TechEd Technical Tracks Summary

• 2007-02-17
• 5 minutes to read
• edit

There are 14 core tracks and 2 virtual tracks at TechEd this year, which will cover more than 1,000 sessions. In case you’re wondering, a virtual track is a collection of sessions or labs that share a common theme but span several tracks.

The Session Scheduler launches in April and we will get our first real look at the actual sessions available in each track. Until then, we have to be content to speculate.

Looking at the technical tracks page, it became clear to me that there is a lot of information on this page, but it doesn’t present the key products and technologies covered by each track in an easy to find manner. Here is a bulleted summary to make it a little easier.

Architecture

• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Office Business Applications
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Business Capabilities
• Software+Services
• Industry Architecture
  • Retail
  • Manufacturing
  • Financial Services
• Software Factories
• Patterns and Practices

Business Applications

• CRM and ERP
• Microsoft Dynamics
  • GP
  • NAV
  • AX
  • CRM

Business Intelligence

• SQL Server 2005
• PerformancePoint Server 2007
• ProClarity 6.3
• Business Scorecard Manager 2005
• Office System 2007
• SharePoint Portal Server 2007
• Excel for Business Intelligence

Connected Systems

• BizTalk Server 2006 R2
• .NET Framework 3.0
  • Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
  • Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
  • Windows CardSpace
• Host Integration Server 2006

Database Development and Administration

• SQL Server 2005
  • Standard Edition
  • Enterprise Edition
  • Workgroup Edition
  • Compact Edition
• SQL Server code-named “Katmai”
• SQL Server Always On Technology
• ADO.NET 2.0
• SQL CLR
• LINQ

Developer Tools and Technologies

• Visual C#, Visual Basic, Visual C++
• Visual Studio
  • Visual Studio Team System
  • Visual Studio “Orcas”
• Debugging
• .NET Framework
• LINQ
• CLR
• Windows Forms
• Windows Vista

Identity and Access (Virtual Track)

• Windows CardSpace
• Active Directory Federated Services
• Active Directory Domain Services
• Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS)
• Certificate Lifecycle Manager (LCM)
• Rights Management Services

Management and Operations

• Microsoft Operations Manager 2003
• Microsoft Systems Center
  • Operations Manager (MOM v3)
  • Configuration Manager (SMS v4)
  • Capacity Planner
  • “Service Desk”
  • Essentials
  • Virtual Machine Manager
  • Data Protection Manager (v2)
  • Reporting Manager
• Microsoft Virtual Server
• Microsoft Operations Framework
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
• Microsoft Update Services
• Windows Server Update Services
• Windows Event and Task Subsystem
• WS-Management/WinRM
• Scripting
• Group Policy

Microsoft IT (Virtual Track)

This is a virtual track that doesn’t really cover any key products and technologies. It should cover best practices and strategies for deploying:

• Windows Vista
• Office 2007
• Microsoft Forefront
• Exchange 2007
• Microsoft Operations Manager 2007
• other products

Mobility (new track)

• Windows Mobile
• Windows Embedded 6.0
• .NET Micro Framework
• Windows XP Embedded (XPe)
• Exchange Server 2007
• Live Services Integration
• SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
• .NET Compact Framework 2.0 (.NET CF)
• Visual Studio

Office System

• SharePoint Server 2007
• Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Office client suites and applications
• Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)
• Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for SharePoint
• Open XML File Formats
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)

Security

• Forefront Client Security
• Forefront Server for Exchange and SharePoint
• Exchange Server 2003
• SQL Server 2005
• Microsoft management technologies
• Information on the latest security resources and technologies

Unified Communications

• Exchange Server 2003/2007
• Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging
• Live Communications Server 2005
• Office Communications Server 2007
• Office Outlook 2007, Outlook Web Access (OWA)
• Office Communicator 2007
  • Office Communicator Mobile 2007
  • Office Communicator Web Access 2007
• Forefront Security for Exchange Server
• Exchange Hosted Services
• Office Live Meeting 2007
• Office RoundTable (for Video Conferencing)
• Telephony Devices

Web Development and Infrastructure

• IIS 6.0/7.0
• ASP.NET 2.0
• ASP.NET AJAX Library
  • ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions
  • ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit
• RSS
• IE7
• Windows Live Platform
• Expression
• Commerce Server 2007

Windows Client

• Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1
  • Windows Vista Security
  • Windows Vista Networking
  • Windows Vista Mobility
• Application Compatibility Toolkit
• IE 7.0
• Windows Installer
• Volume Activation 2.0
• Virtual PC
• Business Desktop Deployment (BDD)
• Windows Desktop Virtualization
• BitLocker Drive Encryption
• User Account Control
• Reliability
• Search
• Performance
• Virtualization/SoftGrid
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack
• Windows Vista and “Longhorn” Server Better Together

Windows Server Infrastructure

• Windows Server code-named “Longhorn”
• Microsoft Virtual Server R2 SP1
• Windows Server Virtualization
• Branch Office Solutions
• Terminal Services
• Active Directory
  • Directory Services
  • Federation Services
  • Certificate Services
• Networking
• Server Clustering
• Windows Server Update Services
• Windows PowerShell
• Windows Storage Server