The May 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online at www.technetmagazine.com/issues/2007/05/
Archive for April, 2007
From the Channel 9:
Microsoft is announcing that the CLR will be a part of Silverlight (Channel 9 has a video with Scott Guthrie about this)
from MIX07 General Session [Announcements made]
A conversation with John Lam about the dynamic language runtime, Silverlight, and Ruby
Real-Time Data Update with Silverlight and Web Services
Overlaying HTML and Silverlight Content
Creating a Video Playlist with Silverlight and ASP.NET
Using AJAX to Dynamically Update Silverlight Content
Delivering Parameterized Silverlight Content with Java
Delivering Parameterized Silverlight Content with PHP
Delivering Parameterized Silverlight Content with ASP.NET
Animating Vector Art for Silverlight with Expression Blend Part I
Animating Vector Art for Silverlight with Expression Blend Part II
Creating Vector Art for Silverlight with Expression Blend
Using Expression Blend to Control Silverlight Media Playback
So, take a deep breath, and read things slow.
The Silverlight 1.1 Alpha is going to have the same CLR as the desktop version that allows you to leverage your existing .NET skills in VB.NET or C# to build Rich Internet Applications (RIA). You will be able to write .NET to run in the browser on the client side of one of these Rich Internet Applications.
So, you’ll be able to run .NET on for example a Mac!
That just put Silverlight RIA’s in reach of any development shops that are currently doing Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) with C# or VB.NET.
And, there’s support for Silverlight in VS.NET Orcas with a free download called the Silverlight Tools Alpha.
Now, goto line 1 of this article, and read again.
Some news about Silverlight Streaming
Silverlight Streaming is a storage and video delivery service that enables developers and designers to upload their application to Silverlight Streaming and then deliver this application to any website globally.
Silverlight Streaming will provide 4GB of free storage as well as unlimited outbound streaming at 700 Kbps. For the first year, the service will be free. As the service moves out of beta it will be offered as part of the overall WL Platform offer, with continued 4GB free storage and free streaming up to 1 million minutes of streaming per site per month. Once a website goes over the 1 million minutes of streaming threshold, the site will have the option to take ads and revenue share or pay a small fee to help cover MSFT costs.
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Microsoft Silverlight
The 3 main parts of Silverlight are (according to Ray Ozzie):
- Video, High-quality animation or performance
- .Net, Developer/designer productivity or skills reuse
- Streaming, Broad audio/video reach or low cost of delivery
There’s also a Silverlight Community Site at http://www.silverlight.net where you can see demos, get some samples and/or participate in the discussion on the forums.
Silverlight 1.1 alpha comes with support for .NET (you can use C# or VB.NET) as well as support for Ruby, Python and Managed Jscript.
Some more info about Expression:
Microsoft ASP.NET Futures (May 2007)
The Microsoft ASP.NET Futures May 2007 (“Futuresâ€) release contains an early developer preview of features providing a wide range of new functionality for both ASP.NET and Silverlightâ„¢. The functionality in the Futures release includes early experimental versions of features currently being considered for future versions of ASP.NET and the .NET Framework. The Futures releases assume prior knowledge of the core features of ASP.NET including the previous ASP.NET AJAX Futures January CTP.
Features in this release include ASP.NET Silverlight server controls, new functionality for ASP.NET AJAX Extensions, dynamic data controls, enhancements to dynamic languages, and more.
Some more Silverlight downloads: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/asp.net/bb187452.aspx
Microsoft is officially shipping Expression Studio today.
Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 Beta and Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha is immediately available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight.
It must be the ultimate clichéd description of the caffeinated Seattleite: coffee in right hand, personal digital assistant in left. The image is so stereotypically simple that it can’t be accurate—unless you look around the city and learn that, yes, as a matter of fact, it is.
That particular practice has spread far and wide, of course, and in each such scenario, there is a stylus, sheathed and inaccessible because human beings have but two hands. Humans are, however, an adaptable lot, and what invariably happens is the stylus stays tucked away, and the human thumb becomes the input apparatus.
Problem solved—almost. As known by anybody who has tried to take such advantage of a device’s touch screen, thumbs and fingers are not the most adept tools for navigating through a handful of small-display pixels. Time to set down that coffee cup, right?
