Dr. Z's Blog

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit

zxue — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:57:54 GMT

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit (October Preview) is available to download here.

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including:

C# 4.0
Visual Basic 10
F#
Parallel Extensions
Windows Communication Foundation
Windows Workflow
Windows Presentation Foundation
ASP.NET 4
Windows 7
Entity Framework
ADO.NET Data Services
Managed Extensibility Framework
Visual Studio Team System

This version of the Training Kit works with Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and .NET Framework 4 Beta 2.

Windows 7 Touch Deep Dive Session at PDC09

zxue — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:35:48 GMT

Check out Reed Townsend’s Windows 7 touch deep dive session at PDC. This session is targeted at developers interested in building touch-optimized experiences. You can watch the presentation online or download the presentation file (ppt) and video here.

ISV Software Architecture Workshop

zxue — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:50:31 GMT

My colleague Ashish Jaiman will be hosting a one-day event at Reston MTC on Dec. 8, 2009.

Agenda:

UPDATE on Microsoft technologies fresh form PDC.
Opportunity to Network with other ISVs in the area, Microsoft delegates, and Microsoft MVPs
Learn about and share your experiences adopting new Architecture paradigms, such as S+S, Cloud Computing, Patterns, Scalability, TCO, The Future of Software, etc.
Discuss Solutions, Challenges, and Opportunities for ISVs today

Detail at his blog post here.

Adding Unique Windows 7 Technical Features to XP and Vista Applications

zxue — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:27:02 GMT

Jason Zander put together a reference application “Image Viewer” that shows how to enable some cool Windows 7 features in your XP or Vista applications with relatively little effort and without sacrificing backward compatibility. You can download the application and source code here.

• Multitouch
• Application Recovery
• Windows Search
• UAC
• Scheduled Task
• Windows 7 Taskbar Integration
• Transactional File System
• IO Optimization
• Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)
• Microsoft Management Console
• Windows 7 Libraries
• Windows 7 Sensor and Location Platform
• PowerShell
• Preview Handler
• Aero Glass
• Trigger Start Services

Free Technology-training Program to N.C. Residents

zxue — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:21:11 GMT

According to Business Journal, Microsoft will provide 10,500 vouchers for Microsoft Windows and Office online training, 10,500 vouchers for Microsoft business-certification exams and 2,700 for advanced training. Detail here.

Silverlight 4 Beta Available

zxue — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:13:25 GMT

At PDC09 ScottGu discussed many new and enhanced features of Silverlight 4 and announced that SL4 beta is available here and rtm available first half of 2010.

Introducing SharePoint 2010 (Beta)

zxue — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:21:03 GMT

SharePoint Server 2010 Beta provides an extensible platform to rapidly build solutions using familiar tools such as Visual Studio 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010. Beta is available for download here.

To learn more about SharePoint 2010, visit Microsoft SharePoint web site. Also, check out David Chappell’s white paper, SharePoint 2010: Developer Platform White Paper.

Microsoft Cloud Computing Project “Dallas”

zxue — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:15:09 GMT

Microsoft Codename “Dallas” is Microsoft’s Information Services business, enabling developers and information workers to instantly find, purchase, and manage Web services and datasets to power the next set of killer applications on any platform.

More detail at http://www.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/

PDC09 Demo App: Tailspin Travel (Visual Studio 2010)

zxue — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:59:25 GMT

You can now download the Tailspin Travel application from Codeplex (download here).

System Requirements: Tailspin was built using Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, and there are a few features in use in the demo that require that version (e.g. coded-UI tests). If you’re using a different SKU, you’ll still be able to run the solution, but there will be some features you won’t be able to take advantage of. Because we consider the new Windows Server AppFabric a key part to the Tailspin Travel application, we also require that you have it installed. This is what enables the memory-caching, as well as the service/workflow containers, and monitoring support. SQL Server 2008 R2 isn’t a hard requirement, but if you don’t have it installed you won’t be able to deploy the Data-Tier Application (DAC).

In addition to the features that were demoed at PDC keynote, the released version of Tailspin contains many additional scenarios to help developers see a broader view of possibilities with the respective technologies.

