Productivity

On 12.09.2011 we released the so anticipated OpenAccess ORM internal build 2011.02.0908 that contained a few very important improvements and fixes for our customers: - Support for SQL Azure 11.x. After OpenAccess ORM Q2 2011 was released supporting the 10.5.x version of SQL Azure, Microsoft had started updating the SQL Azure data centers to use a new version (11.x) based on the Denali codebase. Some details for this update can be found in Richard Mitchell’s blog post as well as how it can affect third party tools in the MSDN Blogs. With the internal build we have introduced support for the latest version of SQL Azure,...

We’ve got a great new release of Test Studio coming up which contains a number of tremendous new features and some great updates to existing functionality.The list is long, but here are a few highlights: Dive into your web application’s performance with our new performance testing feature set Bring your manual test cases into Test Studio where you can manage them, record results, and even create “fast forward” automated steps to offload tedious prerequisite setup tasks Take advantage of HTML 5 with Test Studio’s enhanced support for interacting with a variety of HTML5’s common tags Improved element management: search the ...

The Microsoft developer ecosystem has been alive with buzz about Windows 8 all week at the Build conference. What everyone is talking about is the new Metro user experience and interface and the new WinRT API that supports it. I was one of the lucky ones who got a ticket to Build before it sold out and received the developer prototype hardware tablet running the early preview of Windows 8 (I’ve never had prototype hardware before!) After playing with it for a few days, I can say that while the app store is not open yet and it is obvious  that the software is pre-alpha (there is no Metro mail client for...

In my previous post I went into detail about how TFS process templates affect the sync process and in this post I’ll give some pointers on how to make the TFS sync experience in TeamPulse even better by explaining some of the finer points and also show you how to make sync work faster. You can test the TFS sync by downloading the TeamPulse trial and installing it on your machine. Using a TFS query to speed up sync If you have a big project, as we do, the sync process can take a while. The part that takes the ...

Performance testing isn’t something you can slap together and figure out as you go. While you certainly can (and likely will!) adjust your approach as you move through your project, you do indeed need to sit down and get some specifics laid out around your testing effort before you begin working. First and foremost: set expectations and goals. Ensure everyone’s clear on why you’re undertaking the performance testing project. If you are looking to meet specific metrics for delivering your system then you’ll need to be extremely detailed and methodical in your initial coordination. Does your system have specific metrics ...