Microsoft Max Blog

It would be nice if the homepage actually showed the filesize of the WinFX September CTP. Other than that, I'm impressed so far :)

Cool !! Great work.

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to congratulate you on such a great user interface! This program is the best program I have used (UI wise) and hope that vista is going to be similar.

Some things I would like to suggest is that there should be more features such as editing photos, and possibly having the 3D picture show in full screen mode (maybe even have it with music in the background?).

Anyway - Great work guys and I look forward to seeing the final version.

Thanks.

Sam

The screenshots look nice, but I wish that I could use it on my german Windows.

One quick suggestion: Instead of showing screenshots (which look great but don't show this thing off) it would be great to have a video showing it in action.

With something so insanely visual (with such a large download) it would help a lot with the messaging.

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the suggestion. We'll continue to improve our website over the next few months, and we may just add a video :)

-Dave (Max Team)

Hi, I'm wondering if there is anyway to download the actuall program instead of just a stubb. I'm behind a firewall which will not be turned off and your install program bombs saying that I can't download files needed to complete the installation. It looks like a wonderfull program, and I'd love to try it.

So is Max going to be an "Automator" rip-off?

The UI can get a bit unruly if I open the same list over and over again.

- Go to My Lists
- Select a list you've created
- Go back to My Lists
- Select the same list

Expected result:
I'd assume that it'd return to the same tab I already had opened, rather than create a new tab.

The app is looking great.

Hunter

How about providing a sample list to show off this thing? Let anyone who joins view it automatically.

Hmm, I installed Max, but every time I go to Add a photo, it gives me that Unknown error dialog and promptly quits. So I can't actually add anything to it.

Also, the support says to Enable IPv6 but for some odd reason, that just doesn't seem possible (can't install the protocol using XP SP2).

Will Max update to the RTM bits when Whidbey ships? It's fine for me to play with, but I'm hesitant to send it to less technical family members and the like until it runs on RTM.

First of all - great work!

I found the UI a bit difficult to navigate as it wasn't clear how to navigate to my different folders to find pictures. Also, the process of creating a list and helping the user understand what they're doing should be improved. (I'm already fearing the calls from my family when they can't figure out how to use it.) After a little instruction I think they would be fine, but the whole purpose is to avoid that human touch for them to figure it out.

I can't wait to see how this takes off. We're already starting to push the hardware refresh cycle with apps like this, as my Tecra M2 w/2GB RAM could use a lot more proc to keep up!

Keep it coming!

Kyle

Hi Hunter,

Thanks for the feedback. You're probably right; the button should re-open the existing tab. We're planning to improve our tabbing experience in the future and we'll definitely keep your feedback in mind.

Thanks!
-Dave (Max Team)

>Hmm, I installed Max, but every time I go to
>Add a photo, it gives me that Unknown error
>dialog and promptly quits. So I can't actually
>add anything to it.

Ditto here - same behavior. Images change scale on the fly beautifully though :-)

I was very excited to see this leverage Indigo and Avalon (WinFX) and what happens? It won't install on Windows Vista, the home of WinFX!!! It requires and runs only on WinXP SP2!

The screenshots look great, but i'd love to try it on my Windows XP PPO SP2 Spanish.

You should advice people with different OS languages that MicrosoftMAX can't run on their systems before downloading all the stuff this app needs... i went all the way downloading and installing until i got (at the end of the process) a Warning telling me it can't run on my OS version.

Come on people! there's whole world out there, not just US customers and/or testers.

Awesome job guys!

Any additional features planned for future releases?

First, the new UI is so nice and while I still didn't test the new beta of Vista, but the spirits seem that awesome OS in the air.
I'm a Microsofter, and like to use the company great products. But I agree with John about Picasa got much more features which is not avaliable in Max (till this beta built). But I think with more improvment till final release should carry more advancment.
Keep up the good work guys...

When is X64 support coming?

It's really getting frustrating that Microsoft aren't providing X64-compatible programs at the same time as X86 ones (MSN Desktop Search, Max).

Awesome application!

Something I noticed, though: as a 'test' I made Max make a list out of my 'Porn' directory.

Big mistake. *Slow* mistake.

Consider threading this part and letting the user play a game of pong while this operation occurs?

Great work folks. I am amazed to see such a stylish UI. Here is the install experience:

http://www.msvistablog.net/

FYI: I tried installing Max from the desktop of two different systems and it failed on both of them. When I installed it from the C: it worked fine.

Nice start. I have a comment though about adding images.

I have one folder that has a lot of images. And a sub-folder that has some more. "Add All" adds ALL of the images from the current folder AND the sub-folder. That's not what I want.

