Today the Windows Phone 7 Developer team blogged about the roadmap for the RTM version of the tools. Interesting to note that August marks six month anniversary of the public unveiling of the new Windows Phone platform at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. In that meantime a lot has happened: the developer and designer tooling was announced and made available at MIX10, a tools beta update for developers made available in June, launch Xbox Live game titles were announced...
Full details on the roadmap can be found in the team’s blog post: “A Developer’s Roadmap to Windows Phone 7 Launch Timing”. Important to note is the developer tools RTM version will be made available on September 16th, and the marketplace submission for Windows Phone 7 apps will open early October. So the message for today is: make sure you register for the Marketplace today and finish off your application with the beta tools.
If you’re living in Belgium you can even win some cash when developing your Windows Phone 7 application. We are looking for the best application that makes full use of the Windows Phone 7 platform, the more creative you are, the better your chances.
How can you participate?
Share your experiences on Twitter using #5Kwp7be, or blog about it and keep us posted!
You won’t believe the amount of information that’s already out there concerning developing and designing applications for WP7. I’ve selected a few of the most important resources to start with.
The guys at the VISUG have done it again: Juval Lowy is visiting the country for an training class organized by Pieter Gheysens and like past editions they managed to get Juval for a free VISUG community event as well.
This time Juval will be presenting “The Architect”, still some places left so be fast to register.
Session: The Architect by Juval Lowy Date: 14 October 2010 – 6PM Session abstract: The software industry is in a deep crisis. Projects suffer from low quality; schedule slips and cost overrun are common. But this is hardly ordained, since there are plenty of examples of projects done on schedule, on budget, on quality in a repeatable manner. The key for solving the crisis is to practice software development as an engineering discipline, just like it is done in mechanical or electrical engineering. That is exactly the responsibility of the modern software architect. Armed with that crucial observation Juval will share his perspective on what is the key set of skills required of the architect and what it implies both to companies and to individual architects.
This is feeling like a tradition since I started working for Microsoft almost three years ago: we’re been organizing REMIX events every year. This year is no different with REMIX10, taking place on September 28th 2010 in De Montil near Affligem.
REMIX events are geared fully towards web folks: web designers, HTML integrators and web developers. We bring in a blend of local and Microsoft corporate speakers, with a keynote that portrays a bunch of local cases and gives you a good overview of Microsoft Web and User Experience platforms. First things first: make sure you register in time, you can choose the User Experience Track or the Web Development Track. Registering for one does not prevent you from changing once at the location but it does allow us to better setup our rooms. Register here.
So, what can you expect this year?
The remaining sessions are to be confirmed really soon. Make sure you follow us on Twitter for the latest updates: @remixbe
Check out our first look at the full agenda on the REMIX10 page. Hope to see you there and spread the word!
The Windows Phone 7 Developer Tools Beta version have just been released and are available for download now. After the CTP first shown during MIX10 in March and a refresh in April it’s now time for getting your hands on the beta. If you have the previous CTP version installed, make sure you read the installation notes and uninstall the previous version. There are also breaking changes, which I recommend reviewing as well.
This is one single download that installs the following tools, as always completely free:
For full coverage and background info, developer device availability, and a virtual training please see the Windows Phone team blog post.
Upgrading your CTP project: to upgrade your project, nothing better than this extensive post by Jaime Rodriguez: Migrating apps from Windows Phone April CTP Refresh to the beta build.
So, what are you waiting for?
Have fun!
Today Scott Guthrie’s blog post announced the availability of the first beta for WebMatrix.
WebMatrix includes a complete Web development stack that integrates a Web server (IIS Developer Express), database (Microsoft SQL Server Compact 4.0), programming model (ASP.NET Web pages with Razor syntax), and a tool (WebMatrix Beta). If you are looking for an easy way to start out with your blog or site development and fine-tuning this will come in handy. While the tool itself coming with the WebMatrix tool is not focused at professional developers, you will see that elements from the stack are pretty welcome to all. These include the Razor syntax as a view engine for ASP.NET MVC, IIS Express and the SQL Server Compact 4.0. Note that the separate downloads are not available today but will be made available in the future.
Give it a try and learn more for creating your first site:
WebMatrix also uses the Web Platform Installer and Gallery, so you can start from scratch or choose an existing app from the gallery like Umbraco, BlogEngine.NET, DNN, Drupal, WordPress, and others.
Enjoy!
After the first preview shown and made available at MIX 2010 in March, Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 3 is now available for download and testing. This is, as with the previous two versions, a preview build without any navigation functionality. It’s really made to let you test the rendering and performance. Read the full post by the IE team: HTML5, Native- Third IE9 Platform Preview Available for Developers.