Wait just a minute, suggests Patrick Baudisch, researcher for Microsoft Research Redmond.
Baudisch, working with former intern Dan Vogel, has devised a solution, called Shift, that enables accurate, finger-based input to operate mobile devices effectively. That, it seems, is what people on the go—and those who need to be productive while quaffing their periodic jolt—really need.
The research project is described in a paper entitled Shift: A Technique for Operating Pen-Based Interfaces Using Touch. The paper received a Best Paper award for CHI, the annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, which began April 28 in San José, Calif., and runs through May 3.
“While we tend to think of the PDA as a stylus-based device,†he says, “many people use it with their bare hands. When you watch people use their PDAs, they’re actually using the thumb of the same hand that’s holding the device to operate it.â€
It’s important, Baudisch observes, to cater to the way people actually use technology, not merely to the way product designers expect them to use it.
“In many ways,†he says, “it doesn’t matter what we think we’re designing for. This is what users have decided they want this device to be. They’ve decided they want it to be a touch device.â€
The Shift project examines the challenges, the techniques, and the opportunities inherent in that user preference.
The functionality is there; the touch screen is what enables people to use a stylus with such devices. And the need for both hands is not the only reason why people sometimes eschew the stylus. Retrieving it takes time, an effort that can seem impractical when only a brief interaction is desired, such as checking a calendar. It’s much easier to just use a finger.
The stylus, Baudisch notes, does have its advantages.
In addition to compelling cross-browser, cross-platform media experiences with higher quality, lower cost distribution, Microsoft Silverlight delivers a flexible, highly collaborative, .NET-based programming model.
LAS VEGAS, April 30, 2007 — Microsoft has a long history of focusing on the needs of developers — enabling them to be successful regardless of the size of their team, the size of their organization or even their personal development preferences.
Microsoft’s courtship with designers, however, is a much newer affair spanning the past few years. Yet that relationship has already started yielding notable successes, including Microsoft Expression Studio, a line of tools targeting the needs of professional designers and helping them better integrate into the software development process.
Today, Microsoft’s relationship with both developers and designers took another step forward. At MIX 2007 — Microsoft’s conference for Web designers, developers and decision-makers who make their living at the forefront of the Web — the company announced the official release of Microsoft Expression Studio and offered new details about Microsoft Silverlight and what it offers developers and designers as part of the proven and widely used .NET platform.
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform implementation of .NET for delivering the next generation of media experiences and Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs) for the Web. Microsoft unveiled Silverlight at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference 2007 earlier this month and announced an impressive line-up of industry partners, including Akamai Technologies Inc., Brightcove Inc., Eyeblaster Inc., Limelight Networks, Major League Baseball and Netflix Inc. For more details about Silverlight and what it offers designers, developers and others, PressPass spoke with Forest Key, director of product management at Microsoft.
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| Forest Key, Director of Product Management, Microsoft Corp. |
PressPass: Microsoft recently announced Silverlight at NAB. What are you announcing at MIX?
Key: When we announced Silverlight at NAB, we focused on how it provides higher quality experiences with lower costs for media delivery for organizations such as Akamai, the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and others. As part of this, we highlighted how Silverlight uses Windows Media Video, Microsoft’s implementation of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers VC-1 video standard. This enables immediate compatibility with the millions of hours of content already available on the Web and adds support for interactive video experiences that scale from full-screen high-definition to browser and mobile scenarios.
But Silverlight is about far more than video. At MIX, we are showcasing how Silverlight enables designers and developers to utilize existing skills, assets, tools and infrastructure to build applications in the emerging media experiences and RIA category of applications. The combination of Microsoft Silverlight and the other new platform and tooling enhancements we are announcing today – such as dynamic languages support, enhanced functionality for ASP.NET AJAX and Microsoft Silverlight Streaming – are great news for developers and designers in terms of ensuring productivity and collaboration. They also make the .NET Framework unequaled for building and delivering applications for the Web, Windows, Macintosh and devices.
PressPass: What do you mean by next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications?
