The topic backlog from Suggestion Box 3 has nearly cleared out, and I've actually been enjoying not having to write up a reply every Monday for the past several months, but all good things must come to an end, and so, without much fanfare, we now have Suggestion Box 4.

Remember, the suggestion box is for suggestions for future topics. It isn't for developer support, bug reports, or ranting. Topics I'm inclined to cover:

  • Windows history (particularly the Windows 95 era).
  • Windows user interface programming in Win32, and shell programming in particular.
  • General programming topics (selectively).
  • Issues of general interest.
  • My personal hobbies.

Topics I am not inclined to cover:

  • The blog software itself. You can visit the Community Server home page and cruise their support forums.
  • Internet Explorer. You can try the IE folks.
  • Visual Studio. You can try one of the Visual Studio blogs.
  • Managed code. This is not a .NET blog. I do not work on .NET technologies. As far as .NET is concerned, I'm just another programmer like you. Occasionally I touch a .NET-related topic (including the annual "CLR Week"), but I do not bring any inside expertise to the subject.
  • Non-software Microsoft topics, such as product support policies, marketing tactics, jobs and careers, legal issues.
  • Microsoft software that isn't Windows. (Exchange, Office, ...)
  • Windows topics outside user interface programming. (Plug and Play, Terminal Services, Windows Messenger, Outlook Express, SQL, IIS, remoting, SOA...)
  • User interface programming in anything other than Win32. (Because I know nothing about it.)
  • Debugging a specific problem. (Not of general interest.)
  • Predictions for the future. (What's the title of this blog again?)
  • Participation in Internet memes.

Selected products at Microsoft participate in the Connect program, and many more have official blogs.

Suggestions should be between two and four sentences in length. Think of it as an elevator pitch: You have three seconds to get your point across. Please also search the Web site first because your suggestion may have already been covered. (Possibly as a suggestion that was submitted to an earlier Suggestion Box that was not accepted.) And remember, questions aren't suggestions.

The Suggestion Box will be open for only two weeks, and I will be much more selective about which one I choose to accept than in previous go-rounds. I'll answer one every Monday of 2012 (minus holidays and special events such as CLR Week), and once the end of the year is reached, that's the end of Suggestion Box 4.