Microsoft Virtual Labs for both Developers and IT Pros have been around for a very long time, they are a hidden gem to ramping up on new technologies. With Windows 8, Windows Phone, Azure, Windows Server 2012 and all of the other new technologies hitting the market this year, who has the time to setup, configure and test it all. That’s where virtual labs come in, you log in, follow the instructions and learn the new technology. No fuss, no muss, just get in there and explore. To find the virtual labs specifically designed for developers you go here:
We can’t leave the infrastructure behind and the virtual labs team definitely hasn’t. With labs targeted at Windows Server, System Center, Exchange Server, SQL Server, Forefront Security, Microsoft Lync server and others, there are lots of vlabs available to learn the infrastructure side of the technology. You can find the IT vlabs here:
In addition to the vlabs, for Windows 8 and Windows Phone specifically we have setup a site that helps you walk through getting up to speed with development that should fit your already busy schedule. Once you get setup on the Genapps site, you get a roadmap for learning that will get you up to speed in 30 days, access to help and overall some great learning content.
Finally, If you have made the jump to WIndows8 and want to see some sample code, here are some of the samples that have been built for WIndows 8: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps
If something is missing or you would like to see some additional content (documentation, samples, videos, etc…) please just leave me a comment.
-Scott
(Originally Posted on scottkerfoot.com Blogengine.net blog and manually migrated to WordPress on 10/20/2017 for Historical reasons)