Key: Ovum, a well known analyst firm in the U.K., defines Rich Interactive Applications as applications that combine the light touch and ubiquity of a Web application with the interactivity and functionality of a desktop app. They offer a consistent and effective user experience, across a variety of devices and networks.
More and more organizations are seeking to deliver these types of applications, but the complexity and cost of building and delivering them has traditionally put them far out of reach. This is precisely what we are addressing with Silverlight – in fact, leading design firms such as Avenue A | Razorfish and Metaliq are already showcasing some truly stunning examples of what’s possible with Silverlight.
PressPass: Aren’t there already technologies that enable this?
Key: To some extent, but we see three primary areas of differentiation. From a consumer perspective, it is all about creating better, higher quality experiences – the tools and technology to get you there are largely irrelevant. Silverlight will enable higher quality and better applications in the browser.
For business decision makers and content owners, though, it is all about cost, quality and control. Silverlight takes advantage of the huge Windows Media ecosystem that already exists and can deliver video that spans from the Web to devices – from low-bandwidth experiences to HD – embedded to full-screen. No one else can deliver this today. It also offers deep access to rich infrastructure technologies like ASP.NET, IIS7 and Windows Streaming Media Services which significantly reduces costs and simplifies management of infrastructure – in fact, partners have told us the cost is up to 50 percent less than other solutions.
From a developer and designer standpoint, it comes down to the breadth of the platform, continuity, flexibility and productivity. Silverlight is a factored version of .NET that is optimized for the Web and simple deployment. It carries with it proven technology, access to a variety of languages for development, such as JavaScript, VB, C#, Ruby and Python, WPF support for controls and code-reuse, AJAX integration, and more. So, we are providing a highly integrated set of tools that facilitate new levels of collaboration between designers and developers and allows them to build amazing experiences while addressing the “lost in translation†issue that is so common at most organizations. This also means that skills are transferable – anyone who knows how to build Silverlight applications can easily build Web Standards-based applications on the server (ASP.NET) or desktop applications with WPF.
PressPass: Microsoft also announced the release to manufacturing of Expression Studio today. What is the connection to Silverlight?
Key: Microsoft Expression provides an end-to-end tools platform for teams of creative designers that boosts collaboration with developers in the delivery of next-generation user experiences for Windows, the Web and beyond. Industry response to Expression Studio has been very encouraging — we’ve already seen hundreds of thousands of CTP and trial downloads— so we are very pleased to announce the official release today. This is also very important in terms of our vision for Silverlight, since Expression, along with Visual Studio, is part of the integrated toolset that will help designers and developers build Silverlight applications. In addition to announcing the availability of Expression at MIX, we are giving a first look at future tooling, including Expression Blend 2 May Preview and Silverlight Tools Alpha for Visual Studio “Orcas†Beta 1. Together, these give developers and designers access to tools to begin building Silverlight applications.
PressPass: How does Microsoft Silverlight Streaming play into this?
Key: Microsoft Silverlight Streaming is a companion service for Silverlight that enables designers, developers, and content owners to deliver cross-browser, cross-platform media experiences and RIAs on the Web. All people have to do is upload Silverlight applications, including videos, photos, etc., to the Silverlight Streaming service, which then stores it on Microsoft servers, replicates it across our global delivery network and manages the delivery to Web sites. There are a number of different scenarios for this, including a basic package that features video hosting and distribution at no charge, DVD quality video streaming, and simple tools and APIs that make it easy to integrate media and share it anywhere on the Web. This ranges all the way up to a premium package that includes more professional tools and APIs, and integrated rights management and reporting. This is a really good example of how we are bringing together the best of software with the best of the Internet to deliver service-centric experiences that are personalized, integrated and available nearly anywhere.
Microsoft Silverlight enhancements unveiled including support for .NET managed code and dynamic languages; provides developers and designers with a comprehensive solution for building and delivering Web, PC and device applications.
LAS VEGAS — April 30, 2007 — This week at MIX07, Web designers, Web developers, industry decision-makers and marketing professionals gathered as Microsoft Corp.’s Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Scott Guthrie, general manager of the Developer Division, presented the full breadth of Microsoft’s vision and road map for Microsoft® Silverlight™ and how it fits into the company’s broader Microsoft .NET platform and tools effort.
