Lots of new cool VS and framework goodies to download and play with now.
Check out an official blog post from Soma – SVP of the Developer Division.
Hopefully Silverlight 2.0 is not far behind…
Monday August 11 2008
Friday June 20 2008
Windows Mobile 8 = Windows 7 Lite?
Mary Jo Foley’s post speculating about Windows Mobile 7 coming in Q1 2009 says:
From recent executive remarks, it sounds like Microsoft is trying to get Windows and Windows Mobile to be more in sync. Might this mean with Windows Mobile 8 — which Microsoft has told certain folks will be built from scratch — Microsoft might make Windows Mobile a “real” version of Windows, with the same core as Windows client?
I heard from someone at Microsoft probably 5 or 6 years ago that this was the plan.
Windows Mobile currently runs on top of Windows CE which essentially supports a subset of the full Win32, etc. APIs, so doing native (C++) development for Windows Mobile is similar to desktop development (just a little more ‘cramped’). There is also the .NET Compact Framework, similarly a subset of the full .NET Framework. There are also Windows Mobile specific APIs at the native and .net level. Some of the internal sub-systems, for memory, processes, etc. are quite different.
To make Windows Mobile a ‘real’ version of Windows at the core is therefore a lot about how much Windows CE is API-wise (inc. .NET) and sub-system-wise, similar to the Vista kernel. After that, we have the shell and applications.
The shell clearly cannot be Aero, and the UI experience expectations for mobile has been clearly set by the iPhone with everyone else playing catch-up. The mobile device really needs a bigger or paper-like-expandable screen at some point – there’s only so far you can go with zooming.
Applications can be split between Office (and other productivity or line-of-business apps) and all the other software+services things that are required activities in this era. No doubt Windows Live pieces need to be upgraded and combined with great UI.
Why not make Windows Mobile a .NET-only platform with WPF for the shell with add-ins for all MS and 3rd-party applications? The mobile space is not big enough that breaking compatibility is such a big deal. It truly can’t be long before Microsoft partners with nVidia and produces a Microsoft ‘mPhone’. An investment in small WPF mobile versions of Office would be a re-usable investment allowing for web based Office running on Silverlight!
Monday May 12 2008
Windows Live Mesh Gives Legs or Wheels to Microsoft Sync and Auto PC
Microsoft Sync has appeared in some Ford vehicles and is apparently coming to at least two other manufacturers soon.
It amazes me how utterly appalling the uptake is of Windows in the car industry.
Microsoft Sync with a Microsoft’s Live Mesh client opens up the ability to take contacts, music, continuous user experiences (such as phone calls, paused music and podcast bookmarks), to your car.
Combine that with a ‘Windows Live PC’ running on an ‘Xbox portable’ or Zune in the mesh as I’ve mentioned in this series of posts on Live Mesh, and you can really see the magic of software plus services coming together for a seamless user experience.
A ‘Windows Live PC’ gives the UMPC, ‘Microsoft PC’ or Xbox Portable a Future
In this series of posts I’ve talked about my concept of the ‘Windows Live PC’ as the trojan strategy in Microsoft’s Live Mesh.
I’ve talked about how such a virtual PC could be available on an Xbox 360, a Mac or other platforms.
One of problems with the Microsoft UMPC initiate has been that cost of PC capabilities in a small form-factor, and the need to up the component cost to provide Vista in that form factor. This has made many UMPCs (so far built not by Microsoft, but by IHVs) more expensive than many notebook computers and with less power at the same price.
With my concept of the ‘Windows Live PC’ and minimal SSD storage, the UMPC could stop growing in power (and energy consumption, resulting in longer battery life) and just turn into a ‘Windows Live PC’ client.
In previous posts I suggested that such a client doesn’t have to be very powerful. I also said that the xbox 360 is good enough. In fact the original xbox is likely good enough too in many ways – even perhaps a PS2 or PS3!!
How about a PC the size of a Mac Mini or the size of a Zune?
What if Microsoft sold its own UMPC with SSD storage, the form-factor of something like a Samsung Q1 Ultra but not much processing power – how about an Xbox portable?
An Xbox portable would be the ultimate convergent future of Live Mesh, Xbox, Xbox Live, ‘Windows Live PC’, Xbox portable, WPF, Remote App, Windows Server 2008, Windows licensing, ISV solution channel, etc.
