If you are wondering when you can get your hands on the new Office 2010 products, they are now becoming available.  So far, I’ve managed to get the following products from my MSDN site and assume more will be on the way:

• SharePoint 2010
• Web Apps 2010
• Visio 2010
• Project 2010
• Office Professional Plus 2010
• Visual Studio 2010

Also, I noticed the Solver Foundation just became available but that may not have been within the last day or two

Right now the biggie that I am still waiting for is SQL Server 2008 R2.  I plan on setting up a brand new Virtual Machine for demos and training videos once SQL R2 is available.

-Bill

Well it has been awhile again since I’ve posted something.  The road less traveled was nowhere near me for the last few months!

I am really pleased to announce that Pcubed (the company I work for) is the only Microsoft Project Platinum Sponsor for the US Launch of Microsoft Office 2010.  Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing some exciting details around Project 2010 and will be following the happenings for the Launch Events.

If you are in Miami, I will be presenting Project and Visio 2010 at the Hilton Downtown Miami and then in Orlando on Thursday at the International Palms. 

If you want to sign up or learn more about the Office 2010 wave of products, click here.

-Bill

As we inch closer to the “First Half of 2010” release date Microsoft had previously announced for Office 2010, more and more details are being announced.  Last week, Microsoft announced a key date for the Worldwide Launch.

For pretty much any new product release I’ve seen from Microsoft, they tend to announce guarantees so if you buy the current version now, you will get the newer version when it’s released.  This guarantee is usually announced at or around the same time Microsoft releases the ship date for the product.  Sure enough, the Technology Guarantee and launch dates are posted.

In April 2010, the products will be released to manufacturing (or as Microsoft calls it RTM’ed).  Microsoft Office 2010 will hold the Worldwide Business Launch on May 12.  It does not say exactly when you can download the software, but I would assume it would be a few days before/after May 12.  The final products will be released to consumers sometime in June 2010.

To get more details on the Technology Guarantee and release dates, visit the Office 2010 Engineering blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/office2010/archive/2010/03/04/get-office-today-or-tomorrow.aspx

-Bill

At the top of the new year, it is very common for most of us to step back and think about what we will do different the next twelve months.  Given the economy we live in right now, it is a great time to learn or fine-tune our skills.  My company (Pcubed) and Versatile Training have teamed with MPUG – the leading MS Project User Group – to provide free training on Microsoft Project.  This is a great opportunity to pick up a new skill using the most popular project management software in the world, well, perhaps next to Excel .

We are offering a four-part series on using Microsoft Project, which will start with a beginners course and work its way up to more advanced topics.  These free courses are web-based, 90-minute courses and will be presented in the form of a presentation, online demonstrations and live Q&A.  Each course will offer 1.5 PDU’s (Professional Development Units) with a total of 6 PDU’s if you take all of them.  We are looking at offering more in the near future and are excited to see what the turnout looks like for these upcoming courses.

If you are interested in signing up, you can learn more here:

http://www.mpug.com/Pages/MPUGCertificate2007.aspx

And sign up for the events here:

http://www.mpug.com/Pages/Home.aspx

The courses are titled “Microsoft Project 2007 Essentials”.  Here are the direct links to sign up:

Session 1 (1/20/2010): Training presented by myself and includes Q&A with special guest Sam Huffman

Session 2 (1/27/2010): Training presented by Sam Huffman and Q&A between Sam and myself

Session 3 (2/3/2010): Training presented by Sam Huffman and Q&A between Sam and myself

Session 4 (2/10/2010): Training presented by myself and includes Q&A with special guest Jack Dahlgren (a fellow Project MVP)

The sessions will all be held at 10:30AM Eastern/7:30AM Pacific.  We understand these time zones are not ideal for some and we will attempt another live re-broadcast at 6:00PM PST for those of you in the Asia/Pacific regions.  If there are difficulties in any of the presenters making the second event, there will still be a live Q&A with Myself, Sam or Jack.

Please sign up for these free events and I will make sure they are re-posted as the sessions get closer!

-Bill

In this gripping epic, we follow a heroic Project Manager in dire need of a plan to communicate progress. When The Boss informs our intrepid PM that more details and a Executive overview are required, a new approach needs to be taken. The PM quickly puts together the plan in Project 2010 and outputs an Executive report. Well that pretty much gives away the plot and the whole story line but I still suggest you watch it because there’s fun music.  Enjoy! -Bill