Eliot's Blog : Windows

ArtRage Beta Shows Windows 7 Multitouch Capabilities at PDC

Eliot — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:12:00 GMT

I sure wish I could have seen this in person. The fine folks at ArtRage were showing off a beta version of their upcoming release. ArtRage is a graphic artist software package that uses Tablet PC functionality to enable realistic creation of water colors, oil paintings, chalk drawings, and much, much more. This new version includes a lot of new functionality, including the use of the Windows 7 multitouch APIs. As you can see in the YouTube video, touch enables real "painting" with a brush, giving artists the feel and interaction of non-digital art.

If you're not familiar with ArtRage, take a look at their Starter Edition. It's got a limited set of functionality, but it still shows off the awesome selection of capabilities. The full version is absolutely worth the nominal fee that they charge.

Windows 7 Developer Blog

Eliot — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:43:00 GMT

Ooh, another blog! But wait, this one's different.

The Windows 7 Blog for Developers.

Sounds so, well developer-oriented. And about Windows 7. "Uh, Duh," you may very well say.

This one's got at least one member of the ISV Evangelism team in Windows participating in this one. And there may be many other writers and developers contributing to the blog (even me, too). The elusive "J"---well, for now he's elusive---is hoping to take a more developer bent than the E7 blog. So far that one's been interesting from the perspective of the dynamics and theoretical operations inside the Windows machine, er, organization. But "J" is getting into the bits. Down and dirty with the API peeps. Look for it; it should be good times. And you don't see that every day. No you don't my man; no you don 't. (episode 11)

And The Winner Is: "Windows 7"

Eliot — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:33:00 GMT

Well, the name is official, and it's been announced that it will be shown at PDC and WinHEC. At least according to Mike Nash, and he should know. From Mike's PressPass page:

As corporate vice president for Windows Product Management, Mike Nash heads the team responsible for market intelligence, pricing models, competitive strategy and incorporating Live services into the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

From the Windows Vista blog:

And, as you probably know, since we began development of the next version of the Windows client operating system we have been referring to it by a codename, "Windows 7." But now is a good time to announce that we've decided to officially call the next version of Windows, "Windows 7."

"Windows 7" I like it. Clean. Simple. Effective. Now, I'd better get back to making it great....

The $100 Windows SDK Question

Eliot — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:44:00 GMT

I try to get your attention in devious ways. But this is worth being tricked.

The Windows SDK is looking for feedback about that gigantic product, The Windows SDK. More than feedback, they are dying to know what you'd change and what you want to see added. So, in their own words:

The Windows SDK Team is looking for customer input into what should change/improve in the Windows SDK and how it interfaces with Visual Studio. Please participate in the short surveys:

How would you spend $100 to improve Windows SDK components?
What NEW Windows SDK Features do you want?

Speak up. You want changes and they're listening!!!!!!