From the standpoint of someone working at Microsoft and responsible for the Windows SDK, this is incredible news. We are basically acquiring some of the best tools for that space (low-level, hard-core devs) as well as the services of two very talented people in Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. (I...

[28 September 2006 Update] The Windows Vista September CTP has been released to beta members. There is a matching September CTP from the .NET 3.0 Runtime Components, Windows SDK, "Orcas" Tools and Workflow Extensions to Visual Studio 2005. I originally wrote this blog entry to help folks reconcile...

Hot on the heels of last month's public Beta 2 release, we've released a June 2006 CTP for the Windows SDK . Note that this build of the Windows SDK is to be used with the following: Windows Vista (Build 5456), Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 [For managed code development or the running...

Not much to say here except ... "YAY!!!" You can finally download the Vista Beta 2 bits by enrolling in the Customer Preview Program. Note that the WinFX Runtime Components (needed to run WinFX apps) are automatically installed in this Windows Vista build. Therefore, if you're looking to just run...

Back in April, I posted a blog entry on the ReadyBoost feature - the Windows Vista feature that allows you to use a USB key as virtual memory in order to enhance performance. While I originally intended the post to be an overview of ReadyBoost, it proved quite popular and garnered quite a few questions...

A member of another team here at Microsoft dropped by and chatted with us a bit about a great new site that enables developers to prepare for Windows Vista. This site - http://www.devReadiness.org - contains lots of great technical articles and interviews aimed at helping you get your applications ready...

In addition to the launch of the first public Windows Vista Beta since last year's PDC, we have also published a complete redesign of the MSDN Windows Vista and WinFX developer centers in order to create a seamless, unified experience for users moving from one site to another. The sites also reflect...

While you will hear people state that hash codes generate a unique value for a given input, the fact is that, while difficult to accomplish, it is technically feasible to find two different data inputs that hash to the same value. However, the true determining factors regarding the effectiveness of a...

One very cool feature of Windows Vista – especially for machines not natively equipped with the kind of horsepower to fully enjoy the rich visuals of Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) applications is ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost enables you to plug a USB key into your machine and have Windows Vista...

From time to time, I get queries like “Why is Microsoft forcing managed code on us?” or “Why is Microsoft abandoning native code?” and so on. As MSDN is a key Microsoft public interface to developers, I thought I’d answer that from my own perspective. Being a Program Manager at MSDN offers me a...

One of the most exciting things I’ve seen since I started to work at Microsoft is how open the development teams are to listening and helping our customers when a problem arises. One case in point took place over the past couple of weeks. Without stating specifics, a customer wrote me (via this...

We've released the December CTP (Community Technology Preview) of several interrelated technologies this morning. These include the Windows SDK (with WinFX ) and and several "Orcas" technologies such as Cider (a Visual Designer for the Windows Presentation Foundation). What's especially exciting about...

Earlier this year, the Windows SDK team started working on the "Windows Vista Developer Story". This massive 500+ page document provides real content to developers looking to get started writing Windows Vista applications using the new Windows SDK. We are pleased to announce that the first part of...

I've received a few queries lately as to why MSDN - and Microsoft as a whole - has become more focused on producing Visual Basic.NET examples and code snippets in our articles and presentations. The reason is two-fold. First, while I can't publicly state the actual numbers, I can tell you that there...

It's finally here! The WinFX November CTP (Community Technology Preview) is the latest version of the WinFX technologies and is now available for download/installation. Included in this version is the WinFX Runtime Components (RTC) , Windows SDK and Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for WinFX . Here are...

I think one of the most interesting things I heard all week were the constant remarks along the lines of "Microsoft sure kept that secret. I had never heard of it!" This was said in reference to such technologies as Microsoft Workflow Foundation and Microsoft Expression . It's good to know that as a...

Back in the mid-1990's, a very good friend of mine left the software company we both worked for and founded a company dedicated to developing software solutions for dental/ortho offices. The idea he had then was a bit revolutionary at the time for a PC-based system. Along with a doctor-friend of his...

One of the best things about working at Microsoft is being paid to learn. This is especially true in my job as it specifically deals with providing developer content for three of the newest and most exciting technologies we’re delivering: Vista, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and XAML. While...