I want a way to easily multi-select photos and add them to my list... not just the one-at-a-time-or-everything-at-once choices.

Well, all I can say right now is that this product has a long way to go. Other than a little eye candy in showing the power of winFX there really is nothing to this software. In fact it seems more like a proof of concept than an actual product. So I guess my question is what is it going to be? A personal photo organizer, or just a publishing front end to display your photos on your machine or TV? Either way it lacks in usability and function. In my opinion this needs to merge with the Digital image suite. Or if this is suppose to be simple image editor/slideshow/share look to picasa for some inspiration. Not to sound too harsh but dealing with thousands of photos and trying to help the less geeky to find share and annotate their images, I am looking at this with the novice in mind. Nothing really to see other than some eye candy that really doesn't deliver.

Wow. Very neat UI. I like the way the images scale in size so smoothly and cleanly.

I would love to see this ability to scale implemented into IE. Currently, if I want to make web pages easier to read, all I can do is adjust the text size in arbitrary increments (smallest, smaller, medium, larger, largest). But images don't scale up and changing text size often breaks the layout.

It would be much better if you got rid of the text size adjustment altogether and replaced it with the ability to zoom into or out of the page the way you can with a pdf. This Max program shows you guys have the ability to do it in a very nice way.

This would make IE more useful to web users and it would also make designing pages easier if you didn't have to worry about people adjusting text sizes that might break your layout.

I want to try it in my Traditional Chinese Windows XP SP2! Thanks!

Great UI. It's quite a sleek, intuitive design. Keep up the great work.

-Joe

Could you please update the system requirements to include that you need an _english language version_ of Windows XP? Installation installed WinFX, required a restart, downloaded forever just to tell me that I can't install it...

Quite a beautiful app. But at this early time, it seems eye candy (and thats a LOT of candy) has taken a slight precedence over functionality. I guess thats part of your getting users to fall in love strategy. Looks are the things that attract the most. I did find a few bugs, I will post a consolidated list here sometime soon. But good job guys. I really like the new MS.

And I just had a look at the post above the comment box.
FYI Jefferson
1. When Visa (then longhorn) was announced, there was NO major desktop search application. No GDS, no spotlight, no beagle. But that was one of the biggest features of Longhorn. Everyone else jumped on the bandwagon.
2. Widgets that you know of were also announced at the same time, along with the sidebar. Again Apple copied MS with their dashboard, and Google with GDS2.
I have much more to list, but I guess I will stop here. You are not aware of usability benefits that MS had provided (though admittedly not much in the 2000-2005 gap). Take Outlook for eg. almost every email client emulates that UI, and Office 12 has taken that a step further.

And I would not be comfortable with a OS that makes me pay $29.99 just to watch movies full screen.

Will not work on my good machine not sure why I have service pack two and this is a first!!!

Please support a better bug reporting page on your new software. How are you supposed to know if it doesn't work? This just hangs and i have a new XP install with sp2 and all the updates and im running a AMD FX57.

No software company is to big for bug reporting!

It is sad that Open Source projects are passing Microsoft by.

Hi,

First... Max looks great! No questions on this.
But, I have some comments about it.
1. Creating a list: "Add all photos" is great. What about a Remove all photos"? Also, would it be possible to add all photos but not subfolders.

2. Max is resource consuming: he is not even able to refresh the Matle mode when full screen.

3. I confirm the tabs management is strange
that's it for now

Hi Guys,

I'm very impressed with your application. It has friendly GUI, in the same simple style as iPhoto on the Apple Mac. I'm not quite sure what your aim is for the product, but I would love to see an application rivalling iPhoto on the PC (which I believe you guys can make possible)

Would it be possible to add the following features:

1. Will there be any basic image effects? Just simple stuff to enhance the image quality, as many of my pictures require 3rd party processing.

2. Do the create list and created list have to be separate screens? This would make things much easier and faster for editing existing lists.

3. Any chance to upload music files to stream with the photos? For example I have cheesy spanish music to go with my holiday snaps :)

4. Integration with companies to allow photo albums to be purchased? Apple do this with iPhoto and it works great.

I Really think it look promising, and the interface is superb. Please keep up the good work!!!!

Paul

I like Max and I'm having fun playing around with it... But... I can't see a way to sign out and sign in with another passport. Once signed in, that passport appears to stick forever?

Gwyn

Not bad at all.

