Windows Vista Presentation
With the Beta 2 release of Windows Vista just around the corner and the highly anticipated commercial debut hot on its heels, we thought this would be a great time to start highlighting the major new features and enhanced capabilities that you'll find, both under the hood and on the dashboard. So, to help you rev up your engines, each month the Windows Vista Developer Center will bring you a new theme to give you a feel for the wheel as we explore this exciting new world of software development. And because nothing catches the eye like a flashy paint job, our theme for April is Presentation.
Of course, even though it's at the heart of Windows XP, the current Win32-based subsystem for Windows UI graphics has been around for nearly two decades. In techie years, that's almost enough time to raise your grandchildren and retire to that nice little island in the Caribbean that you've been dreaming about. Although it's served us well, the age and limitations of the Win32 approach are becoming apparent. As a result, user interface development often feels like you're working with one mouse tied behind your back. Fortunately, in Top Ten UI Development Breakthroughs In Windows Presentation Foundation, Ian Griffiths and Chris Sells share their top 10 list of the most significant advances that make Windows Presentation Foundation superior to its Win32 ancestors. We'll leave shopping tips for exotic islands for another day.
Given that many developers have been involved with Windows programming for quite some time, when a new technology is introduced it's only natural to ask if it plays nice with those that came before. Nothing's worse than a bunch of squabbling technologies poking each other with sharp sticks down in the depths of your application. In this MSDN-TV exclusive video interview, "Crossbow" - Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation Interoperability, Program Manager Mike Henderlight explains how, thanks to a product codenamed "Crossbow," developers can create hybrid Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation applications without all those noisy skirmishes going on behind the scenes.
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