Looks like the MS Learning folks are offering a whole bunch of e-learning courses free for a limited time.

Special E-Learning Offers

Clinic 2551: Introduction to Visual Studio Team System
Course 2924: Building Data Components in Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005
Course 2925: Building Managed Code for SQL Server 2005 and Creating SOA Applications with Visual Studio 2005
Course 2926: Building Windows® Forms Applications with Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005
Course 2927: Building Web Applications with ASP.NET 2.0
Course 2928: Implementing Data Access and Security in an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Application
Course 2929: Implementing Wizards, Site Navigation, State Management, and Configuration in ASP.NET 2.0
Course 2930: Implementing Master Pages, Personalization, and Web Parts with ASP.NET 2.0

Get Ready for Visual Studio 2005 with Free* Microsoft E-Learning Courses and Clinics.

Microsoft has announced that the Visual Studio Express Editions will be free for one year. Note that SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is also a free download. The free pricing for SQL Server Express is not limited to the same one-year promotional period as Visual Studio Express Editions.

Download Express Editions

Covered in this series:

• .NET Framework Integration: Learn how you can now take full advantage of the Microsoft .NET Framework class library and modern programming languages to implement functionality within the server.
• Transact-SQL and Managed Code: Find out how to decide between using traditional Transact-SQL or a programming language that is compatible with the .NET Framework, such as Visual Basic .NET or C#. Understand where each method provides benefits and how to design for this in the beginning.
• Web Services: See how to develop XML Web services in the database tier, making SQL Server an HTTP listener.
• XML: SQL Server 2005 contains deep native support for XML. Learn how this can significantly help as you develop applications that make use of XML.
• Data Access: Discover how ADO.NET 2.0 not only supports all of the new SQL Server 2005 features but also enables productivity and performance gains for all developers.

Registration link: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/msdnsqlserver2005.mspx

[ Via hwhite ]

Be first to know about MSDN upcoming webcasts via RSS feed

[ Via Oleg Tkachenko's Blog ]

Patterns & practices Live is a series of webcasts that focus on patterns & practices guidance. Come learn about the content straight from the team that built it. Patterns & practices Live webcasts are free, and are part of the comprehensive list of interactive webcasts from Microsoft.

All Webcast times are Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8:00)

• ( 3/3/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Overview  Register

  Enterprise Library is the next generation of the patterns & practices Application Blocks. This guidance is designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges and will deliver the most widely used blocks into a single integrated package. Our vision is to build a broad community of customers and partners using, sharing and extending their own Application Blocks that are consistent with and integrate into the patterns & practices Enterprise Library.

• (  3/4/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block  Register

  Configuration data is a constant challenge for application development. The way in which your application handles configuration data dramatically impacts its manageability. In this webcast we will discuss the requirements for building a great configuration system and how you can leverage the configuration application block to meet these requirements.

• ( 3/8/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Data Access Application Block  Register

  Discover how you can implement the recommended data access architecture using Enterprise Library to quickly build a robust and secure data access layer which supports connectivity to SQL Server, Oracle and DB2.

• (  3/10/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Caching Application Block  Register

  Properly designed caching can make your system more robust and increase performance dramatically, poorly designed caching adds unnecessary overhead and provides little benefit. Learn how you can make use of the new caching application block to help lessen the demand on your back-end systems while increasing throughput.

• ( 3/14/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Logging & Instrumentation Application Block  Register

  Properly instrumented applications are a dream to manage, they tell what is happening and when things are going wrong point you to the source of the problem quickly increasing your mean time to recovery resulting in increased system availability. In this webcast you will learn how to use the Enterprise Library logging and instrumentation block to consistently and easily build an application that tells you where it hurts.

• (  3/17/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library Exception Handling Application Block Register

  Exceptions happen…the question is what you will do to handle them. Poorly written applications behave unpredictably when exceptions occur and often this bad behavior results in crashes or security holes. Learn how you can create exception policies that can be consistently and quickly applied in your application to insure predictability even when things go wrong.

• ( 3/22/2005 13:00 ) Enterprise Library Cryptography Application Block  Register

  So you have a secret…what are you going to do with that credit card number, connection string or password? Stuff in a secret place and hope that no one ever finds it? Of course not, you want to encrypt it. But how? With the Enterprise Library cryptography block you can quickly encrypt and decrypt these secrets allowing you to secure them and sleep better at night.

• ( 3/24/2005 9:00 ) Enterprise Library Security Application Block  Register

  Every enterprise needs security and within most large enterprises there are many different security systems. Discover how Enterprise Library’s security block can help you to put a consistent API in front of many different back end implementations allowing you to use these security systems without having to become an expert in them.

• (  3/28/2005 11:00 ) Enterprise Library - Building your own application block  Register

  So you love application blocks? You want to create your own and share it with your colleagues, your enterprise…the world? Great! We want to help you. In this session we will walk through a simple application block to consider how you can build a block that integrates with the rest of Enterprise Library.

• (  3/31/2005 11:00) Enterprise Library Applied  Register

  You stand at your manager’s door working up the courage to walk in and tell them that you want to use Enterprise Library in your next project. There are so many questions about support, licensing, maintenance and futures…good thing you listened to this webcast to understand what it means for an enterprise to adopt this library. As you listen to real examples from enterprises like yours to understand how they are managing the risks and opportunities associated with Enterprise Library

[ via Ron Jacobs blog ]