Robbie Bach, J Allard, Ray Ozzie, Bob Muglia, Steve Ballmer & Bill Gates – take a look at this series of posts on Live Mesh – I know what you’re up to 
and if you’re not then you should be – it’s a vision I want to be involved in one way or another from the outside or the inside…
Add a ‘Windows Live PC for Mac’ to your Live Mesh with Silverlight
In this series of posts I’ve introduced the idea of a virtual ‘Windows Live PC‘. I’ve talked about how your Xbox could be the ubiquitous PC in your household without any software application installations, thanks to a potential expansion of the currently disclosed Web Desktop (storage service) in Microsoft Live Mesh, with the addition of RemoteApp from Windows Server 2008.
Silverlight 2.0+ is the SUPER TROJAN HORSE onto the Mac, Linux and I believe there could be more platforms to come (see next post…)
Some developers may already be wondering why they should bother with HTML, AJAX, DOMs, DHTML, Javascript, etc. now that they can provide a hugely rich WPF Windows application in a browser using their existing .NET skills (plus WPF), and when that browser can be IE and Firebox on Windows, Safari on Mac, and whatever it is on Linux, without any of the nightmare that cross-browser standards-compatibility creates.
In previous posts I said that my notional ‘Windows Live PC’ will run (via RemoteApp) on anything that can handle the necessary technology stack with the xbox 360 being more than enough. It seems to me that Silverlight 2.0 (or perhaps a later interation) could easily talk the Remote Desktop protocol. Once that happens Microsoft can be selling you a ‘Windows Live PC’ subscription on your Mac and all those Windows-targeting ISVs can now license their product onto a Mac or Linux!!!
Note that there is already a Remote Desktop Client for Mac, but with the potential for Microsoft to offer a virtual ‘Windows Live PC’ running full screen, the Mac could fade into just a remoteapp client to a ‘Windows Live PC’ albeit a great new channel for the Windows and ISV software licensing – now that’s what I call leveraging!
Add a ‘Windows Live PC for Xbox’ to Your Live Mesh
In this series I’ve been talking about the possible strategy that Microsoft could be unleashing with Live Mesh and associated Microsoft technologies. I’ve framed it as a trojan strategy because it is not the offering being talked about, but just like Silverlight (the trojan RIA platform onto other platforms), Live Mesh could quickly spring into something dramatic – the Microsoft ‘Live PC’ concept that I predict in the last post.
Live Mesh provides a Web-based Live Desktop which is currently just a 5GB file store with a Windows-Explorer styled web interface. Add Windows Server 2008 Server RemoteApp into the mix, or should I say mesh, and you get the ability to run Windows anywhere you can run Remote Desktop.
Remote Desktop uses the Remote Desktop Protocol. So for a client device to provide a virtual Windows experience it more or less just needs to support a graphic blitting display, keyboard & mouse (or similar), TCP/IP and some cryptography for security.
So how basic could such a device be? Well that doesn’t matter because that xbox 360 is more than powerful enough and guess who sells that. That’s right, you may already have a device in one or more rooms in your house that could be the PC of your future. Remember that the RD protocol isn’t great for remoting intense A/V or graphics. That’s OK, because you would play games locally using the full local power of the xbox, and Microsoft has already mastered the Xbox Live multi-player service.
So you could have a Microsoft ‘Live PC’ which you access from any Xbox without any software installation. Xbox already does this kind of trick and even with HD video when it acts as an extender for a local Windows Media Center (running on XP Media Center or various Vista versions).
WPF makes it easier. The RD protocol does things to optimise the transfer of the virtual desktop image on the remote physical machine. When Xbox 360 is used as an extender it talks to the Media Center service on a local PC with a higher-than-pixel-level protocol to optimise the data. WPF provides a high level of retained descriptive UI too. I can see the RD protocol optimised (if it hasn’t been already) for remotely WPF applications. Microsoft would then encourage ISV to create more WPF-based apps that would be inherently optimised for a ‘Live PC’ experience.
Let’s not forget that Windows Home Server that was quietly (relatively) released last year. That server could start providing a LAN-based RemoteApp service for those things that can’t be run well over an Internet connection. A virtual ‘Home Office 201x Service’ perhaps?
