SQL Server 2014 Developer Training Kit, Power BI for Office 365, Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 CTP 1

There have been several recent Microsoft blog posts and downloads made available that are key for database professionals, SQL Server administrators, and SQL Server developers. Here's a round-up to keep you up-to-date:

Microsoft Downloads

SQL Server 2014 Developer Training Kit

The SQL Server 2014 Developer Training Kit includes technical information created to help you learn how to develop SQL Server 2014 databases, business intelligence solutions, and gain insights into the new cloud capabilities for your SQL databases.

Power BI for Office 365

Power BI for Office 365 is a new self-service business intelligence (BI) solution delivered through Excel and Office 365. Power BI enables business customers to pull raw, unstructured data from available data sources including those contained in Windows Azure and also on-premise data stores, and reformat it into meaningful information for analysis and visualization.

Related: Microsoft's Power BI for Office 365 Now Available

Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 CTP 1

The Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 Community Technology Preview 1 (CTP 1) is now available to the developer community and offers new features for agile planning, debugging, and diagnostics. Microsoft released the latest Visual Studio 2013 Preview Update on February 5, 2014.

Related: Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 CTP Now Available for Download

Windows Azure HDInsight with Support for Hadoop 2.2

Support for Hadoop 2.2 clusters is now in Preview for Windows Azure HDInsight—Microsoft's cloud-based Hadoop service. Windows Azure HDInsight combines the best of open source and flexibility of cloud deployment with the security and manageability required to accelerate the adoption of Hadoop in the enterprise. HDInsight has been updated to take advantage of some key capabilities in the latest version of Hadoop.

Blog Posts

What Drives Microsoft's Data Platform Vision?, by Quentin Clark, SQL Server Blog

Getting Trained on Microsoft's Expanding Data Platform, by Eron Kelly, SQL Server Blog

Announcing the General Availability of Power BI for Office 365, by Power BI Team

Simplifying Business Intelligence through Power BI for Office 365, by K. Kathi, SQL Server Blog

Making Big Data Work for Everyone, by Quentin Clark, SQL Server Blog

Windows Azure HDInsight Supporint Hadoop 2.2 in Public Preview, by SQL Server Team, SQL Server Blog