AprilR's WebLog

Getting my head around multiple users, multi-touch

I'm nearly one week in to the new team and I've already absorbed a lot - from project issues and product planning, to people and processes.  Part of my learning plan on the new team, however, is to also get to know the product itself.

This article came through my mail box today, which is good timing.  I've been grappling with this myself the past week. I've been trying to think of all of the different things I do collaboratively, and not just in working with others in parallel or through divide-and-conquer.  The value of Surface is in the ability for multiple people to work on something together - at the same time, on the same device.  v1 of Surface already provides some digital forms of analog activities, like working on a puzzles and looking at pictures.

But what other types of applications would be valuable to a group of people wanting to do something together?

aprilr

Moving on again!

Hey there blog readers :) Just a quick post to let you know that I am moving again - this time to Microsoft Surface

I have been in our Developer Division for 11 years; I have had a great time working on the development of Microsoft Help 3.0, and unforgettable times working on the Visual C++ team.  I've enjoyed communicating with all of you over these past few years, too!

But, I am definitely ready to take on a new challenge.  I'll be utilizing my project management skills and exploring application of recently learned skills from the UW Bothell MBA program in tackling a new product, business and customer base. 

SO, if you want to keep up with the latest on Help 3, make sure you subscribe to the Help 3 team blog and if you use Twitter, follow @Help3!   Soon we will be posting a great guide about the new "platform."

If you want to keep up with Visual C++, you probably already know about the C++ Team Blog.

Thanks for all of your comments and support. I hope you follow me to the new world of Surface, too!

 April

Another cool new VC++ 2010 feature: the next generation of buffer overrun protection

See this cool Channel 9 video with one of my favorite peeps - Louis Lafreniere - VC++ 2010 is shaping up to be quite a release!

http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going+Deep/Louis-Lafreniere-Next-Generation-Buffer-Overrun-Protection-gs/

Cool new C++ feature in Visual Studio 2010!

Check it out this cool feature that my old team has  - c++ squiggles!

Read Mitchell Slep's post all about it on the VC team blog -  

 http://blogs.msdn.com/vcblog/archive/2009/06/01/c-gets-squiggles.aspx

- April

Impact VS10 - Memorial Day Weekend Challenge

The word is out - and so far, customer feedback is extremely positive about the MSDN low-bandwidth view.  But what about you? You should have a say, too.  So my challenge to you this weekend is to take a moment to check it out if you haven't already and then cast your vote!

A - LOVE IT AND WILL ALWAYS USE IT!

B - It's OK, I'll use it when I'm on a slow or expensive connection

C - YUCK I CANNOT USE THIS.

Post your VOTE here - comment that you are in bucket A, B or C.  Get your friends to vote.  And, if you have them, make suggestions on what to include/not include/change for the offline help view in the next VS10 pre-release.

C'mon, bring it on!  You have three days to take 5 minutes to shape the product help experience in the Visual Studio 2010 product.

- AprilR

Help 3 is getting its Social on

In case you missed it below - the help 3 team is keeping you up to date and providing resources for help 3 through modern means:

Twitter - Follow @help3!

Join the MVPs on Facebook - there is a Help 3 page and a Help 3 group - there are also groups for Visual Studio 2010

And, all new! Watch the new Help3 blog for a first post tonight!  http://blogs.msdn.com/help3team

Enjoy!

- aprilr

Early Parts of Help3 come to life in Visual Studio 2010 Beta 1!

Soma has announced the release of the first Beta of the next version of Visual Studio is available to MSDN subscribers.  In this release, you will see that product documentation is only available online.  While you are using that, do us a favor and try the new low-band view!  It's clean, simple and FAST!  Check it out and give us your feedback - simply visit the MSDN library, or take your favorite short cut, Live Search or MSDN Search to get there, and click on the 'switch on lowbandwidth view' link.

April

What does DITA mean to you?

SO, I realize, it has been over a month since WritersUA, and still, no really helpful posts about what-it-is and how-to-use-it for Help 3.0, but, this is only because there have been a few MORE changes that are being finalized.  In just a couple more weeks we'll be free to share all the fun details with you....it is all good, though, so don't worry too much!

 BUT, in the meantime, whilst the team toils away on this release, I've got my mind a bit further out - on 3.1 to be exact.  Yes, THE 3.1 release, the one that we expect to support all ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) on Windows.  The BIG one.  So, one of the things I'm looking at is the various connections between authoring tools and publishing pipelines and the point where the content gets on the box, where Help 3.0 actually sits.

 One topic I hear coming up again and again is - what does this mean for DITA (http://dita.xml.org/book/dita-wiki-knowledgebase)?  Well, from the little research I have done, I think that DITA and Help 3 are fundamentally compatible. 

 What I want to hear from you all, though, is, what does DITA mean to you? Take the question for whatever it is to you - post a comment or e-mail me directly.

