Mai-lan's Blog
Web and media platform, etc.
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General availability of Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2, with IIS 7.5
As of today, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is generally available for purchase. This latest release of the Windows operating system contains IIS 7.5, which provides a set of enhancements and new functionality on top of the IIS 7 Web server platform.
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New IIS Web Extensions for Web Site Developers and Web Server Administrators
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8 New Free ASP.NET and PHP Open Source Apps in the Web App Gallery
It's been four months since we launched the Windows Web Application Gallery, and we've been adding apps to the Gallery steadily. Today saw the arrival of SugarCRM Community Edition (CE), a free customer relationship management PHP open source application with a vibrant community. SugarCRM CE joins seven ASP.NET apps that have been added to the App Gallery, with a healthy pipeline of ASP.NET and PHP open source apps in the proces of review and approval.
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Contributions to the PHP Engine
I am always amazed at the passion and energy that open source contributors put into what is often their “night job” after whatever they do to pay the bills. It is that passion that has driven a vibrant community of PHP open source applications that ranges from on-line learning to shopping carts. Those PHP applications are in turn driving the development of Web sites all over the world.
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Real World IIS Videocasts for Community ASP.NET and PHP Application Packaging and Deployment
I just wrapped up a series of videocasts that target developers and users who want to experience a simplified deployment experience for apps and the Web stack on Windows, focusing particularly on ASP.NET and PHP open source community applications.
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Real World IIS: Adding Web Deployment Tool Support to Community Application ZIP Packages (videocast)
If you package your application in ZIP format, you can add Web Deployment Tool support to simplify the installation of your application on Windows. Our open source application partners (ASP.NET apps like DotNetNuke and PHP apps like WordPress) add this Web Deployment Tool integration as part of being included in the Windows Web Application Gallery (as defined in the Web App Gallery Principles).
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Real World IIS: Staying Current with the Latest Microsoft Web Platform with Web Platform Installer (videocast)
Customers can download our extensions onto IIS7 (and sometimes IIS6) as a free, fully supported product that expands the IIS7 Web server in new directions. Getting new functionality every three to six months on the Web server is a good thing but it can be hard to track when a new release comes out.
The Web Platform Installer helps centralize a single discovery point for the Microsoft Web Platform -- Web server (IIS), application frameworks (ASP.NET and PHP), database (SQL), and tools (Visual Web Developer).
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Real World IIS: Packaging and Deploying an Open Source Application Using Web Deployment Tool (videocast)
Many Web site developers start development from an open source application as the base for a custom Web site. There are many high quality open source applications out there that make it much easier to put together a content, ecommerce, social network and/or community Web site. IIS offers a couple features that make your life a lot easier if you want to:
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Real World IIS: Installing a Free Community Application Using Web Platform Installer (videocast)
In March 2009, we launched the Windows Web Application Gallery, where Windows users can find and install free community applications easily on IIS. The Windows Web Application Gallery provides links to both ASP.NET and PHP applications and we're seeing strong user interest in both. You can get a Web content management system, blogs, and wikis. We are adding more ASP.NET and PHP community applications every month.
When we add an application to the Web App Gallery, the app gets added to an ATOM feed that is both consumed by the Web App Gallery and displayed within the Web Platform Installer (Web PI). So you can either visit the Web App Gallery web site or use the Web Platform Installer directly to find the same free community apps easily on IIS. You can learn more about Web PI here and Web App Gallery here.
This short video (just under 8 minutes) walks you through how to install Umbraco, an open source ASP.NET community application, from the Web PI.
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Real World IIS: Finding and Installing Web Platform Installer 2.0 (videocast)
The Web Platform Installer 2.0 is a free IIS tool that makes it easy to discovery and install the Microsoft Web stack and free community apps from the Windows Web Application Gallery. It's the "first mile" to get started with the Web Platform and Web App Gallery applications on IIS.
We're seeing thousands of downloads of Web Platform Installer (Web PI) by developers and administrators who use Web PI to discovery and stay up to date with the latest components in the Web stack. (We use Web PI here on the product team to set up and stay current with desktops/laptops and servers.) We also launched the Windows Web Application Gallery last month, which provides a way for users to discovery and download open source applications (ASP.NET and PHP) onto Windows. Every application in the Web App Gallery is download by Web Platform Installer (Web PI), so it's a critical component of the process.