We encourage you to try out this build and participate by giving your feedback.
Download, test your sites, give feedback and give the special Test Drive demos a spin!
The IIS Media team is moving fast. Last week the team announced the beta availability of the IIS Media Services 4.0. Media Services are an out-of-band release for IIS meaning you can install this as extensions to IIS without having to wait for a full OS upgrade.
I recommend you check out the blog post covering all the new stuff in this release: IIS Media Services 4.0 Beta is now available on Chris Knowlton's blog.
As a summary, here are main new features:
You can download the beta for x64 or x86.
Give it a try!
One of the new features that were just announced about Expression Blend SketchFlow 4 is the integration of SketchFlow projects with SharePoint. What does this mean? It allows you to publish SketchFlow prototypes to a SharePoint library and manage stakeholder feedback directly in the SharePoint library.
Knowing that hosting the prototype and having your stakeholders send e-mails back and forth with feedback is not always straightforward, I think this is a really nice and useful addition to SketchFlow. Let’s have a look at how this integration works.
For showing how this works I’m using one of the prototypes that comes with the Expression Blend 4 samples, in this case the "MockupDemonstration’ solution.
Once I’m ready to publish this SketchFlow prototype, I can choose “Publish to SharePoint…”
I’m using my personal SharePoint “My site” since I don’t have an external full SharePoint server available.
At this point the SketchFlow application is packaged and published in the “MockupDemonstration” folder on my site. After publishing the app I can open the library and and copy the link for distribution. When I browse to the SharePoint library I will get a new folder as requested, with a new sub-folder for this version of the project. Inside this folder you will find the .XAP file that contains the prototype as well as a TestPage.html.
As expected, opening the TestPage.html will load the associated .XAP file from the same folder. And that’s it: for hosting the prototype nothing more is needed.
SketchFlow’s SharePoint integration would only be half useful without the capability to integrate feedback.
Because the prototype is being accessed through the SharePoint library, uploading the feedback directly to SharePoint is also available as a choice in the player. After entering your initials, the feedback is uploaded to SharePoint. Several reviewers can give feedback which is all saved into the SharePoint library corresponding to the prototype version.
Content of the feedback folder:
The next step is getting that feedback into Expression Blend 4. To do this I activate the SketchFlow Feedback pane (if not visible, activate it by going to Window > SketchFlow Feedback). You will see in this pane that left to the + icon to load feedback files there is now a icon to refresh feedback from SharePoint. After synchronizing the latest feedback, Expression Blend will show you the details as you would get in Expression Blend 3, ordered by revision.
Further iterations will generate new versions on SharePoint and new revisions. This allows you to keep feedback linked to a certain version correctly structured in SharePoint.
Have fun with sketching and SharePoint collaboration!
Expression 4 was officially launched today at Internet Week New York. In this post you’ll find the main links to downloads, getting started and a concise overview of new features.
All the different versions of Expression Studio are available for download with 60-day trials. Download here.
Upgrading from Expression 3 If you have already installed Expression 3 on your machine and have a full license you will automatically have a registered version of Expression 4 when you install it on the same machine. More details can be found on the Expression site.
Side note on Windows Phone 7 tools compatibility: don’t install Expression Blend 4 if you’re currently doing WP7 development. The WP7 tools are not compatible with the RTM version, do expect an update soon.
Expression Blend adds support for Silverlight 4 and WPF 4 projects, still allowing you to continue developing your Silverlight 3 and WPF 3.5SP1 projects. Next to this multi-targeting support there are quite some new features of which I like to highlight the following:
SketchFlow gets its second iteration with this release. There are quite a few noteworthy new features, of which the integration with SharePoint is the most important. This feature allows for publishing the SketchFlow project directly to a SharePoint library. The stakeholders can then use this to browse the prototype, add feedback and also save the feedback directly to SharePoint. Expression Blend Feedback also connects to the SharePoint library to load the comments.
Some other new features in SketchFlow:
SuperPreview, part of Expression Web 4 allows you to debug your pages in multiple browsers on the same machine that you use for development. SuperPreview is a visual debugging tool that helps you visualize and understand how pages display on multiple browsers, including IE6 – 8, Macintosh Safari, and Windows Firefox. You can even overlay your page on top of your Photoshop comp to verify your coding. IE6 rendering engine is included in SuperPreview so you don’t to install it on your machine. In order to get IE7, 8, and FF, each of these must be installed on the machine. A new addition in this version is support for rendering on Macintosh Safari, which is supported via a remote (cloud) service technology preview. This is a beta service and you will need to sign-up for this.
