Well we're here ... Ready to see what this place is all about.. There is a lot of Texas orange around here??? Not for sure what that is all about but I’m sporting my classic white & red Hog shirt! No funny looks as of yet wait until I break out the PIIIIIIGGG SSOOOOOOOOIIIIIIEEEEEEE on them though.

First session - [Unit Testing in Silverlight 2.0 W/ Eric Hexter](@ehexter)

BIO: AspInsider , Director Austin .NET user group, Organized 07 Austin code camp
BLOG: http://www.lostechies.com/blogs/hex/

Notes:
There are 3 DLL's inside the controls that can be used for Unit testing...Its those Dll's that make Unit testing in SilverlIght possible.

No VS2008 CTRL + R + T in Silverlight apps for Unit testing must use an add-on

Using Silverlight Test framework builds the XAP file packaged and ready for you silverlight app

**Jamie Kinsdell using Nunit with Silverlight (need to change some references web config entries.

Jeff Wilcox on Silverlight Project - project template && Item template

Code is in the Austin Code camp repository

Not much to talk about from a coding perspective. Phase I was vanilla.  More to come soon Phase II will include some Silverlight features. The biker rally is later in the year.

http://www.bikesbluesandbbq.org/

1 of 4 part blog that will talk about a few of the neater features for this site. Please stay tuned.

Interesting links I found useful:

Blogged by Tim Sneath - Silverlight 1.0 - New Maintenance Release Available

Silverlight SDK - Make a Silverlight Timer (Silverlight 2)

Scott Hanselman mentioned this Silverlight Charts - link to Scott's Blog

Michael Sync - Silverlight 2 Known Issues and workarounds

Hope this helps.

Found this link to a pretty slick Silverlight 2 application complete with code. Compliments of J. Ambrose Little's blog. He also has a brief description as well.

Link to the app: Here

Link to the Code: Here

I have been diving into Silverlight 2.0 and the new Silverlight Controls beta 1 as of late, and while trying to pass on the glories of this new technology to my teammates, I have had some interesting conversations/points of discussion.  This isn't so much a "how to" blog but rather just some tidbits I ran across as a newbie to Silverlight. If any of these save you time my job is done. :) I’m not an expert in this new technology just simply a developer in the trenches. Here are some of my ramblings.

Please send me your feedback. I would like some other perspectives on what parts of Silverlight I should be researching.

A.Lets start with what I feel is the not so communicated compatibility facts for SilverLight 2:
(Found in the Runtime System requirements)

• Silverlight 2.0 is only supported on OSX on Intel machines.  Silverlight 1.0 works on OSX on PowerPC's, but version 2 is Intel only.
• The new support for Windows 2000 is only for Silverlight 2. Silverlight 1.0 apps will not work there.
   Correction: Pete Brown (Microsoft MVP) posted a correction that I wanted to add.   "Silverlight 1.0 applications will work on Win2k if the Sivlerlight 2 runtime is installed. The Silverlight 1.0 plugin won't install, but the Sl2 plugin is backwards compatible. You are correct in the lack of PPC support. Also note that SL2 does not support old x86 processors that have buggy or non-existant MMX instruction sets (like some old athlons)"
  THANKS PETE!

Question for my Apple friends:
Is the lack of SilverLight 2 support for PowerPC Mac OSX an issue? 

 B.I'm still trying to get my hands around where it makes sence to use silverlight I say "everywhere" the important concept is use it where you need added user experience :).   
Again, I'm still trying to figure this out, but I do make the argument that it most definitely has a place in your everyday internal business apps.  To that point, here is an interesting concept (one a little from the norm):

http://tocode.blogspot.com/2008/04/silverlight-2-simple-animation.html
**The implementation is not acceptable for dynamic data, but the concept is sound. Silverlight is not JUST for full blown RIA sites ... It can simply be for a richer user experience.

C. Teaser: I'm working on my own Tyson`ized version of memorabilia.hardrock.com using Tyson product packaging. It has been an interesting adventure. I have been documenting my findings as well as the workarounds I have had to implement based on the known issues of Silverlight 2 (BETA). Hope to have a blog entry on this very soon.

D.Interesting Related LINKS:

• Webcast - Silverlight 2 for Business Applications
• ScottGu - Creating Silverlight User Controls
• SilverPart - Silverlight wrapper Web Part

Thanks,
Jeremy