 Thanks!!

aprilr

Help3 @ WritersUA

Monday I presented the latest news on Microsoft Help 3.0 at the 2009 Software User Assistance conference hosted by WritersUA!  We've made a lot of progress and many design decisions and changes since PDC back in October.  We had originally expected to be ready Visual Studio's next Beta release, but now we plan to show off our bits in Beta 2.  Over the next month I'll be writing several posts about the ins and outs of Help3 and at the end of April I will be back on Channel9 with some demos and any updates. 

As our team has grown, and we've been getting MVPs and VSIP partners up to speed, so you'll be able to keep up with Help 3 in a couple of new ways:

A new Facebook Help 3 page run by our beloved Microsoft Help MVPS -

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=70197449895

On Twitter - Search on #Help3 or follow me, Lirpa, or Help3

- April

Help 3 @ the PDC

When I last wrote, we had just kicked off our user group tour and the team was just getting going.  Since then, we have staffed all but one position, vetted an architecture and decided on the 'v1.0' set of features for our new help platform.  We also created rich prototypes - nearly end to end.  I've been talking to internal and external customers and partners and everyone agrees - this is going to be cool.  We've been able to keep our design simple and straightforward and used existing technology where we could.  So, when can you see it and when can you learn more!?!?  Well, I'm using this post to both kick off a series of informational posts and to let you know that myself and a few others will be at the PDC next month!  You'll find us at the Windows SDK and MSDN Library booth.  We will also be looking for your feedback there - the first couple hundred responders to our live survey will get some cool swag. Hope to meet you there!

Stay tuned!

 April

Help Team User Group Rounds Kick-off in L.A.

As you may have seen or heard by now, there is a new team dedicated to improving the help experience in Visual Studio.  If you already know that then hopefully you also know that we realize that including you in the planning process is important!  I will begin talking with various user groups on the west coast starting later this month.  I will find a way to work with other user groups around the country as well, but I'm starting off with the fine developers nearby.  I will be in L.A. on March 20th at the Micrsoft offices downtown at 7pm to talk with the L.A. .NET Users group. User group members will need to RSVP to me in order to attend.

Other planned stops (dates, places TBD):

• San Jose, CA 
• Portland, OR
• Burnaby, BC 
• Vancouver, BC
• Washington State:
• Bellevue
• Bellingham 
• Olympia
• Redmond
• Spokane

- AprilR

Hear More on Channel 9

If you haven't already discovered Channel9, you have been missing out! There are tons of informative, and in some cases funny, videos about all sorts of developer-y things!  Make sure to stop and look around when you go.  That Channel 9 guy has been all around the world!

It also just so happens that you can hear me talk about the exciting future of help.

aprilr

Help is Getting Help - The Long Overdue Makeover for Visual Studio and MSDN Help

We heard you, and if you heard a loud cry of joy from the Pacific Northwest around the middle of December, you may have heard me! 

I'm thrilled to report that Microsoft's Server and Tools Business has decided to invest in significantly improving the Developer and ITPro help experience over the upcoming years!  A new small team of engineers will soon be on the job of raising the bar for the experience of installing, using and updating documentation for Visual Studio, MSDN and other products!  What's at the top of the priority list? Making your F1 and search experience fast and relevant.  Once we solve that we hope to offer you a simple viewer and update model to keep you in the know and highly productive.

What say you!?  What is important to you? What would you like to see? Remember that question I posed to you nearly a year ago - what is your dream assistance scenario!?!?!?  After we fix F1 and search, what is most important to you?

If we nail Search, do you still need the Index? Will intellitype in the search box do or do you really want that separate window?

Keep your eye on my blog, because we'll be looking to you for feedback on our many ideas and plans for improving your ability to get the answers you need - FAST.

 aprilr

How to Provide Feedback on VS and .NET Framework Documentation

Kathleen provides good information about ways to give feedback on the documentation:

http://blogs.msdn.com/kathleen/archive/2007/10/11/wanted-feedback-on-visual-studio-content.aspx

April

April Wan Kenobi Update

What's this, you ask?  Well, check out:

http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2007/08/08/visual-c-futures.aspx#4432520

Thanks Jan :D

I want to tell you that because of your comments, dear readers, not only here but on Soma's blog, I think we are getting some traction in rallying the troops to improve the VS help experience!  You are making a difference.

I don't have many details for you yet, but stay tuned for questions and ideas that we'll need you to answer and review to help us know whether or not we are on the right track!  Here are some themes:

- Fix search - the current local help engine is terrible here and we need to improve, and while MSDN online is constantly improving, we can do more

- Continue to provide local-to-the-box help, don't rely on the online story alone

- Improve F1 - figure out what the heck is going wrong with so many of the calls that you don't get what you need!

- Provide a more modern and performant UI to browse and navigate the help content - and bring back my favorite features!

 Let me know what you think.

April