Expression Encoder 4 Pro has support for a brand new H.264 encoding engine from Main Concept, which is more performant. Live Smooth Streaming: next to encoding for on-demand Smooth Streaming which was available in Expression Encode 3, the new version also has support for live stream encoding for from a range of video card and USB/Firewire devices.
Expression Encoder Screen Capture The hidden feature I love in Expression Encoder is the Screen Capturing tool. Very easy to use and great for doing screencasts. New in this feature are zooming functions, capability to work with multiple clips in the new capture manager and registration of the codec on the host machine. In addition, free distribution of the codec allows for raw screen captures to be viewed outside of the application.
Umbraco is an ASP.NET open source CMS that is getting more and more attention. No different in Belgium: the BUUG – Belgian Umbraco User Group is starting up and looking for participants.
If you’re interested in participating in this community, either because you’re an Umbraco wiz or a total newbie or somewhere in between, you’re very welcome. The next meeting will be organized at the Microsoft office in Zaventem on June 10th at 7PM.
Register and join the community!
If you’re new to Umbraco, get going by installing the CMS using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer – App Gallery.
Next week on May 31st 2010 we'll be holding the first Belgian Windows Phone 7 Developer Hub. If you are looking for more information and kick-start your development of Windows Phone 7 apps this is a perfect place to get all the info.
We are happy to welcome Ben Riga and Yochay Kiriaty as our speakers for the event.Ben and Yochay will cover the general architecture, (free) tools, Silverlight and XNA development and the Marketplace. You can also expect some local input during the event.
To get started before the event I recommend you checkout the two Windows Phone 7 sessions that were recorded at our TechDays event in March:
Knowledge of Silverlight or XNA is not a pre-requisite to attend this session however it will be a plus if your know the technology upfront.
Still a few places left, if you're quick you'll be able to join us. Register is free but required.
The Belgian User Groups are again working together to organize the fourth edition of the Community Day on 24th June 2010.
Don't miss this full day free event where there will be more than 20 sessions presented by the community and sponsors. Sessions include developer focused content like Silverlight and NHibernate, MEF, Windows Phone 7 development, SharePoint 2010, and much more.Next to the technical content this event is also a great opportunity to network with your peers.Register now!
Location: Utopolis Mechelen Address: Spuibeekstraat 5 2800 MechelenEvent date: Thursday June 24thStart & end time: 8.30 - 18.30
If you use Twitter be sure to use the hashtag #comday2010.
Last week Gill Cleeren and I presented the MSDN live meeting “MIX 2010 Announcements Update”, where we talked about the main MIX announcements and shared resources. You can find the session video recording as well as the slides below. To make it easy I’m listing the main resources discussed in the session here:
Windows Phone 7 event in Belgium – May 31
As I mentioned during the session, we are organizing the first Belgian Windows Phone 7 Developer Hub on May 31st, at Living Tomorrow in Vilvoorde. It will be a half day event presented by both local and Microsoft corp speakers, giving a full overview of how to develop applications for Windows Phone 7 using Silverlight and XNA. Free event but seating is limited so don’t forget to register in time.
Recurring MSDN Live meeting events – your feedback is welcome. Every two to three months, Gill and I will be presenting these types of updates around Web development technologies. Don’t hesitate to let Gill or me know what you would like to see during these events. Do you prefer overview sessions bringing you up to speed with the latest announcements or do you prefer less topics but more in-depth on a certain item? Feedback is welcome.
Session downloads (video and presentation)
To stay up to date of this and other MSDN Live meetings around technology updates make sure you subscribe tot the BeLux MSDN Flash (Dutch / French).
As you might have noticed, support for running PHP on Windows is growing stronger. With the enhancements in FastCGI for Internet Information Services for hosting PHP, the OData SDK for PHP, but also the recent announcement of the SQL Server Driver for PHP 2.0 with PDO support, there is quite some work being done. Something you might be interested in to familiarize yourself with the topic of PHP on Windows is the Training Kit available for download, which has also been updated to include support for Windows 7.
As I blogged some time ago, the PHP on Windows Training kit offers hands-on labs and demos on running and developing PHP on Windows (PHP configuration with IIS, PHP & SQL Server, etc).
Download the latest version here and read more in this post by Zach Owens.
Missed TechDays? Good news: the developer keynote delivered by Anders Hejlsberg is already online. Watch Anders discuss the Trends and Future Directions in Programming Languages.
All the other sessions will be live through the www.techdays.be site as well as Channel9 in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on the mentioned sites.