Be … err… Get a Microsoft Desktop Player

Microsoft has a pretty slick new Silverlight based education aggregation tool available, called the Microsoft Desktop Player. Just for grins I set up a query that specified me as an IT Pro, looking for resources on Win 7, in my role as an Enterprise Administrator focusing on Development/Pilot activities.

Entry screen for the MS Desktop player, with sample query

Here’s what pops up in response:

In response you get pointers to Webcasts, Podcasts, White Papers, and more

To the left of the control pane depicted in the preceding screenshots, you’ll find a playback area where the items you select will appear on your screen. I first tried it out on Firefox, only to learn that the player requires IE 6.0 or newer. In IE 8.0 it worked like a champ. It’s not a bad way to go spelunking through various MS Information offerings on technical topics, so why not give it a try?