The multiple My List tabs are a little annoying (not being able to remove the extra ones), but I suppose you'll have that worked out soon enough.
:)

hi.
everytime i click the sign-in / register button nothing happens :(

I'm able to see and enter unicode characters in the app but they aren't being rendered right. (I tried this on Windows Xp AP2 with Unicode Indic languages)

I installed the package per instructions and it did install some WinFX Beta stuff but now I don't see anything in my Start/Programs menu. What am I missing?

One thing I'm unsure of.... does Max keep my list up to date on my friend's computers?

In other words, if I add a photo to my list ... will my friends' computers be automatically updated with the new photo?

I love it! Two suggestions:
1) Create a sample, shared list to test the app "client side"
2) How about RAW support?

This is a great piece of software!

Are you planning to open the Max's file format or to provide an API/Plug-in interface for developers? I can already see major benefits for the community as well as for Max itself.

I agree with Paul, I would love to have the ability to order hardcover photo album the way iPhoto does.
Can we hope for it any time soon?

Kiran D wrote:
"2. Widgets that you know of were also announced at the same time, along with the sidebar. Again Apple copied MS with their dashboard..."

In fact, Konfabulator beat both MS and Apple to it.

To stay on topic: I agree with previous comments regarding non-english OS - that's just lazy and ignorant on your part.

Great app the UI is really cool and easy to use. one thing i would like to if possible is to allow you to set security on the shows. Example say i share pics of my kids with my family and i say that they can download the images during the share with others invite so they could download a copy to their local machine, or an option to right click the pic and set it as a wallpaper.

Any Thoughts?
Thanks and great work.

Where is the Simplified Chinese version?

SpongBo,

Thank you for your feedback re: x64 support. We've been hearing that this is important to many of our customers. It's good to hear because it helps us prioritize.

X64 support is high on our list of configurations to add support for. Look for x64 from Max support in the near future.

-Kim (Max Team)

Just get a Mac (not an "Apple Mac", Mr. Paul) and use iPhoto. It'll own this Max thing anyway.

I love the UI,

well ok it runs a little slow on my Laptop and the Setup did not work on my german XP, but that is ok after all...

what about a printing option for the Album view? would be great...
and it would be great too if the program would ignore the folder.jpg, if that is possible...
and how about, well some kind of comentary function for every Picture...so the friends know at what they are looking at?

but after all a great work...I like it

Max is not working on Vista Beta 1 !?

Well, the time it takes to intall the program needs some serious work. 10+ minutes to install its small footprint is not very impressive. No problems however.

So far, it has a good look and feel.

There is one thing I'm curious/concerned about, if I have all these lists created, and my hard drive happens to take a nose dive someday. How would I go about restoring all my lists?

Have you guys thought about protecting this product?

Why only xpsp2? I only have win2003sp1 installed on my work machine.

Hey I am a linux guy, but I got to admit, the UI is just great ;-)

I have a question. How long should it take for the receiver to receive the pictures. I installed it on 2 computers at home and it took about 45 minutes for 11 pictures. Is it peer2peer or does it go through a central server?

I want the ability to be able to zoom in, or see the picture full screen. Right now, I have to see every picture at once, isntead of doub clicking to see one picture full screen.

so far i'm impressed by the interface... but i'm extremely concerned about the resources (71,000+ K Mem Usage)it's taking and I'm not even doing anything with it yet.

Can you guys add the ability to re-arrange your lists? It seems they stay in the order you created them in... I would like to order them myself (or at least alphabetically).

Thanks

The animation effects for image resizing are very nice.

However, adding the ability to adjust a few settings such as the following would greatly add to the current user experience:

-- the time delay between slides
-- the default number of images on a slide
-- the default slide layout
-- size and color of screen border area during slideshow
-- whether to show only entire images on slides, or if it's OK to crop

It would be nice to be able to mix the mantle and album views in the same slideshow.

Also, once a slideshow has been built, is there a file that I can write a descriptor file of some kind on a flash key or CD, along with my images, so that I can run the slide show on another machine?

hi, this sounded very interesting, but i was not very amused that after installing this winfx (which worked fine) the application just told me that its the wrong language!!

maybe i am blind, but i searched and searched and there was no information that its only in english.

hint: there exist a world outside of usa and also other languages than english.

thx 4 understanding

A lot of people have downloaded this app just to find out it can't run on their systems because of language incompatibility.

You should warn about this so people don't waste their time and bandwidth.

I think an apology is in order.

P.S. READ THE POSTS... IT COULD BE USEFUL DON'T YOU THINK ?

i downloaded the app mainly for the interface and i must say its quite impressive!
it looks consistent with the vista skin and everything, its really intuitive and really pretty :)
as for the actual app i couldnt find any bugs apart from the tab thingy mentioned above (opens same tab more than once) but it needs some more functionality..
anyway, well done and keep up the good work!