PDC 2009: Announcing Availability of ASP.NET MVC 2 (Beta), WIF (RTM) and AppFabric (Beta)

zxue — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:48:30 GMT

At PDC’s keynote Bob Muglia announced availability of several products and technologies. Some of them will be available for download shortly.

a. ASP.NET MVC 2 Beta (for Visual Studio 2008 SP1)

ASP.NET MVC 2 is a framework for developing highly testable and maintainable Web applications by leveraging the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. The framework encourages developers to maintain a clear separation of concerns among the responsibilities of the application – the UI logic using the view, user-input handling using the controller, and the domain logic using the model. ASP.NET MVC applications are easily testable using techniques such as test-driven development (TDD).

The installation package includes templates and tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP 1 to increase productivity when writing ASP.NET MVC applications. For example, the Add View dialog box takes advantage of customizable code generation (T4) templates to generate a view based on a model object. The default project template allows the developer to automatically hook up a unit-test project that is associated with the ASP.NET MVC application.

Because the ASP.NET MVC framework is built on ASP.NET 3.5 SP 1, developers can take advantage of existing ASP.NET features like authentication and authorization, profile settings, localization, and so on.

b. Windows Identity Foundation RTM (aka “Geneva Framework”)

Microsoft Windows Identity Foundation helps simplify user access for developers by externalizing user access from applications via claims and reducing development effort with pre-built security logic and integrated .NET tools. Users can benefit through single sign-on and seamless collaboration across organizational boundaries.

c. Windows Server AppFabric Beta (New product)

Windows Server AppFabric is a set of integrated technologies that make it easier to build, scale and manage web and composite applications that run on IIS. The Beta 1 of Windows Server AppFabric will be available for download shortly.

You can watch PDC keynote live broadcast at http://microsoftpdc.com

A Mac User’s Windows 7 Tale

zxue — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:37:37 GMT

While comparing HTC Pure vs. HTC Tilt, I found by serendipity John’s youtube video on Windows 7. As John said he is a Mac user. But I really appreciated his frank views on Windows 7. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Contest

zxue — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:42:05 GMT

You don’t have to be a poet to win this grand prize, a Home Theater System including a 52” TV! Check out detail here

Whether or not you win the prize, you are entitled to the Free MS Press eBook (pdf file): Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2.

Watch Live Keynotes of PDC 2009

zxue — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:53:31 GMT

Creating Windows 7 Multitouch Applications

zxue — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:23:23 GMT

The Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers includes several sample applications that can help you get started with creating multitouch applications in managed code (C# or VB), native code or MFC. The managed code and native code samples require Visual Studio 2008 SP1, whereas the MFC samples require Visual Studio 2010 beta or higher.

To see some demo multitouch applications, click the video images below.

The managed code sample is a WPF application with references to the Windows7.Multitouch.dll and Windows7.Multitouch.WPF.dll. Multi-touch events and controls are not available in WPF 3.5; they will be part of WPF 4.0 (or .NET 4.0). These two dlls enable your managed code to work with native Windows 7 multitouch APIs through an interop wrapper. You can get the source code of the interop library here.

The first step is your application is to check if the device is touch capable with code that may look like.

C#
if (!Windows7.Multitouch.TouchHandler.DigitizerCapabilities.IsMultiTouchReady)
{
MessageBox.Show("Multitouch is not availible");
Environment.Exit(1);
}

Visual Basic
If Not Windows7.Multitouch.TouchHandler.DigitizerCapabilities.IsMultiTouchReady Then
MsgBox("Multitouch is not availible")
Environment.Exit(1)
End If

For more detail, check the completed code at the default install location, e.g. C:\Windows7TrainingKit\Labs\Multitouch - Managed\Source\Ex1-PictureHandling\End\C#

To learn more about Windows 7 multitouch, check online resources below:

Architectural Overview
Choosing the Right Approach to Windows Touch
Windows Touch

Windows Identity Foundation (aka Geneva Framework) Release Candidate Available

zxue — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:38:34 GMT

The Windows Identity Foundation helps simplify user access for developers by externalizing user access from applications via claims and reducing development effort with pre-built security logic and integrated .NET tools. You can download WIF here.