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Achievements For Windows Azure In January, we released http://channel9.msdn.com/achievements/visualstudio Visual Studio Achievements to the delight of the developer community -- 80,000+ downloads and counting! With cloud computing being all the rage these days, we thought it made sense to cook up some achievements for Windows Azure. As such, we are excited to announce an update to the extension which includes fifteen new achievements, all focused on exercising features of Windows Azure. There are 15 new Azure achievements, such as publishing to Windows Azure from Visual Studio ( Heading into the Cloud) , using page blobs ( Attack of the Blob ), using SQL Azure ( Database Darling ) and configuring start up tasks ( Its My Party ). http://files.channel9.msdn.com/thumbnail/39315f90-7c03-4fa9-a286-6ba66b435c93.png" rel="lightbox <img src="http://files.channel9.msdn.com/thumbnail/39315f90-7c03-4fa9-a286-6ba66b435c93.png" alt="Azure Achievement Unlock Download It <a class="big download button http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/bc7a433b-b594-48d4-bba2-a2f24774d02f Download Now Using Windows Azure If you arent using Windows Azure yet, nows a great time to start. If you are an MSDN subscriber, a Microsoft partner or a BizSpark member, this is a chance to use http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/ your free Azure benefits (up to $3,700 dollar a year!). If you arent a member of one of these programs, you can sign up for a http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/ free three month trial . <img src="http://mschannel9-ht2.dl.msecn.net/vsachievements/azureBadge.png" alt=" Once you are signed up, youll need to download the http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/ Windows Azure Tools For Visual Studio (from November 2011, also known at the 1.6 SDK). To learn more about developing Windows Azure solutions for .NET, check out all the great tutorials, how-to guides, training kits and other resources http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/ in the .NET Azure portal page . Two of the achievements ( Phone in the Cloud and Game in the Cloud ) require the use of the most excellent Windows Azure toolkits, which can be found http://watwp.codeplex.com/ here and https://github.com/WindowsAzure-Toolkits/wa-toolkit-games here respectively. Visual Studio Achievements If you arent familiar with Visual Studio Achievements, check out the video below, which should give you a quick overview of what Visual Studio Achievements are in 60 seconds: <iFrame src="http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/C9Team/Visual-Studio-Achievements-in-60-seconds/player?h=384&w=512" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="512px" height="384px </iFrame> The New Achievements The 15 new achievements can be found on the Visual Studio Achievements homepage (scroll down to see them) with links to documentation about learning more. You can also find the complete list below. Happy coding and have fun! <h3>Unleashing Windows Azure</h3> Database Darling (5 points) Use SQL Azure. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ee336230.aspx Learn more about SQL Azure. Desktop Debutante (5 points) Configure Azure for Remote Desktop Connection. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/common-tasks/remote-desktop/ Learn more about using Remote Desktop Connection with Azure. Get On The Bus (5 points) Use the service bus. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/how-to-guides/service-bus-topics/ Learn more about the Windows Azure Service Bus. Heading Into The Cloud (5 points) Publish to the cloud from Visual Studio. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683672.aspx Learn more about publishing to Windows Azure from Visual Studio. IntelliTrace Rocks (5 points) Configure Azure to use IntelliTrace. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff966484.aspx Learn more about using IntelliTrace with Azure. Its My Party (5 points) Configure Azure to use a start up tasks. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/hh180155.aspx Learn more about using start up tasks with Azure. Keep Heading Into The Cloud (5 points) Publish to the cloud from Visual Studio 10 times. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683672.aspx Learn more about publishing to Windows Azure from Visual Studio. Performance Power (5 points) Configure Azure to use performance profiling. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/hh369930.aspx Learn more about using the Performance Profiler with Azure. Show Me The Cache (5 points) Use Windows Azure Caching. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/how-to-guides/cache/ Learn more about Windows Azure Caching. Union Jack (5 points) Configure Azure to use a worker role. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg432976.aspx Learn more about using Worker Roles with Azure. Write Once, Run Anywhere (5 points) Run multiple websites in a single web role. http://www.wadewegner.com/2011/02/running-multiple-websites-in-a-windows-azure-web-role/ Learn more about running multiple websites in a Windows Azure Web Role. <h3>Windows Azure SDK Guru</h3> Attack of the Blob (5 points) Use page blob features of Windows Azure Blob Storage. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/how-to-guides/blob-storage/ Learn more about the Windows Azure Blob Storage. Tired Of Waiting In Line (5 points) Use time out features of Windows Azure Queues. http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/how-to-guides/queue-service/ Learn more about the Windows Azure Queues. <h3>Windows Azure Toolkit Wizard</h3> Game In The Cloud (5 points) Use Windows Azure Toolkit For Social Gaming. https://github.com/WindowsAzure-Toolkits/wa-toolkit-games Learn more about the Windows Azure Toolkit For Social Gaming. Phone In The Cloud (5 points) Use Windows Azure Toolkit For Windows Phone. http://watwp.codeplex.com/ Learn more about the Windows Azure Toolkit For Windows Phone. <img src="http://m.webtrends.com/dcs1wotjh10000w0irc493s0e_6x1g/njs.gif?dcssip=channel9.msdn.com&dcsuri=http://channel9.msdn.com/Feeds/RSS&WT.dl=0&WT.entryid=Entry:RSSView:f8f7ed74c0954cbfb565a0300127b69a
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