Nice list of demo-able WPF applications
At Designertopia a couple of weeks ago I had some informal talks with people from McCann-Erickson on how the web might evolve in the next couple of years. I told them a little bit about the upcoming Microsoft platform technologies and how this can create new opportunities to reach people.
Today I delivered a presentation about this at McCann-Erickson. I explained why user-experience is so important these days. I started with some ASP.NET AJAX samples and then showed a lot of demos based on the Windows Presentation Foundation. While I had most applications installed locally on my demo box, this published list of WPF apps below helped me a lot, to show the power of the deployment models.
Here is the list of some public WPF applications that you can download or play with today. Note that the deployment model has been added so that you know what you are getting into as far as installation goes. Lots are using ClickOnce application files and .xbaps, so installation is trivial!
After having demo-ed some of these applications I went through some of the WPF/e applications, how they will be running cross-browser, cross-platform.
Here's a list of the "WPF/E" (codename) CTP (February 2007) SDK Samples (online):
- Page Turn Media: The Page Turn sample shows how "WPF/E" uses XAML to create a compelling presentation of images. It also shows an additional navigation element that allows users to quickly jump to a specific image.
- Media Library: This example uses a real world scenario of a video site. The sample is rendering a progressive download video feed from Channel 9 and uses ASP.NET AJAX to improve the interaction parameters of this sample (watch how back button works). Notice how resize works as the underlying presentation player (XAML) is vector-based.
- Sprawl Game: "WPF/E" is perfect for creating casual games. This sample shows a typical casual game. All the elements of this game were created using the Microsoft Expression suite.
- Simple Video Playback: The simple video playback samples provide the essentials you need for showing video playback on your site. The minimalist control uses an efficient design that hides the control when it is not needed using subtle animations.
- Film Strip Slideshow: Learn the value proposition of "WPF/E" while viewing a "WPF/E" sample. This example uses animation to implement a slide show style presentation.
You can also download these samples from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=515684FD-C8A0-4588-88C5-54CE224925E7&displaylang=en.
Finally I briefly touched on the Windows Media Center development capabilities and how this might become increasingly important with the convergence of the internet and television.
I think it was quite an eye-opener for most of the people that were there. Especially that none of them were deep tecnical. I hope they will be using these ideas when building new creative ideas!
