You had me at "Hello World" : Windows Vista

Switching Between Applications, Using Vista Flip3D

HelloWorld — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:50:54 GMT

I like Flip3D, but I rarely use it, as I am accustomed switching between applications by pressing alt-tab. Using mouse to click that 'switch between Windows' is too slow. Did you know that you can activate Flip3D by pressing the Win key + tab? Switch the tab around by clicking either Win+Tab or Shift+Win+Tab.

Photo Editing and Management in Windows Vista

HelloWorld — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:02:25 GMT

Are you looking for a photo management and photo editing tools? If you are using Windows Vista, Windows Photo Gallery can do those thing. I just recently discovered it, I have to admit that I did not know all the features in Windows Vista <blush>.

I was assisting a friend of mine, he wants to know about Microsoft Digital Image suite to edit his photos. When looking for more information about this suite, I finally paid some attention to Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista. It has all the features that he needs, cropping, fixing red-eye, color adjustment, and tagging.

If you are researching for a photo editing utilities, take a look first at Windows Photo Gallery, it may do the things that you need.

This post is pre-recorded, I am on vacation.

Why does my application requires an elevated privilege?

HelloWorld — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:25:00 GMT

I am writing an internal utility, and it bugged me that my utility requires an elevated privilege. I like the UAC prompt in Windows Vista, if an app tries to do something critical, I would like to know who wants to do it, and why. The why part sometimes are not clear, but it is better than nothing.

But my application does nothing that requires elevated privilege. Out of curiosity, I removed all code and references. My application essentially just a blank console application that does nothing, and it still requires an elevated privilege. WHY????????

One advantage of working for Microsoft is that this is a place of hard-working, smart, and also kind people. If you ask nicely, you can get some answers, if they are not too busy. :) So I asked the team, and I got the answer. My application has 'Update' string in its name. The name triggers UAC.

I renamed my app, and it still requires UAC, I suspect because my assembly name has 'update' string in it. Oh well, the pointer that was given to me, tells me to create an application manifest, either embed it or put in on the same folder with the app. It works great.

Some would think UAC is bad, but it is there to protect the user. If you want to give your application user a great experience, make sure your app won't prompt for UAC if it is not necessary. These are some links that are helpful:

Tips and Tricks for Using Key Windows Vista Native API's from Managed Code
(http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/9/3/c934f4fb-25e3-42a6-ad15-97775994927c/WindowsVistaTipsAndTricks.ppt)

Windows Vista Application Development Requirements for User Account Control Compatibility
(http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/6/a/56a0ed11-e073-42f9-932b-38acd478f46d/WindowsVistaUACDevReqs.doc)

If you want to create a manifest file, create a text file, and change the name of the text file to match your application name, complete with EXE and give an extension ".manifest", for example, an executable 'UpdateFile.exe', set it to 'UpdateFile.exe.manifest'. Edit the file with your text editor of your choice as follow:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asmv.v1"

manifestVersion="1.0">

<assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0"

processorArchitecture="X86"

name="AppName"

type="win32" />

<description>App Description</description>

</requestedPrivileges>

</security>

</trustInfo>

</assembly>

Update the attribute in Italic as necessary, and you are good to go, your user will have a better user experience.

Using X86 COM interop with ASP.Net application in Windows x64

HelloWorld — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:51:00 GMT

It has been almost two months since my last post. It has been very busy here..

I got several good notes with one my previous post, about using x86 COM interop in x64 environment. I also had few questions about using x86 COM interop with ASP.Net application in the 64-bit Windows, such as Windows Server 2003 x64, or Vista x64.

Well, IIS in 64-bit Windows is also 64-bit and uses 64-bit version of .Net Framework. You might deployed your app as pre-compiled binaries or deploying the source, either way, the same error will be thrown in the app is using a 32-bit COM interop. The same error, Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {GUID HERE} failed due to the following error: 80040154.

If you deployed the ASP.Net source code to the server, ASP.Net does the compilation and it is more challenging to force ASP.Net to compile it as 32-bit application, as the IIS itself is 64-bit.

There is a way to do it, I don't say that this is ideal, but it works.

Configure IIS to run 32-bit ASP.Net application.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/140077b8-8c96-49b0-be17-e47095983c2b1033.mspx?mfr=true
Register ASP.Net 32-bit with IIS.
Open a command-prompt window at %windows%\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v2.0.50727 and call aspnet_regiis -i.
Enable the 32-bit ASP.Net web service extension from IIS Service Manager (it is not automatically enabled from step 2).

Your ASP.Net application and your 32-bit COM interop now will work. The most ideal situation would be to get the 64-bit version of the COM interop.

New thing in Vista, Copy as Path

HelloWorld — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:55:00 GMT

I discovered something really nice in Vista. You can press shift and right-click on a file name on the Windows Explorer, a new context sensitive menu item is added to the pop-up menu, 'Copy as Path'. This is awesome as it will copy the path including the file name to the clipboard.

I wish this menu is more visible, but hey, I am happy that now I do not have to copy the path from the address bar, paste it, add a backslash, press F2 on the file name, copy the file name, and paste the file name, add the extension if necessary. It saves my precious few seconds...

Thinking about moving to Vista? Want to know if your devices are certified for Windows Vista?

HelloWorld — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:11:00 GMT

You can check it here http://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/. This site has a comprehensive list of logo'd hardware products that work with Vista.

Hopefully this site will help you get the best experience with Windows Vista.