[Rd] Microsoft Monad Shell

[Gabor Grothendieck]

Not sure if this has application for R but Microsoft's new Monad shell
is now in public beta.  I have not looked at it myself but I wonder
if the tools that are required to create Windows R packages
could be replaced by this?

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The Monad team has recently released Monad Beta 3.1 to Microsoft Download
Center and we're working diligently towards a release of Monad 1.0! As
adoption of Monad has increased substantially, we have been moving the
Monad community presence away from Betaplace, an invitation-only site for
our earliest beta testers, to public areas to allow anyone interested in
Monad to download and discover Monad. I'm pleased to announce that as of
today, Monad's private Betaplace resources have now been fully
transitioned to publicly accessible areas.

But we haven't stopped there! An updated Monad User Guide and Developer
documentation are now available in the new Monad Documentation pack, as
well as a repository for Monad scripts thanks to our good friends over at
Technet Script Center! The Monad Betaplace presence is scheduled for
closure at the end of April. We will send a final e-mail when this closure
occurs.

Whether you are a Monad novice or guru, the following Monad resources are
sure to have something to pique your interest:

* Download the latest version of Monad and the Monad Documentation Pack at
Download Center:
            <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads> and search for "Monad"
            (Be sure to uninstall any old versions of Monad before
            installing Monad Beta 3.1)

* Share suggestions and submit bug reports at Connect:
<http://connect.microsoft.com/availableprograms.aspx>

* Browse the Monad script repository and read up on Monad script tips at
Technet Script Center:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/hubs/msh.mspx>

* Create MshCmdlets and MshProviders using the Monad Developer reference
on MSDN:
<http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-
us/cpref12/html/N_System_Management_Automation.asp>

* Discuss Monad with Monad team members, Monad MVPs, and Monad enthusiasts
in the scripting newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.server.scripting:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/newsgroups/dgbrowser/en-us/def
ault.mspx?query=microsoft.public.windows.server.scripting&dg=&cat=en-us-te
chnet-appcenter&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=328BAFD2-1A81-4558-B1DE-B6EB49F3
1B7E&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us>

* Get the latest scoop on Monad on the blogs by Monad MVPs and team
members. Here's a list of some of the ones out there:
            Monad Team Blog: <http://blogs.msdn.com/monad>

            Arul Kumaravel's Blog: <http://blogs.msdn.com/arulk>
            Keith Hill's Blog: <http://spaces.msn.com/keithhill>
            Lee Holmes' Blog: <http://www.leeholmes.com/blog>
            Marc van Orsouw's Blog: <http://mow001.blogspot.com/>
            Thomas Lee's Blog: <http://tfl09.blogspot.com/>

* Read all about Monad in the first published book on Monad. Published by
O'Reilly, this book is available to view online as well as for purchase in
stores.
            <http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/msh>

As thanks for being a supporter of Monad during our early betas, we've
worked with the folks at O'Reilly to get you 30% off the Monad book. Just
use the code "D6MNAD" when placing an order at oreilly.com. The code
expires June 30th.

Finally, we're always looking for ways to improve the Monad community and
to better understand how Monad is being used around the world. If you're
using Monad today and it's been helpful or you've done something with
Monad that you think is super cool and worth sharing, we'd love to hear
your story! The same goes for if you have any ideas for topics, areas, and
events not covered here but you wish you had. To send us your stories and
feedback, visit the Monad Connect website at
<http://connect.microsoft.com/>.

If you haven't used the Monad Connect site before you'll need to do a
quick registration if you haven't visited Connect before.