Just a quickie to say thanks for acknowledging the comment on X64, appreciate your consideration.

<polite congratulations>
Hi there!
Really good demo of what winFX can do. Very nice.
</polite congratulations>

<suggests>

1. Language thing. I'm able to run it from the temp. directory and it works well. (winXP Sp2 ES)

2. Compatibility: Why not made it availiable for a wide selection of OSs?

3. The "welcome" email! I tried to sign in a lot of times *before* realized that i had a mail blocked by the hotmail filter. I understand, the filter is my problem. But i think that you should warn us about that mail, you know, something like "confirm your account with the validation mail you have received, dude!"

4. functionality and that stuff... who cares? eye candy! :P an idea: maybe one day we will be able to post the galleries in a special website like msn spaces, will we? (It they make it only for pay don't hurt me, mankind)

5. Warn about the size of download and the language compatibility... BEFORE download

6. All of above *plus* reply me with a few words of that positive enthusiasm you microsoft folks usually show...

</suggests>

<PS> Nice "unknow error" message. (lol) I had one when i was dragging an image. max freezed, but i was still having the image miniature attached to the cursor all across the screen </PS>

Everytime I try to log into Max it tells me it "Max likes to make sure you are who you say you are - so nobody else can pretend to be you. We just sent e-mail to you at .....; it has instructions on what you need to do." The email never arrives.

I was really excited to try MAX, but no way, the app gives me the error that my OS is a different language than the app. My WinXP PRO SP2 is Dutch. Can you disable the language check option or anything like that so we also can play with it. Thank you.

MAX ignores the EXIF-Orientation-Tag. My Canon-Cams have a sensor, and every picture has the orientation-flag correctly set - but MAX shows it not turned right.

Please use this tag, even the windows-xp-programs don't use this flag, it's a pity.

All other programs i use interpret this flag correct.

Max is proof that .NET (CLR), Avalon, and Indigo aren't ready for writing client applications. Too much memory, too much disk space, too much bandwidth to download, can't xcopy it to other machines. Too many dependencies.

.NET should be for web sites, not client applications. I suggest that you rewrite this using a mixture of GDI+ and DirectX.

Hi Khalil,

Max supports list rearranging. Simply drag your photos to different locations in the window.

Thanks,
-Dave (Max Team)

Hi Ace,

Thanks for your feedback. At this time we don't support saving lists to external media like CDs or DVDs.

-Dave (Max Team)

Hi Edgar,

Thanks for your feedback. We're in the process of updating our download page to address your concerns and the concerns of other users who've attempted to download Max on non-English versions of Windows.

Sorry,
-Dave (Max Team)

Hi Tye,

We've written a help post on this issue. Please read http://blogs.msdn.com/max/archive/2005/09/13/463296.aspx. If you have any further issues, please post another comment.

Thanks,
-Dave (Max Team)

Hi C. Wissing,

Thanks for your feedback. We're going to improve Max based on the feedback we hear from the community. Stay tuned!

Thanks,
-Dave (Max Team)

Just as I've grown to expect, Microsoft has come thru again with another consumer friendly enhancement.

I think this would be more useful if it could be exported to an image or flash file (or equivalent thereof) and opened separately from Max.

While playing with it on my computer, I noticed that it created the same photo effects as your header for the site, and was hoping to be able to export the images that I was seeing on Max to use for the web/newsletters/advertising products in my store. Not so...but hopefully soon?

Is it possible to have a PUBLIC lists so averybody can view my pictures?

Great UI, I would like to see the ability to manage my photos attributes like title author etc in much the same way that media player edits music file. It would be great if this could be save to the actual file as well.

Great application! I really enjoy the rearranging of lists and the animations associated with doing so. I understand this is only a demo app. and really shows off WinFX's technology, but will we see any further development to Max? The website says that "Today Max is a photosharing App, but tommorrow, who knows." I'd really like to see more.

Like you said, this a "Beta" version, because nothing works in this program. I have downloaded it twice and can never get it to work. I get the stupid comment about being honest, but that doesn't help the situation. I give it a big "F" so far.

I installed it on both my Desktop and my Laptop.
Then tried using it between two different passport accounts.

A few observations for you:

1. It works and does not appear to cause any problems either either the
WinFX or the Max App. Install was on the XP Media Center Desktop, and the
Laptop XP/Pro both SP2.

