With Tech Ed Europe fast approaching there is a whole team of folks beavering away right now to make this the best Tech Ed ever.

Myself and a whole bunch of other folks are busy testing the Hands On Labs/ Instructor Led Labs that that will be available for delegates to run through.

So, hope to see you in Sunny Barcelona (one of my favourite cities in the world), and make this the best Tech Ed Europe ever.

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So Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows 8.1 Preview and because I’m at Tech Ed Europe all attendees are being given a copy on a USB drive.

If you want to find out more and get your hands on this latest version of Windows simply head over to the Windows 8.1 Preview site

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As announced by Brad Anderson during his keynote session at Tech Ed Europe 2013, the Preview versions of System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager and Endpoint Protection (amongst others) are now available for download at:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-system-center-2012-r2-configuration-manager-and-endpoint-protection

Download, enjoy and don’t forget to give Microsoft Feedback via Connect.

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Earlier this year with the announcement of Windows Server 2012 and SP1 for System Center, Microsoft requested that the MVP Community help raise awareness of these by blogging/ telling people about how they could download trial/ evaluations of this software.

In exchange for doing so if enough people downloaded the software Microsoft would give away various prizes at various click-through levels with the top prize being 2 x tickets to Tech Ed Europe in Madrid.

Well not only did we collectively smash the target set by Microsoft, I was lucky enough to be drawn out the hat for one of the top prize tickets to Tech Ed Europe next week in Madrid.

So if you’re going I’ll see you there and finally many, many thanks to everyone that clicked through on the links as without your help I’d be going nowhere.

Adios gracias.

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As part of “Blue” wave of releases, Microsoft has officially announced (so I no longer need to keep things secret), at TechEd North America an R2 version of System Center 2012 and a new release of Intune which will be even more tightly integrated. A public preview of R2 should be available around the end of this month which ties in with the public preview of Windows 8.1 with the products all being released by the end of this year.

In addition to the R2 release of System Center 2012 and new version of Intune, Microsoft is also planning to release a R2 version of Server 2012, Visual Studio 2013 and SQL 2014.

For more information see Mary Jo Foley’s “Microsoft’s ‘Blue’ servers: What’s coming when” article.

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So, following on from my Can you help get me to Tech Ed EMEA in Madrid? post where I asked for your help to help win me some prizes (and still not too late to help me it’s time for me to “share the love” with news of a new promotion Microsoft are running where you could win a fully funded trip to Tech Ed Europe in sunny Madrid (and after the prolonged, cold winter we could all do with some sunshine although the guarantee of fine weather is not included unfortunately

So take a read, digest, and good luck…!!!

“Impress your boss without having to put a dent in the training budget by winning tickets to
TechEd Europe. It’s the premier annual Microsoft event for IT professionals from the 25th to 28th June 2013. You’ll be able to improve your knowledge, talk to leading experts face to face and gain valuable information that’ll put you streets ahead of others in your area. Plus you’ll do it all in sunny Madrid!

How you can win

Win your ticket to TechEd Europe by downloading our products

If you trial Windows Server 2012 <ISO> <VHD>, Windows Azure and/or System Center 2012 SP1 between 22nd March 2013 and 31st May 2013, you’re in with a chance of winning a ticket to TechEd Europe, hosted this year in the cultural city of Madrid.

To be eligible, download at least one of the three products. Download two or all three to better your chances. You’ll also need to fill out our entry form.

Win a fully funded place at TechEd Europe by writing a short review

We also have three fully funded trips to be won. This takes a bit more effort, but it’s well worth it.

Once you’ve trialled one (or all) of the three products, submit an article/blog post reviewing the experience/product – that will qualify you for a chance to win.

There are three funded places to TechEd Europe to be won, one prize for each of the winning product reviews. There’s also a brand new Windows 8 Phone to be won by three runners up.

You’ll be judged based on your depth of understanding of the product and the breadth of how these can be applied in the modern IT department. The more informative and useful you make the articles for fellow IT pros, the more chance you have of winning.

Each first place prize includes your ticket to TechEd Europe, flights, hotel and meals. Winners will also be part of the TechNet team at the hub of Microsoft’s European community.

To be eligible you must have downloaded at least one of the three products and written a review of your experience; if you download and review all three, you will have tripled your chances of winning.

We’ll also be monitoring Twitter for spot prizes. Just use the hashtag #TechEdChallenge in a tweet for a chance to win some limited edition Microsoft goodies.

We want you to be equipped with all of the knowledge to write a winning article, so to help you learn about the products before you start, we recommend you visit the Microsoft Virtual Academy for product-specific courses that will teach you about the latest features.

To find out more about TechEd Europe 2013, please click here

One prize only per person.

T&Cs apply”

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To help encourage folks to download System Center Service Pack 1 and Windows Server, Microsoft UK  have just launched a 3 month competition to see how soon they can register 15,000 click throughs for these products.

The source of the clicks is registered so if you wouldn’t mind clicking through on the links below you’d be helping me to potentially win one of the following:

• Ticket to Tech Ed EMEA in Madrid (never been to Tech Ed before so maybe this is the year),
• Asus Zenbook
• Windows Phone
• Microsoft flight bag.

Links

• System  Center SP1:
• Windows   Server: ISO:   VHD:

Many thanks in advance and I’ll keep you posted if I win anything and who knows we might meet in Madrid

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