A core component of Microsoft’s overall strategy for the Web, Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs). In addition to making the beta of Silverlight available for download, Microsoft announced unprecedented support for dynamic languages including Python and Ruby, powerful services integration and new tooling in the Expression® Studio and the next edition of Visual Studio®, code-named “Orcas,†for building Silverlight applications.
“Silverlight is an important aspect of our software-plus-services strategy focused on delivering great user experiences that span the Web, the PC and mobile devices,†said Ozzie. “It does so, in part, by bridging technical barriers that previously made it difficult for Web developers and designers to collaborate. As a result, Silverlight will play an important role in helping advance the Web with a platform for creating rich, interactive experiences.â€
Web Developers Test-Drive the Latest Microsoft Web Technologies
The combination of Microsoft Silverlight and the latest platform and tooling enhancements make the .NET Framework unequaled for building and delivering Web, Windows®, and rich interactive applications. The .NET Framework now also has unparalleled support for developer and designer tools and multiple languages, ensuring the most productive experience for developers and designers alike. Today’s announcements include the following:
- Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 beta availability. Optimized for the Web, Microsoft Silverlight enables developers and designers to easily use existing skills and Visual Studio and Expression Studio tools to deliver media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight works with any back-end Web platform or technology, seamlessly integrating with existing infrastructure and applications, including Apache and PHP, as well as JavaScript and XHTML on the client. Beta 1.0 includes a go-live license, which means customers can deploy their Silverlight applications in production. Final availability of Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 is scheduled for summer 2007.
- Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha availability. Based on the .NET Framework, Silverlight 1.1 Alpha offers broader tools and language support. It enables developers to take advantage of support for powerful .NET features including ASP.NET AJAX and Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) language, with full IntelliSense® editing enabled for client and server code; powerful cross-platform debugging capabilities; and rich language support for JavaScript, Visual Basic®, C#, Python and Ruby.
- Expression Studio now shipping. Expression Studio, Microsoft’s end-to-end tools for creative designers, boosts collaboration with developers in the delivery of next-generation user experiences for Windows, the Web and beyond.
- Microsoft Silverlight Streaming. Silverlight Streaming is a new companion service for Silverlight that makes it easier for developers and designers to deliver and scale rich media as part of their Silverlight applications.
- Windows Live Platform Terms of Use. Microsoft is enabling the developer community to take advantage of the Windows Liveâ„¢ services infrastructure and gain access to all the APIs through a simple, consistent set of terms that address multiyear supportability, scale, cost structure and commercial use of the platform. In addition, Microsoft announced new APIs to support programmatic access to Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Messenger.
Microsoft Partners Showcase Benefits of Microsoft Web Technologies
The MIX07 event features participants from leading Web, media and design companies including Avenue A | Razorfish, BBC, CBS Television Stations, Disney, Electric Rain Inc., Facebook, frog design inc., gotomedia inc, IdentityMine Inc., Metaliq and Schematic.
“Central to our ‘Always On’ strategy has been the desire to create an interactive environment where our audiences can participate in the local broadcast process,†said Jonathan Leess, president and general manager of CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group. “This project, using Microsoft Silverlight technology, allows us to empower the massive long tail of untapped local media content that is waiting to converge with the broadband and broadcast mediums.â€
“Our business is to create new and innovative cutting-edge solutions. We are always trying new technologies like Silverlight to redefine the limits of what can be done with interactive applications,†said Beau Ambur, CEO and founder of Metaliq. “With Microsoft, our designers and developers are able to work in parallel throughout a project, enabling us to deliver some of the richest experiences on the Web.â€
MIX07 runs through Wednesday in Las Vegas. More information — including customer and partner videos and demos, keynote clips, Microsoft product overviews, and footage from the event floor — can be found by visiting http://visitmix.com.
Product Information and Availability
The Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 Beta and 1.1 Alpha are available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight. Those interested in learning more about Silverlight and joining its growing community can visit http://www.silverlight.net. Expression Studio is expected to be commercially available in May 2007. Customers interested in pre-ordering Expression Studio can visit http://www.amazon.com for details.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFTâ€) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
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