2. It co-exists with Photostory 3 so I don't have to give that up.

3. The install was painfully long and not really very intuitive, will I
think require them rethinking that before they send to the masses. It
installs WinFX files...then requires a reboot, then continues the WiinFX
install, then finally installs the Max App. Worked OK, but I suspect the
typical user is going to want some additional dialogue about all this.

4. Requires responding to an email before first use is allowed...it seems
if attached to the passport this would be unnecessary.

5. Requires Both Sender and receiver to have the Max app installed.

6. The receiving person cannot get the photos unless the sender is online
with the Max app too. It appears this works a bit like an FTP between
sender and receiver but with no server in the middle to allow sender and
receiver to exchange on different schedules.

7. I did not see many bugs except it opens a new tab for the photo album
about every time you touch it.

I like the UI, and the idea that I do not have to clutter my email box with
photos I'm sending as well as the mail box of the receiver.

This may have a bright future when it matures a bit. I think it is
certainly worth a look.

Regards

I was real excited to see the demo app today, Microsoft MAX, leverage Indigo and Avalon. But what happens...

I was real excited to see the demo app today, Microsoft MAX, leverage Indigo and Avalon. But what happens...

Beautiful app.
Seems a lot of people are having trouble signing in with their good passports.
Trouble seems to exist if you have Net framework 1 or 2 installed in addition to WinFX.
Uninstalling 1 seems to go o.k., uninstalling 2.0 seems to be a issue with a lot of people including me. Some syatems will not let you uninstall it even though you have admninistrative rights.
I got as far as getting ready to share photos and could not because of signing in.
Passport works with all other apps.....
Too much to do for a novice....
BUT, this program and WinFX have a very good future outlook....

Nice new app. Nice eye candy, but not much substance. I can already share photos on MSN Spaces or by any number of other apps already available. What makes Max better other than the eye candy?

If there were integration with my MSN Messenger, MSN Spaces, (and other MSN properties) and more output options like printing, ordering prints online, burn to CD/DVD etc, it would be more appealing and more apt to make me use it more. Otherwise, I've already got a photo organizer (called Windows) and a photo sharing called MSN Messenger and MSN Spaces.

Sweet! Not too many options.
I had to be online with MSN Messenger, to be able to sign in into Max.

I used three (3)non-Microsoft E-Mail addresses in PASSPORT, all of which I could successfully log into independently.

Microsoft MAX refused to recognize ANY of them.

If this is a ploy to get more people to sign up to HOTMAIL, it failed miserably with me: I simply blew MAX from my system.

"I used three (3)non-Microsoft E-Mail addresses in PASSPORT, all of which I could successfully log into independently.

Microsoft MAX refused to recognize ANY of them.

If this is a ploy to get more people to sign up to HOTMAIL, it failed miserably with me: I simply blew MAX from my system."

Heh. I got it to work fine with my GOOGLE mail account.

Back on topic: Looking good, MS. Just one problem. I can't figure out how to switch passports. I'd like to test out the sharing feature, but I can't log in with another passport.

It's a eye candy but there is a long list of missing features...
1. No multiple items selection support
2. No integrated printing solution
3. No way to specify the quality/resolution of the shared photos.
4. No configuration option for the delay between pictures/frames during play-back.
5. Cannot add comments shared pictures.
6. Cannot specify a default group of contacts to share pictures with.
7. Cannot change the name of the list once it is created.
8. No grouping of lists by creator.
...

I installed Max and it worked first time; took many minutes but was worth it in the end.

I was at the PDC keynote, and I thought Max with the "Mantle" view was about the only time where WPF's 3D capabilities were used to really add something to an app that is fundamentally 2D. I'm very pleased to see it works on XP (on my laptop, even).

I would like to request a feature to rotate a picture from landscape to portrait. I don't think I have this feature in my camera like C. Wissing, but I have many photos taken this way so a right-click option would be useful.

I suppose somebody has already said something about commenting on galleries, or particular photos? My mate has a couple of pics that I'd love to be able to leave comments on.

Another thought, perhaps a middle-click (mouse wheel click) to close tabs? It's what I'm used to in tabbed internet browsers.

This is a great product, and I am sharing it with friends. One thing that jumped out at me right away was your spelling of "mantle"...it looked wrong so I consulted my dictionary. While "mantle" can be an alternative spelling of "mantel," the primary spelling is "mantel" (as in a fireplace mantel, which is what I assume you are referring to). To me, "mantle" makes me think of a cloak worn round the shoulders. That's my only complaint!

1) Installation was incredibly slow. It crashed upon the first attempt. Running Win XP Home SP2.

