Discussions

6 hours ago, wkempf wrote

Watches seem to be the big thing right now, at least in the rumor mill. But I'm skeptical. People have tried before, heck, Microsoft had SPOT, but it's always failed. Like the article said, the closest we've come to success so far is the Pebble, and that was purely on speculation. Those that have received a Pebble don't seem all that impressed. If someone actually does create a useful smart watch, they'll have the next iPhone product, but I'm just not seeing it happen, quite frankly.

Things fail until they don't anymore. Case in point: iPad. Apple wasn't the first to create a tablet. Listen to Bill Buxton.

That said, I can't imagine a smartwatch that I'd have to charge once every couple of days, even once every couple of weeks. It has to last for a very long time; so for that to happen I guess either some clever engineering or a breakthrough in battery technology has to happen. Right?

@felix9: I enjoyed the talk, as usual. Rob Pike certainly has some good stories to tell.

3 hours ago, wsdotnet wrote

@Charles:

To me, in the past 5-6 years ago. The rule for all(Most) Microsoft platforms and dev tools was you'll never get fired for going with Microsoft. Now a days I'm constantly defending my choice to use a Microsoft technology and I have to do a check list to see what the chances that MS will stop investing in that tech platform. There is no longer any stability in the Microsoft world, one day MS is all in, next day it's out (WPF, silverlight, XNA, .Net, LINQ2SQL, Linq To HPC). I know wpf and.net are not dead but the "perception" to many of us and again our customers is that they are or are on the way out.

Given all this then you add Windows 8 dev stack, (.Net, Html, JavaScript, C++)  sends the message to us devs and our customers that Microsoft has no idea where it's going.

I really wished MS would just stick with something.

Apple world = "Objective C"
Google = "Java"
Microsoft = .net? JavaScript? C++? xaml? html?

A few questions i hear a lot from customers about the Microsoft stack; which one is really the best (JS,.net,c++)? Which one is going to be around. MS is really pushing HTML hard, why not just make a web site and it will run on all devices including my Ipad? 

I am continually amazed that some people feel choice is a problem. Microsoft is deeply invested in both C++ and .NET with C#, F# and friends. 

Windows 8 doesn't deprecate .NET all of asudden, instead it makes using libraries written in C++ from .NET much more accessible and allows Microsoft to build their frameworks once and not have to make a lot of wrappers and SDK's for .NET.

This entirely in the spirit of .NET which has always been about choice (of language).

Now the Windows 8 Metro applications still use XAML and look similar to WPF so it's more of continuing on the same track. It just allows C++ developers to play along. This is great.

Dont pray for the Apple mono-culture (no pun intended).

It is however understandable that we as developers like to know the big picture and roadmap, to know where to invest. What are the plans for WPF? I imagine a new WinRT library for desktop applications but don't know. The Silverlight story can lead to some unnecessary speculation as well. There is a cost to change as well - nobody likes deprecation.

That said, one thing is for sure, as developers we have to live with uncertainty and change - our industry is constantly developing and evolving and new research comes out. Not too different from science in that respect, is it?

Impressive! Thanks for the link.

@PopeDai:Okay that's one hell of an installer :-O

@BitFlipper: I am using this and the free version works fine for my project! There are some caveats, like no custom install experience (picture) and some things like COM registration missing in the free version -- so for some requirements, yes, you will have to pay. I would also choose the paid version if this was for a non-free project - but it isn't, at the moment. I'd rather they had bundled Advanced Installer free than this Install Shield CE.

@Richard.Hein:Elmer already posted that. I think it's more of an English to Bullshit translation actually.

I didn't see this posted on Channel 9 before. The Internet Explorer team have a blog post on the Chakra Javascript engine improvements in Internet Explorer 10 worth reading. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2012/06/13/advances-in-javascript-performance-in-ie10-and-windows-8.aspx

I definitely agree on your comments about the installer, BitFlipper. However there is a much nicer free installer available called Advanced Installer.

@chb: You are posting your doubts as to the trustworthiness and transparency of a Microsoft statement on a forum part of a Microsoft site dedicated to transparency and dialogue - and in the context of an official rebuttal. But as users, we hunger for more transparency, don't we.