The Coffeehouse

People are evil

CKurt — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:38:19 GMT

I might just be to sensitive or something but people are really evil. Just look at the comments on http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/11/18/an-early-look-at-ie9-for-developers.aspx#comments

I would not like to be a developper on the IE team and read that, they should just hire somebody who has nothing to do with IE and let that person filter them. Or maybee use the Bing algorithms used for product reviews who determen the 'voice' of something and let it run over the comments.

The webworld is just evil... :-(

what do we do after the season of 9?

me — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:05:17 GMT

ie9

2009

pdc2009

no more 9 stuff?

regardless - this is definately the season of 9

(the middle of it)

happy ... 9 :)

Gore to the center of the earth

William Stacey — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:30:46 GMT

Anyone else see how Al Gore thinks the earths core is at least a *several million degrees? (its only about 5000C) And talks about it smugly with absolute confidence of his perfect knowledge. I about fell off my chair. Besides being creator of the Internet and carbon credits, he is now officially a buffoon. A lot of people should be demanding their money back.

Bluetooth on the Acer 1420P (PDC build)

thomastn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:39:48 GMT

Acer website lists it as a manufacturing option. Don't see it on my PDC laptop. Does anyone know or has anyone cracked open one of these puppy to see if a bluetooth module can be installed?

PDC 2009

Bent Rasmussen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:33:59 GMT

I have to sum up PDC 2009 and I have to do it in one word.

Awesomeness!

The new interactive live format, broadcast to the world, was immensely cool.

It may be that this years PDC was shorter but it was one hell of a ride. Thanks for the content and the format!

:-)

How Microsoft blew it with Windows Mobile

Ray7 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:59:54 GMT

With the iPhone pretty much unstoppable, CNN chats to developers in both camps to find out how MS let it all slip through their fingers.

CNN said:
Microsoft is getting beat up worse than a mustachioed villain in a Jackie Chan movie.

Chrome OS Vaccine is ready

Go Microsoft !!!!!!! — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:28:44 GMT

Windows 7 Starter

REAL strengthen IE 9

Expanding horizons Live Essential (examplpe Pivot or Fishbowl , messenger in direction Tweetdeck ) PS Where is Vine?

Office Web Free

Bye bye Chrome OS.

-Dovellonssky vaccine

Even Microsoft do not know the features or Windows Properly it seems...

GoddersUK — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:32:06 GMT

From the official "Microsoft Windows" Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/windows?ref=nf#/posted.php?id=30968512668&share_id=328149250555&comments=1#s328149250555

To see the myth that "Hibernate" is not a zero power consumption (give or take whether your PSU and mobo actually power down completely) mode hurts so bad. Especialy when it's from people that should know better - Microsoft themselves...

Please replace the people in PR with people that actually know what they're talking about. Please, for the sake of my sanity.

HP TX2 Multi-Touch vs Acer 1420P (PDC build)

Ian Walker — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:28:34 GMT

I've been testing development of http://FromTheMalverns.com overnight on the Acer (up till now I have been using the TX2 for touchscreen development).

I'll start with the hardware differences (not going to list the specs as you can get these from the web sites):

Acer is smaller and lighter and has longer battery times (It was telling me over 6 hours on a full charge yesterday)
TX2 is more powerfull and has a built in DVD Writer (future upgradable to BluRay)
Acer screen is slightly smaller but has a nicer feel (literally) than the TX2 (though I notice that the TX2 is available in different screen configurations so I wouldn't write it off on that basis).

Both run Windows 7 ultimate just fine - I havn't notices any real difference speed wise between developing on one machine as opposed to the other, though clearly the TX2 has the processor advantage so in real terms IS FASTER.

Gut feeling is that I will probably put the TX2 on EBAY as I don't need both machines - my main thinking being that the Acer, being smaller and lighter, is more suited to being a 'road development' machine.

Feel free to post any specific questions and I will do my best to answer them.

PS Don't know about pricing yet - though my feeling is that the TX2 represents great value for money (The Acer will probably also be heavily discounted)

Google Chrome OS

William Kempf — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:16 GMT

There's a big announcement about this today. http://investor.shareholder.com/googpr/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=75092

I doubt this is the "Windows killer" the echo chamber is claiming it will be. I even doubt it will do as well as OS X. However, it's likely to be the first comerrcially successful Linux desktop. Guess we might really finally have that "year of the Linux desktop".

Help Files

sysrpl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:47:09 GMT

When viewing a chm (I'm looking at the Sync Framework 2.0 chm) is there any possible way to make it so that the language filter is *always* restricted to c#?

To me it seems useless to even have a language filter in help if every time you visit that page again or any other page it is reset.

I love MS, but this is #FAIL!

Go Microsoft !!!!!!! — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:27:31 GMT

I have 2 invite for Microsoft Pivot

OK Get to pivot site

Download

install

and

Start Feedback

and...............