I will probably not use this, opting for Photoshop Album for these two things:

2) Lists are only one level deep. I'd like to group my lists pertaining to my family in one master group.

3) I cannot identify in which lists my picture mvc0034.jpg exists. Did I remember to put it in "Travel:NYC" or not??? ie.

Reasons 2 and 3 are why I quit Picassa.

One more suggestion, perhaps a right-click, 'Set as wallpaper' option? Or 'Save image as'? Some way to get the images you like from your friends.

Make it OpenSource and it will come~.

Where is the linux version?
;)

Great interface .
My suggestions are : why dont you try at the view mode to make an "acordeon" view as it is in the netflix you showed at pdc .
2. Make it capable to edit , resize , cut and other photo modification options
3. Make it posible to rename the list once created
4. Integrate the printing option
5. Maibe a feature demo on the site for people who dont know what is max all about . :)
6. Maibe 2-3 more languages ( german , french ) that may be installed :)
I'll come back and post as soon as ideas will come :)

Looks beautiful - great job!

Looks nice.
Too bad there isn't an OS X version available.

Oh wait... we have all that already.
Just like those widg... euh gadgets.

They say copying is the highest form of flattery.

Well it's getting pretty old now.

For anyone who can't use Max on NON-US WinXP:
When you see "Can't install because of the language of your windows" DON'T press Ok but go to your root directory (C:\) . If you have "Show hidden files and folders" option cheked you're gonna see strange directory such as "3fsfjlkgjfglserwerlkj". You should copy this directory to another place such as your desktop. (One of the files won't copy - don't copy it but copy everything except that one).
After completing these steps press Ok (finally :)) - and run Max.exe file!
It's working (but WindowsUpdate works only with US-system)
Tested with Windows XP Home Russian SP2
----------------------------------

About the beta experience:
As the developer I find this peace of software great. Really wonderful to see the software industry makes UIs more comfortable for end-users. That's really cool.

But I have to say that it takes some time to get - What is it all about? What and what is more important HOW can I do it using Max? I thing User Interface should be more clear.

Lokkkking forward for the final release :)
Good Luck guys

Hello,
Very impressive. I guess not all functionality is implemented because it is beta. But there are some features that “must be”. Have you got something like “roadmap” of the features to be implemented? Just to know what to expect in the future.
Cheers,
Rustam.

One thing - among a few! - you could change is adding a desktop shortcut to open & run MAX. Right now it opens an entire page of files associated with MAX. Opening it just once would be convenient.
I'd still like to create a slideshow screensaver and get it into my desktop properties so I can open it there.
The ability to caption photos would be nice.
I don't have any of the problems mentioned by other commentators on this product. It's easy for me, and I'm no geek.
Thanks for coming up with it! Cee

This is pretty nice, after reading the system requirements I expected it to run slower than it does. One thing though is the verification e-mail that was sent to me was automatically thrown in outlooks junk box.

Adam

http://images.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/images/indextop20050412.jpg
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator/

Microsoft is so lazy. Not enough that you cannot invent anything on your own. Not enough that none of your software is working without problems or at least security risks.
No! You cannot even create your own logo! You just take the idea and also the logo from Apple - in this case Automator - change it a bit, make some mistakes, create security leaks…

IHR SEID SO ARM!

Great job!
Some suggestions:
- More levels in the lists, possibility to create lists inside a list (e.g. Ski and inside this like "Sierra Nevada 2004", "Trois Vallees 2003",...);
- Photo editing, eg: rotate, resize, crop, etc...
- Save and print possibilities, for example when you use Mantle view it would be nice to have the possibility to save one of the arrangements or to print it.
- Have something that shows me that a list of “My lists” is shared.

I am not sure how can I unshare a list, is it by removing the person email from text box?

I will let you know if something else occurs to me while I am exploring it some more.

Very cool application :)

You just need to add a single attribute to make it accessible for us non-english users:
[assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-US",
UltimateResourceFallbackLocation.Satellite)]

Hi,

Just wanna say.. that i love the GUI.. cool program. but there is a small problem. When i install the WinFX it installed the IPv6 protocol... and i stop having access to the web. There is something wrong with it.

After it, i've uninstall max and winfx and i still did have conection... :(.. and i saw the IPv6 protocol and i've uninstall it too.. and i've started having a connection.

When I view a list as an "Album", the top (& maybe sides & bottom too) of photos get cropped. I noticed when the head of a person was not part of the photo !!! The same in "Mantle" mode.

