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Tom Archer's Blog

My name is Tom Archer and I'm a Senior MVP Lead. Our team is tasked with recognizes, rewarding and enabling exceptional technical community leaders who foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing their real world Microsoft product expertise with users and Microsoft.

Moving blog homesOctober 25 2007

Just a quick note that I've moved my blog to WordPress: http://tomarcher.wordpress.com/

Joining the MVP Team!August 9 2007

On 25 July 2007, I officially started my new job as a Senior MVP Lead!! While I enjoyed my time as a Program Manager on the Windows SDK team (where I was responsible for the .NET Framework and Platform SDK Tools, C++ compilers and reference assemblies), I've always had an affinity for community work - whether it be running Web sites, writing books, or speaking at user-groups. In fact, one of my favorite accomplishments was being awarded as a Visual C++ MVP where my MVP Lead (Eric Sassaman) is now a teammate!

I will have two main responsibilities on the team to start with:

• MVP Lead for the Windows SDK and the Windows Server Customer Experience. Due to my knowledge of the Windows SDK and my contacts on the team, Eric (the previous MVP Lead) was gracious enough to give this technology over to me. (Thanks Eric!) The Windows Server Customer Experience is made up of a group of MVPs who are mainly focused on user-group activities surrounding IT Pro needs, which segues perfectly into my second main responsibility.
• Project Manager driving the "Offline MVP Discovery" task. Offline MVPs are those that have a community impact outside of the Internet/Web - such as trainers, authors, public speakers, user-group coordinators, etc. Therefore, my job will be to work with the rest of our MVP Program team to determine the best way to find, reward and enable these MVPs.

In the coming weeks, I look to get back into my blogging and article writing where

Windows Vista September CTP and Compatibility Matrix UpdateSeptember 22 2006

The Windows SDK team has now released their September CTP to match the Windows Vista September CTP. While Windows Vista September CTP is only available to beta and TAP members, you can use the Windows SDK on "downlevel" machines - Windows XP SP1 or Windows Server 2003 (SP1 or R2). You can find all the links you need for the Windows Vista and .NET 3.0 development tools in my Compatibility Matrix blog post.

Speaking of that matrix, I wrote that blog post a couple of months ago (when July CTP released) to try and mitigate the confusion caused by having three concurrent CTPs/Betas of Windows Vista and the various .NET 3.0 development tools. The scenario of having multiple supported CTPs/Betas was an anomoly so I didn't anticipate updating that blog entry. However, the matrix has proven so popular that I've decided to continue updating it through RTM with each of our Windows Vista and .NET 3.0 development tool releases.

Windows Vista, .NET 3.0 and Windows SDK Compatibility Matrix

Microsoft Acquires SysInternalsJuly 18 2006

From the standpoint of someone working at Microsoft and responsible for the Windows SDK, this is incredible news. We are basically acquiring some of the best tools for that space (low-level, hard-core devs) as well as the services of two very talented people in Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. (I actually had the pleasure of meeting Mark some years ago when I ran CodeGuru and on top of being extremely intelligent he's also a very cool person).

I don't know what this will mean to who the Winternal and Sysinternals tools will ship in the future - as part of the Windows SDK?? - but will post here as soon as I know something that I can share.

Windows Vista, .NET 3.0 and Windows SDK Compatibility MatrixJuly 17 2006

[28 September 2006 Update] The Windows Vista September CTP has been released to beta members. There is a matching September CTP from the .NET 3.0 Runtime Components, Windows SDK, "Orcas" Tools and Workflow Extensions to Visual Studio 2005.

I originally wrote this blog entry to help folks reconcile the differences between three concurrent releases of Windows Vista - each of which had different release points (public vs. MSDN vs. beta-only) - with the various moving parts that developers needed (.NET 3.0 Runtime Components, Windows SDK and Visual Studio 2005 Extensions). Due to popular demand, I've decided to continue updating it through RTM with each release of the various products.

Note: CTPs are generally removed once superceded by two releases. Therefore, this blog entry will be updated to remove the links to those releases which are no longer available from our servers.

Below, I’ve listed the builds in terms of what works with each operating system and development/runtime environment to help you decide which build you need. Once you know which build you wish to install, you can then use the Download Locations Matrix to locate the download pages/links. The last section then enumerates some key points regarding each build milestone.

Determining the Build that is Right for You

Are you setting up this environment for Windows Vista?

• Is Windows Vista September CTP the most current build you hav