Editor's Note - June 2000

The Puzzler Grand Prize: Visit Us at TechEd

As we send this missive to the live server, it's nigh time to give away that BMW Z3 Roadster to someone who meets the Puzzler Challenge! We're holding a Puzzler round at TechEd, June 4-7th, and TechEd attendees can compete in it and get into the drawing for the BMW competition. The BMW will be given away in a live Puzzler Challenge game show held the morning of June 8th.

Tune in June 8th in the afternoon and watch a webcast of the Puzzler Challenge.

Upcoming Chats

We're doing two chats live from TechEd in Orlando, Florida! If you're at the show, stop by the theater and join in. If you're not at the show, join us online for unusually scintillating conversation on the following topics:

Special Series Live from TechEd:

• Exchange 2000 and the Web

  Tuesday, June 6, 2000 11:45AM PDT, 2:45PM Eastern (18:45 GMT) Live from theater at TechEd

• Deploying and Developing Active Directory-Enabled Applications

  Wednesday, June 7, 2000 9:30AM PDT, 12:30PM Eastern (16:30 GMT) Live from theater at TechEd

June Chat Series:

• Windows 2000 Server and Professional

  Tuesday, June 20, 2000 12PM PDT, 3PM Eastern (19:00 GMT)

• Commerce Monthly Chat

  Thursday, June 22, 2000 10AM - 11AM PDT (17:00 - 18:00 GMT)

• SQL Server OLAP - Sponsored by PASS

  Wednesday, June 28, 2000 10AM - 11AM PDT (17:00 - 18:00 GMT)

We frequently add chats to our schedule. For the latest scoop on our chat topics, see https://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/default.mspx

TechNet Focus Groups

In April, we traveled to Chicago, Denver, and Iselin, NJ, to hear in person what is useful and what could be improved on the site. First I'd like to express how overwhelmed we all were by your enthusiastic response to our invitation! I wish we had enough spots for all the volunteers that signed up. We had 10 times as many volunteers as we had spots, so unfortunately couldn't accommodate everyone.

Equally impressive were the comments and ideas that participants offered regarding improving our search, home page, deploy pages, the kinds of tasks and information you need when visiting TechNet, and what you'd like to see more of.

Look for improvements all over the site between now and July. For starters, here's the revamped Windows 2000 Deploy page, based on input you gave on how you look for deployment information. Give it a spin and let us know how you like it: https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office/office2000/deploy/default.mspx

Are you interested in participating in any future focus groups? Participants are recruited via our Flash subscription list. To get on the list and receive the free Flash, see https://www.microsoft.com/technet/abouttn/subscriptions/flash_register.mspx

As always, let me know your thoughts and ideas on how we can continue to make TechNet even better.

Tim McBride
Group Manager
Microsoft TechNet

Illustrated portrait by Elizabeth Anderson, MSN Staff