Awesome software...UI is great. But features are quite limited. What i would like to see in the future releases -
* ability to add comments for pictures
* use a list as my screen saver

Its funny that MAX does not install/run on the PDC bits of Vista. Isn't MAX supposedly a showcase of Vista capabilities? And such a large download/install of WinFX is not funny. My XP machine essentially gets messed up trying to look at MAX :-(

I'm sorry, but even though this is a beta program, you guys simply don't know what the fuck you're doing. Sharing photos via direct connection? While others are forced to go through the painstaking process of installing the damn software? No method to share photos via blogs in place? You guys clearly have a terrible plan here. Stop worrying so much about WinFX and aesthetics, and start putting more thought into implementation. It seems that Microsoft is so caught up with trying to take down Apple (or imitate, rather) through aesthetics, when the options for customers are limited. The program looks nice, but who the fuck cares when I can't share the damn albums with people who don't have the program? Blogs are the thing nowadays, especially for the teenage generation - take that into serious consideration you aimless idiots.

When is vista geting supported?

Hi,

For the first time i used Microsoft Max today and boy can i say - Microsoft that is the BEST software you have created to date.

The UI is awesome, and the effects and especially the Mantle effect is great.

I would just like Microsoft to know, that you should put all these effects and nice darkenning when opening the About screen and etc, in Windows Vista.

So far, Vista is nothing like i imagined it.

But if you can implement all these effects and make Vista a great user experience, then your sales will definietly go up.

Otherwise, gud piece of software though as someone pointed out, some glitches do occur.

Easy to use but agree with other comments about the lack of music and motion (as in photo story).

When is the dutch version comming out?

I would love to see an export feature to take the mantle slide show displays and export them as a high-rez jpg.

Could you create the ability to print the list pages?

MS Program Manager douches, listen up:

I'm sorry, but even though this is a beta program, you guys simply don't know what the fuck you're doing. Sharing photos via direct connection? While others are forced to go through the painstaking process of installing the damn software? No method to share photos via blogs in place? You guys clearly have a terrible plan here. Stop worrying so much about WinFX and aesthetics, and start putting more thought into implementation. It seems that Microsoft is so caught up with trying to take down Apple (or imitate, rather) through aesthetics, when the options for customers are limited. The program looks nice, but who the fuck cares when I can't share the damn albums with people who don't have the program? Blogs are the thing nowadays, especially for the teenage generation - take that into serious consideration you aimless idiots.

Hi Guys,

It's nice GUI here, I'll love a blog integration and share albuns with other peoples winthout MAX installed...

Hello, today we see the public availability of the .NET Framework 2.0. I installed it and wanted to install Microsoft Max, but unfortunately the WinFX Sept. CTP software that Max needs to install first errors out not allowing me to continue with the Max installation.

I was wondering if there is going to be a way to install Max using the .NET Framework 2.0 or using a newer CTP for WinFX?

Yes, the UI has some interesting features like the Album. In terms of usefulness I have to say that Google's Picasa is still way ahead, albeit without the online sharing bit except through an add-on.

Max doesn't seem to handle portrait orientation well by the way.

This guys full of 100% bs... just make a nice gui and super stable and we'll love u.


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# re: Welcome to Max
Monday, October 24, 2005 4:00 AM by Uhhhhhhh
MS Program Manager douches, listen up:

I'm sorry, but even though this is a beta program, you guys simply don't know what the fuck you're doing. Sharing photos via direct connection? While others are forced to go through the painstaking process of installing the damn software? No method to share photos via blogs in place? You guys clearly have a terrible plan here. Stop worrying so much about WinFX and aesthetics, and start putting more thought into implementation. It seems that Microsoft is so caught up with trying to take down Apple (or imitate, rather) through aesthetics, when the options for customers are limited. The program looks nice, but who the fuck cares when I can't share the damn albums with people who don't have the program? Blogs are the thing nowadays, especially for the teenage generation - take that into serious consideration you aimless idiots.

Actually, Uhhhhhhhhh has a good point - the program really doesn't do much. I can view my pictures in the wonderful interface, but what else can I do? None of my friends want to go through the trouble of installing the program, so what now? I can't share, I can't post, I can't do anything. And I agree on the aesthetics point - sure it looks great, I will concur. But what the hell does the program do aside from dynamically shifting the size of photos and autoarranging them on a spread? It all seems so pointless. Blog integration, once again, would also be nice. I'm beginning to wonder if the Microsoft developers really are "idiots" as he mentioned previously. You're all going in the wrong direction, and M$ fanboys please don't deny what I've written, as you know it's all true. These are not biased comments, but legitimate criticisms that make me question the premise of the term "Microsoft software." Abandon the cutesy stuff, and get me something useful.

