Back in 2013 I published an article about free e-books from Microsoft Press, and I got some great response to it. Why? My readers love books, and everyone loves getting something for nothing. That is just simple math.
I was having a conversation with my team last week, and they told me they did not have the budget to purchase the reference materials they needed to properly learn the servers they were deploying. That reminded me of the free books, and I decided to go on-line and see what was currently available.
There are a few categories that I will call out because they are the areas of focus that I touch on (namely infrastructure), but I can assure you the list for developers and end-users it there too.
Now here’s the best part: If you have an e-book reader such as a Kobo (or any of the others) then there is a very good change you can download these books for that platform directly from your merchant’s on-line store. For example, a quick check of www.kobo.com finds Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 available as a free e-book.
This will not be comprehensive, but fortunately for us Kobo owners you can also download the e-books and side-load books to your device. (Full disclosure: I am on contract to Kobo, so yes I favour them over the competition)
So without any more fanfare, here is a list of titles currently available:
Windows Server
A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control, Second Edition
Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2
Introducing Windows Server 2012
Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2
Migrate Roles and Features to Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012
Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions: From the Desktop to the Datacenter, Second Edition
TCP/IP Fundamentals for Microsoft Windows
Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 TechNet Library Documentation 
System Center
Cmdlet Reference for App Controller in System Center 2012 SP1
Introducing Microsoft System Center 2012 R2
Microsoft System Center: Building a Virtualized Network Solution
Microsoft System Center: Cloud Management with App Controller
Microsoft System Center: Configuration Manager Field Experience
Microsoft System Center: Designing Orchestrator Runbooks
Microsoft System Center: Network Virtualization and Cloud Computing
Microsoft System Center: Optimizing Service Manager
Microsoft System Center: Troubleshooting Configuration Manager
Technical Documentation for System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager
Windows
Administrator’s Guide for Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.0
Administrator’s Guide for Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring 1.0
Administrator’s Guide for Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 7
Administrator’s Guide for Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 8.0
Administrator’s Guide for Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) 1.0
Deploying Windows 7: Essential Guidance
Developing an end-to-end Windows Store app using C++ and XAML: Hilo
Developing an end-to-end Windows Store app using JavaScript: Hilo
Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals
Prism for the Windows Runtime: Developing a Windows Store business app using C#, XAML, and Prism Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Programming Windows Store Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Second Edition (Second Preview)
Azure
Autoscaling Application Block and Transient Fault Handling Application Block Reference
Building Elastic and Resilient Cloud Applications – Developer’s Guide to the Enterprise Library 5.0 Integration Pack for Windows Azure
Building Real World Cloud Apps With Windows Azure
Building Hybrid Applications in the Cloud on Windows Azure
Cloud Design Patterns: Prescriptive Architecture Guidance for Cloud Applications
Create Your First Application – Node.js and Windows Azure
Developing Multi-tenant Applications for the Cloud on Windows Azure (3rd Edition)
Deploy SQL Server Business Intelligence in Windows Azure Virtual Machines
Drupal on Windows Azure
Introducing Windows Azure for IT Professionals
Exploring CQRS and Event Sourcing: A journey into high scalability, availability, and maintainability with Windows Azure
Migrating Data-Centric Applications to Windows Azure
Moving Applications to the Cloud, 2nd Edition
Moving Applications to the Cloud on Windows Azure (3rd Edition)
Rethinking Enterprise Storage: A Hybrid Cloud Model
Using Windows Azure Mobile Services to Cloud-Enable your iOS Apps
Using Windows Azure Mobile Services to Cloud-Enable Your Windows Phone 8 Apps
Using Windows Azure Mobile Services to Cloud-Enable your Windows Store Apps in C#
Using Windows Azure Mobile Services to Cloud-Enable Your Windows Store Apps in JavaScript
Windows Azure and SQL Database Tutorials
Windows Azure Prescriptive Guidance
Windows Azure Service Bus Reference
Office
Deployment Guide for Office 2013
First Look: Microsoft Office 2010
Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime
Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses: Help and How To
Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office 2010 Users
SQL Server
5 Tips for a Smooth SSIS Upgrade to SQL Server 2012
A Hitchiker’s Guide to Microsoft StreamInsight Queries
Books Online: Backup and Restore of SQL Server Databases
Books Online: Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) Reference
Books Online: Data Mining Extensions (DMX) Reference
Books Online: Data Quality Services
Books Online: High Availability Solutions
Books Online: Master Data Services
Books Online: Monitor and Tune for Performance
Books Online: Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) Reference
Books Online: SQL Server Distributed Replay
Books Online: Transact-SQL Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference
Books Online: Transact-SQL Data Manipulation Language (DML) Reference
Books Online: XQuery Language Reference
Data Access for Highly-Scalable Solutions: Using SQL, NoSQL, and Polyglot Persistence Extracting and Loading SharePoint Data in SQL Server Integration Services
Integration Services: Extending Packages with Scripting
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2014
Master Data Services Capacity Guidelines
Master Data Services (MDS) Operations Guide
Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn Solutions Guide for High Availability and Disaster Recovery
Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services Multidimensional Performance and Operations Guide Multidimensional Model Programming
Optimized Bulk Loading of Data into Oracle
Planning Disaster Recovery for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode
QuickStart: Learn DAX Basics in 30 Minutes
SQLCAT’s Guide to BI and Analytics
SQLCAT’s Guide to High Availability Disaster Recovery
SQLCAT’s Guide to Relational Engine
SQL Server 2012 Tutorials: Analysis Services – Data Mining
SQL Server 2012 Tutorials: Analysis Services – Multidimensional Modeling
SQL Server 2012 Tutorials: Analysis Services – Tabular Modeling
SQL Server 2012 Tutorials: Reporting Services
SQL Server 2012 Tutorials: Writing Transact-SQL Statements
SQL Server 2012 Upgrade Technical Guide
SQL Server Community FAQs Manual
Transact SQL by TechNet WiKi Community
Troubleshooting SQL Server AlwaysOn
Career
Own Your Future: Update Your Skills with Resources and Career Ideas from Microsoft
Now go forth and learn, study, and implement!
