David Boschmans Weblog : Windows Live Development

Project code name "Astoria"

David Boschmans — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:15:34 GMT

Last week at Mix07 Microsoft announced a project code named Astoria.

The technology code named Astoria is a technology that enables applications to expose data as a data service that can be consumed by web clients within corporate networks and across the internet. The Astoria data service is reachable over regular HTTP requests, and standard HTTP verbs such as GET, POST, PUT and DELETE are used to perform operations against the service. The use of web-friendly technologies make Astoria ideal as a data back-end for AJAX-style applications, Rich Interactive Applications and other applications that need to operate against data that lives across the web.

Pablo Castro has some more in depth posts up on his blog on Astoria:

For developers this is interesting as they will be able to use flexible data services that are naturally integrated with the web, use URIs to point to pieces of data and utilize simple, well-known, formats to represent the data, such as JSON and plain XML. Astoria provides web developers with a simple and clean way to access data when developing Ajax or Silverlight applications, using the familiar HTTP verbs such as GET, POST or DELETE, to point and manipulate their data.

There is currently an online service preview of Astoria available at http://astoria.mslivelabs.com/. So you can consume the web data service API directly from there. If you want to install the bits yourself to try them out, you can donwload them together with the documentation and samples at Microsoft Project Codename "Astoria" CTP. The Astoria downloadable bits can be used to build data services that are entirely contained within a single computer or network and the online service preview lets you create online stores that are hosted by Microsoft and that are accessible over the internet. The payload format for the Astoria service is controllable by the application, but all options are simple, open formats such as plan XML and JSON.

Technorati tags: Mix07, Astoria, Silverlight

The Panel: Code and Examples for creating front end experiences

David Boschmans — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:56:00 GMT

The Panel is the place to collect showcases of new user experiences and provide insights on how they were implemented. WPF applications and Windows Live gadgets are featured.

Each featured project provides the applications as well as the source code and explanation in order to help you leverage the new technologies and build better user experiences.

Download the Code and Examples from the Microsoft Download Center.

The currently available downloads are:

Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets:
- Events.gadget
Windows Live gadgets:

Visit the Panel website for more instructions and descriptions for each showcase application.

Technorati tags: The Panel, Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets, Windows Live Gadgets, gadgets

Building better Web Experiences: from ASP.NET AJAX to WPF/e

David Boschmans — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 01:13:48 GMT

This afternoon I did a workshop on Microsoft's Web Platform & Tools for LBi. I think it went really well, despite the amount of topics the cover and the time constraints. I started to discuss the importance of building better online experiences and how these influence business opportunities. Next we took a dive into the different web technologies.

From the technology side I started with covering ASP.NET AJAX. As most of the developers where already familiar with ASP.NET AJAX and even had some hands-on experience we could almost immediately dive into some examples. I showed some of examples of the AJAX Library, the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions and the AJAX Control Toolkit. While preparing my demos I had to update some of them to the latest bits. This migration guide (RC to RTM) were of great help to get them to work.

Some sample sites build using ASP.NET AJAX can be found here. I showed PageFlakes and ... the audience was impressed.

Next we had a look at the Windows Presentation Foundation as one of the elements of the .NET Framework 3.0 Framework for building desktop and (Windows) web applications. After looking at the architecture the coding and compilation/XAML parsing model I showed some demos from this list. I also showed how designer and developers can work better together using the XAML collaboration model to design user interfaces. Most developers where impressed when they saw how this worked: creating a XAML based UI in Expression Blend beta 2 - saving the project - opening it in Visual Studio 2005 + Cider - adding some code - etc. In a couple of weeks I'll be visiting the designers of LBi!

Moving from WPF to WPF/E was a little step but it remains difficult to explain the differences. Hopefully we'll soon get rid of the confusing codename (WPF/E). I hope the final name won't get any link to WPF ... Main difference is that WPF/E is cross-platform & cross-browser where WPF only runs on Windows because it requires the .NET 3.0 runtime. WPF/E doesn't need the .NET 3.0 runtime but a lightweight browser plug-in that will be made freely available. It's currently in February CTP status.

Some examples using WPF/E can be found here. I also showed the WPF/E SDK and the Visual Studio template that comes with it. The programming model even lets you integrate ASP.NET AJAX and WPF/E applications very easy. More on developing WPF/e applications using the SDK can be found on the WPF/E quickstart page.

Finally I explained how Windows Live gadgets and Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets can embrace the technologies above to extend the reach of connected applications. Karsten and Charles have some examples of a Vista gadget using WPF. I don't have an example yet of WPF/E in a Windows Vista Sidebar gadget, but I'll have a look at it in the upcoming weeks.

These are the technologies I covered during the workshop. Of course if time would have permitted I could have talked about creating Media Center experiences using MCML. A deeper look at the Expression Tools is definitely something that not only designers should do but also developers. Till today - and the availability of the March CTP of Visual Studio "Orcas" - Cider is just not sufficient for exploring XAML in Visual Studio. And yes, the development experience of WPF/E will only get better when getting closer to a beta stage.

If you want to experience all of this live, you can at Developer & IT-Pro Days 2007. During the web developer pre-conference all (except WPF) will be covered by Jeff Prosise.

Technorati tags: ASP.NET 2.0, ASP.NET AJAX, WPF, .NET Fx 3.0, WPF/E, Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets, Windows Live Gadgets

Countdown to MIX07 and gadgets

David Boschmans — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:03:30 GMT

MIX is Microsoft’s premiere conference for web developers, designers and business professionals. MIX07 will explore the next generation web technologies that help consumer-oriented, web-based businesses unlock new revenue opportunities and lower development costs. MIX is a forum for discussing ways to bring technologies such as ASP.NET AJAX, WPF/E, Media Center Edition, IE, and the Expression suite together in a way that enables developers and designers to deliver rich web experiences that drive business results.

The keynotes during Mix07 will be delivered by Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation and Scott Guthrie, General Manager, Microsoft Corporation. More information on the sessions is also available on the Mix07 web site.

And the news section of the site learns us that every Mix07 attendee will receive a free copy of Windows Vista Ultimate!

On the mixtify section of the Mix07 web site these new cool gadgets are available:

Countdown the days (hours, minutes and seconds!) to MIX07 which begins April 30th in Las Vegas at the Venetian. You can also stay up to date on MIX news with the latest headlines from visitmix.com via the RSS feed also included in the MIX gadget. You’ll be so in the loop on MIX, you won’t want to walk away from your computer to hit Vegas (NOT!).

Add to Live.com - Add the MIX07 Countdown web gadget to your Live.com homepage.

Add to Spaces - Do you have a Windows Live Space? Add the MIX07 Countdown gadget to your page. It is designed to fit perfectly in the narrower left and/or right hand columns of a Windows Live Space.

Add to Sidebar - If you are already running Windows Vista, you can add the MIX07 Countdown gadget to your Windows Sidebar. You'll know, with just a quick glance, how long you have until the opening day of MIX07!
1. Click "Add to Sidebar" above to start the download
2. Save to your local hard drive.
3. After the file is downloaded, double-click the file to install onto the Sidebar.

I've added all 3 gadgets as a test and they look nice. They were developed by Donovan West, a Microsoft MVP, from LiveGadgets.net. He has some cool other gadgets posted too.

With the countdown I now perfectly know when I should start packing my bags for this year's Mix conference. I'm wondering if there are some other Belgians planning to attend. If so, let me know!

Technorati tags: Mix07, gadgets, Sidebar gadget, Live Spaces gadget, Live.com gadget