ASP 500 Internal Service Error

I have been fighting all week with IIS and ASP.  The server is a Windows 2008 R2 machine running IIS 7.5. 

I kept getting 500 Internal Service Errors. 

I've been going back and forth with the developers, creating app pools, resetting things, adding new lines of code, and pulling my hair out in between.

Today I happened across the blog of Don Draper.  Don has a blog post up about getting IIS to give you detailed error messages.  This was exactly what I was looking for.  After following his directions, I hit the ASP app in the browser again and there it was - exactly what the hangup was.  I am not going to reproduce the steps here, as Don has done a great job on his site.  As a side note, you definitely want to be careful with this.  I would not enable detailed errors on a production app.

Windows 8 Upgrade Pricing

Microsoft seems to be changing the way they do business lately.  It used to be that buying an upgrade to Windows really wasn't worth the cost for a home user. 

From Microsoft:

We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8. Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.

When you use Windows.com to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant makes upgrading simple by walking you through the upgrade process step-by-step from purchase to download and then of course installation.

I am very happy to see this new pricing structure.  With the new Surface prodcut recently announced, new pricing on the XBox - it seems Microsoft may be turning the ship around.

New Microsoft Tablet?

There has been a fair amount of news making the rounds today about a possible tablet coming from the Redmond giant.  

Some are saying the tablet will be an iPad rival.  

The company has scheduled a secretive event for Monday at 3:30 p.m. June 18 in Los Angeles, where it will make a "major" announcement whose nature has not been disclosed. Even the venue has not yet been announced.

But an individual with knowledge of the company said that Microsoft would introduce a Microsoft-manufactured tablet at the event, marking a foray into a new hardware category that would put the company in direct competition with giant rival Apple.

Rumors have surfaced that Microsoft's new tablet will run on Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 that uses an ARM microprocessor.

Others are saying this may be more of a Kindle Fire type device.  

Microsoft brass have continued to hint over the past year-plus that the company expects to see some kind of a Metro-centric reader to come to market.

They have never actually said such a device will run Windows 8 or even Windows on ARM/Windows RT. That has led me and others to speculate whether a Microsoft tablet — if such a device ever DID come to market — might be a Windows Embedded or, more likely, a Windows Phone OS device.

If such a “reader” were more akin to the Kindle Fire than to an iPad, a Los Angeles launch might make sense. Think this through. A Kindle Fire is an entertainment/consumption device. It is great for movie watching and music listening (hello, LA!) It also lets you read books (hello, Barnes & Noble). And remember: The settlement/contract between B&N and Microsoft mentioned Windows Phone. A lot. (In between all the redactions in that document.)

Personally, I am leaning towards them releasing a reader type of device.  This seems like it would fit nicely with the new Metro UI.  How about you?