William (Bill) Vaughn's Musings

I just heard from a Microsoft support person who told me that it's "normal" for Windows Defender to consume 100% of the CPU during startup (from standby) or reboot. MS has taken about 6 weeks to come to this conclusion. They said that this is "by design" and won't be fixed.

I can see how scanning for nasty stuff is necessary during a tuneup or during idle time when the user (who is the most important factor here) is NOT using the system, but to slow down the boot process for 5-10 minutes each and every time the system boots or resumes is unacceptable.

I'm afraid Microsoft's arrogance has reached a new height. What makes them think they have the right to take over my system whenever they please?

Posted by William Vaughn at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got back from Vegas Thursday night--tired but it was worth it. I don't know if my new book Hitchhker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server was the best seller, but it was close. They sold about 45 copies and I must have signed most of them. My hand is still sore. Thanks to each and every person that walked up to me to congratuate me on the new book or to tell me how much I had helped them over the years. It's ordinary people like this that keep me going. Of course, Vegas is "interesting" as well. It's not that often that I get to walk through a casino on the way to work. I did, however, trip over someone as I was gawking at a waitress...

The Connections people put on a good show. The facilites were not as advanced as those used by VSLive but they were fine. Everything worked (for me) and they were able to accommodate my special requirements (like a cardboard box to raise up my laptop). They also treat their speakers like they really matter to the sucess of the show--this is not a universal truth for all conferences. The content was excellent, the speakers were some of the best and the food was over the top. If I didn't spend the whole time on my feet I would gain 10 lbs per show...

Posted by William Vaughn at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I finally got the RC1 to install on my Thinkpad T40. No, it's not that fast (certainly not any faster than XP), and no, many (okay most) of the IBM utilities don't work, but at least the LAN and Wireless NICs work. That's a big step forward AFAIC.

Posted by William Vaughn at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, Microsoft has gone and done it. They’ve released RC1 of their latest reincarnation of SQL Server Mobile/SqlCE. No, it’s not SQL Server Everywhere as we were first told and how it was named (and documented in the CTPs); it’s now (officially) “Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition”. And no, they have not agreed on an official acronym but I like SqlCE—kinda like the namespace, so unofficially that’s what I’ll call it until told otherwise. And no, it's not really SQL Server either. SqlCE is an experienced DBMS engine originally created to provide a DBMS for PDAs and (I expect) settop boxes. It's designed to provide an application with a light (small footprint) DBMS that supports a healthy (albeit more limited) SQL syntax and enough datatypes to permit a wide range of data storage options. It can be registered as a merge replication subscriber as well as be protected via full encryption.

I was so intrigued with this new DBMS I tried (but failed) to include it in my new book (Hitchhiker’s Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition))--there simply wasn't time. Instead, I wrote the first of my EBooks on this little database engine that could. It’s called “Hitchhiker’s Guide to SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition”. While not quite as long,  my new EBook has been well received and characterized as some of the best documentation that exists for SqlCE—by Microsoft's Steve Lasker (and I quote:)

Bill has written the first EBook capturing the spirit of the problems we’re looking to solve with Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition.  Bill writes with his critical, yet funny style to proactively inform developers where the speed bumps exist while explaining the value of the differences.  But more importantly, Bill gets it.  His critical comments are accurate, and most of the things he’s pointed out are things we’re either working on for the next release or the release after that.  Bill elegantly puts a perspective on why we’re not looking to add stored procedures or other server features.  Just as you work differently at home compared to work, just as you might ride your motorcycle different then you’d drive a car, Bill’s eBook does a great job explaining the differences you expect from a local database compared to a data service.  I’m sure you’ll find this eBook helpful to get you started with enabling your users with apps that continue to work even when the network doesn’t.

Steve Lasker
            Program Manager / Technical Lead
            Microsoft UiFX & Services Team

http://blogs.MSDN.com/SteveLasker

 

My new EBook also been called the "Programmer's Guide" for Microsoft's latest edition of SQL Server 2005 as it fills the gaps found by SqlClient developers as they first try to leverage the strengths of this new DBMS engine. It shows where the SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition is different, how and where it’s designed to be used and how to best leverage its features and avoid its issues. Over 80 pages long, this is the most complete work on the subject available anywhere. Included with the book are over a dozen code examples as illustrated in the book.

Posted by William Vaughn at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 6th is going to be a big day for me. That’s when my latest Hitchhiker’s Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition) and my first EBook Hitchhiker’s Guide to SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition hit the streets. I expect to get my first copy here in Redmond tomorrow (Friday November 3rd). Addison Wesley tells me that the bookstore at the Connections conference in Vegas will have the first copies. They also plan to have copies at TechEd Barcelona that same week and at PASS here in Seattle the following week.

The 7th edition has taken over two years to write—unlike the first edition which I was able to knock out in about 12 weeks. In those days I did everything from writing, drawing the illustrations, editing, proofreading and publishing, shipping and marketing. Today, the process involves a bazillion people and interminable delays. Consider that I submitted the manuscript to the publisher in April of 2006—it took until November to get it into printed form and on its way to its first conference. This is precisely why I’ve written my first EBook. When I first conceived of the idea to publication took about 8 weeks. It would have been less time if we didn’t have to break new ground setting up the site to sell it. Peter Blackburn is handling that part of the job for me. He’s got the CPU horsepower and DSL bandwidth to take on this part of the operation. Perhaps he can publish your EBook?
Be sure to visit www.hitchhikerguides.net for more information on both books.

Posted by William Vaughn at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)