Thursday March 6 2008
Silverlight on Mobile Devices – The disappointing Reality
Having covered the news yesterday that Silverlight will (sometime this century) be available on Windows Mobile and select Nokia Symbian devices, I’m extremely disappointed to discover a few realities.
I’ve now watched yesterday’s Mix08 T12 Session (not a great session with projector issues, drawn out introduction, boring demos and of course disappointing news).
With regard to their current (pre-CTP) implementation:
- It’s Silverlight 1.0
- It runs in Pocket/Mobile IE
- It uses JScript for scripting – no .NET!!!! – so much for the closed loop now.
- It doesn’t have a common codec; it uses the devices available codec, going against one of the selling points of Silverlight being cross-platform.
- It runs on Mobile 6.0 – PDA and phone devices
- It uses Windows Mobile Player on the device to play movies – you can’t have alpha blending of video – this one is fair enough I suppose.
The presentation included comments about taking out the .NET code and putting in JScript, like this was a trivial thing.
The big selling point of Silverlight 2.0 is .NET development on the desktop, browser and server, plus WPF on the desktop/browser. This is a step back and it hasn’t even got to CTP yet.
They demo’d WPF/E (the former name for Silverlight) over two years ago at a PDC on a mobile device. What has Microsoft been doing for 2 years with this???
Their roadmap:
- Silverlight 1.0 for mobile CTP Q2 2008
- Silverlight 1.0 for mobile RTW Q4 2008
- Silverlight 2.0 for mobile CTP Q4 2008
- Silverlight 2.0 for mobile RTW Q2 2009
zZZZzZz !#$%#%$
Wednesday March 5 2008
Mix08 Major Silverlight 2.0 Announcements
Silverlight 2.0 Beta 1 (formerly known as 1.1) is now available.
http://silverlight.net/GetStarted/ (bottom of the page).
See the features matrix for overview of new features.
You can also get there:
- Silverlight Tools Beta 1 for Visual Studio 2008
- Silverlight 2 Beta 1 SDK
- Expression Blend 2.5 Preview
There is a Go-Live license for Silverlight 2 Beta 1
Sillvelight will be available on Windows Mobile and Nokia devices (S60/S40/Mobile Internet Tablet) – no availability given.
Silverlight uses a sub-set of WPF/XAML so you can easily create a full WPF desktop app from the same assets/code.
Mix 08 Keynote with Scott Gurthrie – Part 9
Silverlight going mobile
Going to support Windows Mobile and non-Windows Mobile.
Demo of Mixer social app:
- Mobile 6 device
- App allowing you to find friends for a party
- Aggregates twitter, photos and status
- User ratings for venues over the night
Announcement of partnership with Nokia to put Silverlight on S60/S40 and mobile internet tablet product lines!!!
Finally something cool!
Shame about the boring SVP at Nokia reading his pre-recorded announcement.
Seems like Symbian 60 is the priority.
Demo of WeatherBug app:
- Nokia Symbian 60 and Windows Mobile device – same app
- Weather icons and data
- App done in 3 weeks
- Animated snowy weather skin – a bit slow (’tried to do it with Flash-Lite’ and didn’t work)
Nothing about availability for any mobile platform 
Mix 08 Keynote with Scott Guthrie – Part 1
Standards-based web development
Just launched:
.NET 3.5 (includes Linq), Visual Studio 2008, IIS 7 (very componentised), Windows Server 2008
Coming in 2008:
New APS.NET MVC, ASP.NET AJAX update, New ASP.NET Data Dynamic. Information about this has been on Scott’s blog for a while.
IE8 – first public preview (mostly about standards)
1 CSS 2.1 support
2 CSS Certification – 702 test cases contributed by MS to W3C group because spec can have some ambiguous interpretations
3 Performance – modern sites are script-heavy – ie8 much closer to other browsers
4 Start of HTML 5 support – supporting back button in AJAX, (first demo applause), disconnection notification, local offline storage (applause)
5 Developer Tools – Debug developer tools in IE8 – Break points, watches, object model and applicable style tree syncing from selection (applause)
6 Activities – integrating experiences – select browser text and see popup-menu of activities (maps, purchase, ebay, etc.) declared through xml in minutes – OpenService Specification (through Creative Commons)
7 WebSlices – Subscribe to information related to pieces selected on a page (then carried in browser UI across any site), declared through WebSlice Specification (again Creative Commons).
8 Beta 1 available to developers microsoft.com/ie/ie8
