions.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=25701
The voting has closed in the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions channel's nonscientific Instant Poll for the question, "Do nondevelopers in your organization use Visual Studio .NET to create prototype solutions?" Here are the results (+/-1 percent) from the 36 responses.
- 8% Yes
- 14% Not yet, but we're exploring the possibility
- 78% No
The next Instant Poll question is, "Are you interested in ASP.NET Web Matrix?" Go to the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions home page and submit your vote for a) Yes, I'm already using it, b) Yes, I plan to download it soon, c) Not sure, I need to learn more about it, or d) No, I'm not interested.
http://www.windowswebsolutions.com
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)
Our popular Interactive Product Guides (IPGs) are online catalogs of the hottest vendor solutions around. Our latest issue focuses on the enterprise-management solutions and services that can help you administer, optimize, and protect your network better. Download the IPG for free at
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Check out our latest Web seminar offerings from Windows & .NET Magazine. "Storage, Availability, and You," sponsored by VERITAS, will help you bring your Windows storage under control. "Easing the Migration: 15 Tips for Your Windows 2000 Journey," sponsored by ePresence, will help you plan and implement a successful Win2K migration. Find out more and register today!
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4. RESOURCES
August 19 through 22, 2002
San Jose, California
http://www.bcr.com/opticon
Opticon 2002 includes sessions that delve into the technical details of optical networking and can help attendees acquire the information they need to build successful Internet business plans. Topics include developments in optical networking components and systems, broadband access networks, use of optical networking for long-haul and metropolitan area networks (MANs), customer business models for employing optical networking systems, new businesses made possible by optical networking, integrating optical networking systems with legacy networks, and new network functionality made possible by optical networks.
For other upcoming events, check out the Windows & .NET Magazine Events Calendar.
http://www.winnetmag.net/events
Sean wants to use registry APIs (through a Visual Basic—VB—5.0 program he is building) to add and remove a virtual root entry to the \W3SVC\Parameters\Virtual Roots registry folder. He can add and remove entries, but when he restarts the W3SVC service, the original entry that he added reappears. He wonders what he needs to do to ensure that the entry doesn't come back when he restarts the service. To see responses about this scenario or to lend a helping hand, visit the following URL:
http://www.windowswebsolutions.com/forums/thread.cfm?cfapp=74&thread_id=106898&mc=4
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Carolyn Mader, [email protected])
Actional released SOAPswitch, a Web services software router that can convert content and address connectivity across a range of legacy platforms. You can maintain centralized control over the management, monitoring, and security of your Web services. Other features include Web services definition and publishing, Web services compositioning, security, auditing, logging and debugging capability, and alert and monitoring capability. SOAPswitch is available in professional and enterprise editions. For pricing, contact Actional at 800-808-2271.
http://www.actional.com
Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected].
6. CONTACT US
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