Pivot is supported only on US English-based operating systems with US English date and time formats.

Microsoft, i love you but ...excuse me

#FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WIn7: What is your boot time?

Herbie Smith — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:52:46 GMT

As a follow up to this old Vista Boot time post, what are youre boot times after upgrading to Win7.

On the same machine:

Vista : Boot start to Login Screen: 35 Seconds

Vista: Login to usable desktop : 30 seconds.

Win7: Boot start to Login Scree: 21 seconds

Win7: Login to usable desktop : 10 Seconds.

It was noticable faster but I never bothered to time it until this morning.

Herbie

Pivot

JonathonW — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:22:16 GMT

Surprised there's not already a thread about this here... the latest Live Labs prototype was announced at one of this afternoon's workshops:

http://www.getpivot.com/

Pivot is a tool for interactively exploring large data sets, using WPF and Deep Zoom to zoom through and manipulate "trading cards" representing essentially any kind of data imaginable... sample datasets include anything from sports players to new cars to Wikipedia articles, all filterable and sortable graphically in real time. If you missed the session at PDC and didn't catch the Ch9Live demo this afternoon, there's a video on the Pivot website that can give you a good idea of what it's about, and they're accepting email addresses to invite users who aren't at PDC (that's how I got in; the site says the preview is closed, but they have added at least a few people). It's a very promising concept and is very well implemented; definitely worth a look (and a try, if you can).

edit: International users beware... Pivot will either fail to accept installation codes or fail to launch if both the system language and regional settings (date/time and number format) are not set to en-US... hopefully this will be straightened out soon (but I wouldn't hold my breath; this is primarily available to attendees of a US conference right now, so it's probably not a pressing issue for them).

Concerned About Windows

magicalclick — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:14:53 GMT

I know Win7 is good, but, what's going on with the PC makers? It seems like their HW is not as sexy and I am seeing about 50% users using MacBook in UCLA. This is really concerning. I am not sure how the marketing department taking statistics, but, IMO, MacBook is gaining more ground then expected. How come HP, Dell, Sony, and etc makes something remotely sexy?

Win XP Embedded app crashes at Midnight ..

Harvey J Cohen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:12:15 GMT

Hello all,

I have a custom built C# app running under Win XP Embedded (SP 2) on a medical grade tablet that has a 500 MHz AMD Geode with 1 GB RAM. During normal operations the app crashes just after Midnight on day 3 or 4 of continuous running. The details ..

The app is running smoothly, taking up perhaps 30% of the CPU.

Just after midnight, when the anomaly occurs, within a few seconds of passing midnight, the CPU usage starts ramping up from the aforementioned 30% to 100% in perhaps 10 minutes.

The anomaly does not happen at Midnight of day 1. It does happen at Midnight of day 2 or 3.

THis app is the only app running at the time.

The app constantly is getting data from an Ethernet connection from another device and storing these data on the system "hard disk".

THe system "hard disk" is compact flash.

The "hard disk" is partitioned into a "C" and "D" drive; the "C" drive uses EWF so upon boot up, it is restored to a virgin condition.

Data is written to the "D" drive.

The app does do something at midnight. There is a timer that elapses at midnight and changes the main log to another name. Thus the app has daily diagnostic logs. I already vetted this "MidnightTimer" and it is not the cause of anything that can cause CPU to ramp up.

I already looked for memory and thread leaks. Thread count is constant and while there is a slow memory leak, there was over 500 MB of free space when the CPU ramp-up starts.

Does anyone know of an issue with Win XP Embedded which can cause this anomolous behaviour? I can't find anything with my code (so far) so I'm investigating the possibility of an O/S issue.

TIA

Harvey

Killing it and bragging about the kill?

wastingtimewithforums — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:14:07 GMT

Yes, this is about UAC again, and I didn't want to revive that corps of topic again, but this article reminded me of the glory "UAC controversy" days again:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/18/windows_7_heart/print.html

"Russinovich also spoke about the contentious User Account Control (UAC), which prompts the user to approve actions that should require administrative rights. "UAC is not an anti-malware solution," he said. "If you think you are safe from malware because you are in one of those prompting modes, you're wrong. If malware gets on your box, and you are admin, you must assume that malware will gain admin rights."

Proving the point, he showed how a genuine, signed Microsoft executable might load a malicious process, invisible to the user. So what is the point of UAC? "It is about one thing, which is about getting you guys to write your code so that it runs well as standard user."

I have a feeling that this wouldn't work on Vista.. Is he really showing off "the Windows 7 UAC vulnerability"?

Man, it's shameful enough, why brag about it.

Office 2010 beta now available for all

blowdart — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:43:32 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx

Silverlight 4 available for download

Ian Walker — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:58:10 GMT

Sorry, that should read Silverlight 4 BETA available for download!

http://silverlight.net/getstarted/silverlight-4-beta/#tools

New Features for Application Developers

Comprehensive printing support enabling hardcopy reports and documents as well as a virtual print view, independent of screen content.
A full set of forms controls with over 60 customizable, styleable components. New controls include RichTextbox with hyperlinks, images and editing and Masked textbox for complex field validation. Enhanced controls include DataGrid with sortable/resizeable columns and copy/paste rows.
WCF RIA Services introduces enterprise class networking and data access for building n-tier applications including transactions, paging of data, WCF and HTTP enhancements.
Localization enhancements with Bi-Directional text, Right-to-Left support and complex scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew and Thai and 30 new languages.
The .NET Common Runtime (CLR) now enables the same compiled code to be run on the desktop and Silverlight without change.
Enhanced databinding support increases flexibility and productivity through data grouping/editing and string formatting within bindings.
Managed Extensibility Framework supports building large composite applications.
Exclusive tooling support for Silverlight, new in Visual Studio 2010. Including a full editable design surface, drag & drop data-binding, automatically bound controls, datasource selection, integration with Expression Blend styling resources, Silverlight project support and full IntelliSense.

Developer tools

Fully editable design surface for drawing out controls and layouts.
Rich property grid and new editors for values
Drag and drop support for databinding and automatically creating bound controls such as listbox, datagrid. New datasources window and picker.
Easy to pick styles and resources to make a good looking application based on designer resources built in Expression Blend.
Built in project support for Silverlight applications
Editor with full intellisense for XAML and C# and VB languages.

Empowering richer, more interactive experiences

Silverlight is already in use as a comprehensive platform for building rich experiences both for application and pure media scenarios including HD quality, interactive video through Smooth Streaming. Silverlight 4 introduces additional capabilities to enable creation of ever more rich, appealing high-performance interactive experiences and innovative media experiences:

Fluid interface enhancements advance application usability through animation effects.
Webcam and microphone to allow sharing of video and audio for instance for chat or customer service applications.
Audio and video local recording capabilities capture RAW video without requiring server interaction, enabling a wide range of end-user interaction and communication scenarios for example video conferencing.
Bring data in to your application with features such as copy and paste or drag and drop.
Long lists can now be scrolled effortlessly with the mouse wheel.
Support conventional desktop interaction models through new features such as right-click context menu.
Support for Google’s Chrome browser.
Performance optimizations mean Silverlight 4 applications start quicker and run 200% faster than the equivalent Silverlight 3 application.
Deep Zoom enhancements include hardware acceleration to support larger datasets and faster animation.
Multi-touch support enables a range of gestures and touch interactions to be integrated into user experiences.
Multicast networking, enabling Enterprises to lower the cost of streaming broadcast events such as company meetings and training, interoperating seamlessly with existing Windows Media Server streaming infrastructure.
Content protection for H.264 media through Silverlight DRM powered by PlayReady.
Output protection for audio/video streams allowing content owners or distributors to ensure protected content is only viewed through a secure video connection.

Free Tablet PC for PDC attendees?

Ian Walker — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:43:56 GMT

Looks like attendees will be walkng away with a multitouch laptop (custom made for Microsoft).

How cool is that?

Any other 9ers at the PDC?

Acer Aspire 1420P Convertible Tablet :

http://microsoftpdc.com/tablet

http://www.gadgettastic.com/2009/10/26/acer-aspire-1420p-tablet/ (similar but not customised)

PDC videos

figuerres — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:41:42 GMT

hey I can't stop work to watch the live feeds, when and where will they be posted so i can view them later?

keynotes also....

How to get started in Freelancing?

SlackmasterK — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:47:39 GMT

I've always wanted to get into freelance software/web development, but two things have stopped me thus far:

1. I suck at marketing. Seriously, I'm comically bad at it.

2. The big freelancer sites seem to be bogged down with overseas types who are willing to work for $25 a day. This is a serious number.

So how can one get into the freelance sector, or something like it, and still maintain a respectable amount of income?

Win7 + VS2010 + VMWare = Crash

Knytestorme — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:27:35 GMT

Just wondering if anyone else is seeing this problem. I am running windows 7 under vmware 7, install VS2010B2 and goes fine but then when I fire it up and select coding mode it crashes the vmware session.

I can replicate this consistently and just trying to see if it's been seen anywhere else before I try to narrow down the issue.

to microsoftpdc.com 'live' stream operator

androidi — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:46:22 GMT

1) It's not a live stream if user can go back in time to watch some interesting interview

2) Great idea to stop the non-live viewing from the buffer when the live broadcast ends. Or maybe not. I was just getting into the most interesting bit and it stops. (Actually I pressed Pause then went to get some food and when I resumed it failed with error and on refresh the stream was gone)

Ok I'm to stupid for Twitter

section31 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:04:59 GMT

I don't know waht I'm missing but I'm unable to send a tweet to @ch9live.

What I do is @ch9live <my message here> but it never comes in the ch9live

Ok folks what is the magic??? :@