Any further progress on this?

I won't install max. Why ? Because it requires other beta software (winfx). Also I don't want multiple programs on my computer dealing with images. I've already got picasa, and that has got blog support.

It never installed fully, it said please insert disk. and could never get past that point. Now.. even when doing random things on my computer.. I get that same weird error message..

Anyone else have that issue?

Looks nice. A few thoughts:

1) Organization of pictures seems lacking. Difficult to find a recently taken pictures amid many folders sorted alphabetically. Consider organizing by modified date.

2)Back and forward buttons may be a bit too hidden. Took a while to figure out how to get back to the recent pictures page.

3)A little confusion as to what mode I'm in. Edit? Choose pictures? What do each of these modes do and why am I in them?

4) Consider adding multiple selection of pictures through mouse dragging in "Choose pictures" mode

5) In "My Lists" the default is to play the list. What if you want to share it? I didn't even realize how to share a list until I realized you could click on the list name once it is playing and get more options. Consider making these options more visible

6)How to find other people lists? No instructions on how to connect to other users. Is an account required for this? (Doesn't say)

Thanks! Looks pretty!

Looks awesome. One thing I would like to see changed is the font color when you are typing addresses of members you want to share with (also the message that can be sent along with it). It may just be my laptop screen (Dell WUXGA - Inspiron 9300), but the font color isn't exactly easy on the eyes; it seems to be a bit to light.
Then again, I may be paying too much attention to detail. Other than this, I really like the overall function so far. Also consider what Daws said on November 15th.

Really nice in the eye candy department. However, it needs a few features such as rotation, cropping, better selection of multiple pictures, etc. To make it into something I would use, those are pretty important. I'd defintely like to keep an eye on this program and look forward to updates.

I think it well done but I think you should put the limitation that everyone must have Max to view the finished product..

Many of my friends and some family are in areas where broadband is not available and would make it pretty difficult to download and install Max..

Had I known I think I would have waited before installing Max since there is no one to send my photos to.. Should make that a title song.. :)

I'll just remove and wait for the finished product..

I find its very slow to scroll thru pics also it would be great if you were able to rotate the photo's. To be able to have a selection of different borders to choose from and/or backgrounds/sound effects etc..would be great.I give a 6 out of 10

in selecting pics there is no shift-select to remove a group of pics, needs to be done individually, this is clumsy

Love the app and like it's potential.

Network support could be enhanced by allowing the user to designate and store locations/shares where the photos are located and searching only in the designated "photo-stores". Otherwise the network gets unwieldly.

I can not post photo on to my own space. Shuold I install the Max? If it is not the problem of installing it, then what's the problem there? Or what's tool should I install?

I notice that Max allows you to shares pictures, kind of like a huge, glossy version of Hello but without chat. The mantle view is gorgeous, almost pixel-for-pixel just like Front Row, but how do I customize it? Oh and it has a news aggregator, kind of like Internet Explorer. It is undeniably pretty, but what is it supposed to be? Make it so you can describe it in five words, like you might describe Hello as "picture album sharing with chat." A mysterious, "constantly evolving experience" is just not enticing.

I don't think anyone is checking this anymore, as evidenced by the spam.

I initially installed and spent a few minutes poking around, figuring things out, made a 'List', played with annotation - love the Vista UI. I looked at the RAM usage: A lot going on in there, I guess -  Max itself sits currently at around 70Meg, with 3 other applications running in the background bringing the total to over 85Meg (dllhost.exe, PresentationFontCache.exe, and wisptis.exe are the 'new' background processed that appeared after the install). I have Picasa 2, and opened it: 38Meg, no extra processes. Max is nice and everything, but it don't give me much I didn't already have or use. (I'm surprised noone else made the comparison before I did.)

Have just down loaded Max and apart from showing all my Photos in thumbnails,. without identies showing is a waste of time as I cannot identify the photo I want to use.  Photos I would want to use would have been improved and this is shown by the identity number. Thumbnails are of a poor quality so do not show the difference in my improved images.

However having selected the photos I wish to use there appears to be no instructions as to how to put them into a slide show. Help does not assist, so will revert back to PhotoStory 3 which is readily understandable.

Or can you tell me how I can control what I do within the Max program, there appears to be no instructions available.

PingBack from http://blog.cre8asite.net/bwelford/2006/09/microsoftmax-just-got/

PingBack from http://www.istartedsomething.com/20060910/microsoft-max-5-minute-overview-screencast/

Why doesn't it work with FAT? And why doesn't it say on the requirements page that you need to have NTFS?