BUILD 2011. The PDC replacement and some editorialising.
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cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
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Instead of the usual (well, unusually usual) PDC this year we get BUILD[^] , which I'm sure was created by the same agency that gave us .NET, didn't give us a hint why it was all caps, and then provided a logo with ".net". BUILD (as it is correctly written, though the logo is //build/) will be held in September. Call me cynical but I have very clear memories of sitting in a Microsoft conference one recent September surrounded by people glued to their phones and laptops watching Apple launch something gorgeous at Apple's September launch[^]. The message is that Windows 8 changes everything (though I thought the iPhone did that, twice) and that geeks need to come and help BUILD the future. That's not an acronym. They actually want you to build the future, but they have no bold font so settled for just saying it loudly. A video of the Windows 8 UI[^] shows some of the stuff that will go into Windows .next, and while I think that it's excellent news that Microsoft is saying they are actually using one version of Windows for everything, you just know you will still be looking at "Windows 8 Professional Student Edition ARM" or "Windows 8 Small Business Edition x64". I also watched the video and though "My Dad is going to be calling me every hour, on the hour, asking how to find things and get things done. Having not seen the UI in the flesh I can't really make such a call, but the demo did leave with more questions than it answered. While I'm on my high horse I offer 3 simple requests 1. Please do simply have a single version of the consumer version Windows. Please. 2. Stop trying to be cool. It's like watching my Dad be cool. It's not cool. Just be so easy to use we forget we're using it. 3. Focus on the devices (which it seems
Chris Maunder wrote:
which I'm sure was created by the same agency that gave us .NET, didn't give us a hint why it was all caps, and then provided a logo with ".net".
.NET did pretty well aping Java while appealing to Windows devs > half a decade too late... If that's their strategy here, good for them. "You have to re-write your app, but we'll make it easy for you" is a much better message than the "you don't have to re-write your app... but it'll work like crap" thing they've been trying to push for tablets the past decade.
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Marc A. Brown wrote:
No reason for WPF/Silverlight to go away.
On the contrary - once they get a crapload of developers to invest time and money in the technology, that's a perfect opportunity for MS to yank the rug out from under everyone. Welcome to HTML5.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997After having spent nearly two years developing a UI with WPF, if Microsoft abandons it I will make it my personal mission to bitch-slap each and every Microsoft employee I can find.
Software Zen:
delete this;
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After having spent nearly two years developing a UI with WPF, if Microsoft abandons it I will make it my personal mission to bitch-slap each and every Microsoft employee I can find.
Software Zen:
delete this;
I've accepted my mission to NOT see the sunny side of any "new" technology.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
Instead of the usual (well, unusually usual) PDC this year we get BUILD[^] , which I'm sure was created by the same agency that gave us .NET, didn't give us a hint why it was all caps, and then provided a logo with ".net". BUILD (as it is correctly written, though the logo is //build/) will be held in September. Call me cynical but I have very clear memories of sitting in a Microsoft conference one recent September surrounded by people glued to their phones and laptops watching Apple launch something gorgeous at Apple's September launch[^]. The message is that Windows 8 changes everything (though I thought the iPhone did that, twice) and that geeks need to come and help BUILD the future. That's not an acronym. They actually want you to build the future, but they have no bold font so settled for just saying it loudly. A video of the Windows 8 UI[^] shows some of the stuff that will go into Windows .next, and while I think that it's excellent news that Microsoft is saying they are actually using one version of Windows for everything, you just know you will still be looking at "Windows 8 Professional Student Edition ARM" or "Windows 8 Small Business Edition x64". I also watched the video and though "My Dad is going to be calling me every hour, on the hour, asking how to find things and get things done. Having not seen the UI in the flesh I can't really make such a call, but the demo did leave with more questions than it answered. While I'm on my high horse I offer 3 simple requests 1. Please do simply have a single version of the consumer version Windows. Please. 2. Stop trying to be cool. It's like watching my Dad be cool. It's not cool. Just be so easy to use we forget we're using it. 3. Focus on the devices (which it seems
I'm going to start a business, producing ScreenClear, my own invention, which is a combination of Tabasco sauce, caustic soda, and four strains of ebola. You spread it on your monitor, to ensure that cretins who touch the screen will never do so again. Anyone feel like investing?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I'm going to start a business, producing ScreenClear, my own invention, which is a combination of Tabasco sauce, caustic soda, and four strains of ebola. You spread it on your monitor, to ensure that cretins who touch the screen will never do so again. Anyone feel like investing?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Chris Maunder wrote:
The beige box under the desk has to go.
No problem - mine is a black box under the side table. SEriously, I have looked at various all in one options and they simply don't do what I want.
Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^] "Program as if the technical support department is full of serial killers and they know your home address" - Ray Cassick Jr., RIP
Trollslayer wrote:
have looked at various all in one options and they simply don't do what I want.
yet.
MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')
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Dan Neely wrote:
Do you have a glossy prospectus?
Look, it's just receding, OK?!? And it's not my fault; it's the testosterone!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Dan Neely wrote:
Do you have a glossy prospectus?
Look, it's just receding, OK?!? And it's not my fault; it's the testosterone!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Real men shine.
Software Zen:
delete this;
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Why do we need a box at all? The iMac and the HP Touchsmart are great examples where we already have something on the desk, so why not whack in some memory and a DVD drive and call it done?
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
"Why do we need a box at all?" Because most of the non-iDevice people want to have choice in hardware.
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I see by the dumbed down UI they won't be BUILDing a roadmap with WPF and Silverlight in it.
Software Kinetics - The home of good software
WPF is the .NET way to build windows desktop applications. Silverlight is the language of WP7 and an important web application technology. It's not going anywhere and it certainly won't stagnate. There just are other priorities at the moment. And Silverlight 5 is just around the corner. Both are gonna remain very relevant and very important in the windows ecosystem. I wonder why everybody is making such a big deal about windows 8 (in the negative way - that is). I'm insanely excited about this. Imagine a new generation device in the form factor of Samsung Sliding 7 PC with windows 8 installed. If that ain't sexy, then I don't know what is.
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"Why do we need a box at all?" Because most of the non-iDevice people want to have choice in hardware.
I don't understand your argument. How will moving towards better looking devices with smaller footprints mean manufacturers reduce your choice in hardware? I'm not saying we need to ban water cooled towers with 5 graphics cards and 2 floppy drives - I just think it's time the hardware industry grew up a little.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
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I see by the dumbed down UI they won't be BUILDing a roadmap with WPF and Silverlight in it.
Software Kinetics - The home of good software
The way Microsoft is handling its "old" and still good technology sounds like a company on the verge of bankruptcy/insolvency. I worked for a small company that was floundering and could not pay its bills. It looked like a swimmer in an ocean grabbing for the best lifeline it could find. (The one that would get it back on track.) For Microsoft, the "best" lifeline is the one that sounds like the most popular technology. WPF and Silverlight are pretty much for Microsoft (developers) only whereas HTML 5 is for use by the broader industry. Maybe, if Microsoft were to make WPF and Silverlight available to the general public, even to open source it, it may become the industry standard. But, then, Microsoft would need to make C#, VB, and .NET available to the general public. Maybe, even open source the languages and libraries.
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I don't understand your argument. How will moving towards better looking devices with smaller footprints mean manufacturers reduce your choice in hardware? I'm not saying we need to ban water cooled towers with 5 graphics cards and 2 floppy drives - I just think it's time the hardware industry grew up a little.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
Sorry for being late to reply, it seems your post got burried in my mailbox and I lost track of it. Anyhow, I guess I (half) misunderstood what you said. I thought you said that you would prefere HW manufacturers to put out a "full box" a la iMac which is kind of "sealed".. Where you as a user aren't "allowed" to crack it open and do as you please. I'ld have no problem with manufactures offering such things ALONGSIDE their current offers, off course. But as for me (and just about every company I ever worked with), I actually enjoy and see great value in ordering hardware parts, a case and a monitor to build my own pc which matches my needs for 100%, without a crapola of software and hw features that I'll never use. Also, I would never buy a computer that's "just a box" with screen and everything. HW manufactures releasing butt-ugly cases and monitors ... that's off course another story.
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Sorry for being late to reply, it seems your post got burried in my mailbox and I lost track of it. Anyhow, I guess I (half) misunderstood what you said. I thought you said that you would prefere HW manufacturers to put out a "full box" a la iMac which is kind of "sealed".. Where you as a user aren't "allowed" to crack it open and do as you please. I'ld have no problem with manufactures offering such things ALONGSIDE their current offers, off course. But as for me (and just about every company I ever worked with), I actually enjoy and see great value in ordering hardware parts, a case and a monitor to build my own pc which matches my needs for 100%, without a crapola of software and hw features that I'll never use. Also, I would never buy a computer that's "just a box" with screen and everything. HW manufactures releasing butt-ugly cases and monitors ... that's off course another story.
BubingaMan wrote:
Where you as a user aren't "allowed" to crack it open
No - that's just annoying. However, I would very much like to see far tighter standards on 3rd party hardware. I'm getting tired of buying cards that claim to work with Win7 and finding they don't. Apple's move to make it impossible upgrade things like the HDD in their new iMacs is hugely offensive.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP