Looks really cool, think it only works at short range though.

So Kinect is still a better game tool

This is NOT for the Bartok/Phoenix compilers but for the Visual C++ compiler !

This is NOT for an incubation project but for shipping (could be internally thought) products !

Finally some Midori ideas goes into product teams !

Hmmm....maybe .NET 5 will be the new Visual Basic 5 which compiles the P-Code to native using Visual C++ compiler.

So Going Native doesnt necessarily mean Going C++ and we can optimize for both programmer productivity and performance, how about that ?

https://careers.microsoft.com/jobdetails.aspx?jid=81769
http://www.compilerjobs.com/db/jobs_view.php?editid1=648

We are looking for a software engineer to fill a critical role in the C++ compiler team at Microsoft. The successful candidate must be able to (1) help us ship new compilers and tools (2) bang out elegant scripting code, (3) work hand-in-hand with some of the best compiler architects in the business, and (4) demonstrate a strong desire to improve all automation used to ship the tools compile all major products in Microsoft.

We offer a chance to learn compiler and system technology from the ground up while helping to shape the future of C, C++ and C#. For Windows 8, Microsoft has invested in the automatic vectorization and parallelization of unaltered C++ in an initial effort to move the entire Microsoft platform to all the new hardware from Intel, AMD and ARM. Microsoft has an ambitious agenda to take those technologies to the next level and to ship enhancements to the compiler tool chain on a quarterly cadence. We need a key engineer to help us accomplish that aggressive goal while using this as an opportunity to learn about the development of compilers and operating systems.

To accomplish this, the candidate will work on improving all the automation used to stress the compiler while building Win 8, SQL and Office. This includes development activities for an essential automation system that is used for stressing the live development compiler while helping the development team understand and resolve key failures. As Microsoft continues to advance the state of the art with automatic vectorization and automatic parallelization capabilities across dissimilar architectures the need to grow the optimizer team is a priority for the company. This compiler will be used for both C++ and C#.

Specifically this work will include:
• Creating new automation for stressing the new compiler
• Improve all the existing automation for building and stressing Windows and SQL
• Interface to the Windows, SQL, Phone and Console teams to deliver new compilers
• Work to coordinate compiler development with PM and QA teams
• Do performance analysis for code quality and throughput
• Create new harnessing and automation for a new effort to compile C# using the native C++ compiler
• Working effectively across both managed and native, compilers and runtimes.
• Learning compiler technology by working alongside senior compiler architects building new compiler technology that ships internally on a regular and short cadence
Since the compiler is used to compile all the C++ software in the company the candidate must respect mission critical correctness by helping to identify the overall quality of the compiler for throughput, correctness, performance and code size. This is a great opportunity for an engineer that would like to learn about compiler and/or system programming while making sure it ships with as little friction as possible.

https://careers.microsoft.com/jobdetails.aspx?jid=81397

We are looking for an exceptional candidate for the C++ optimizer team at Microsoft. The successful candidate must be able to (1) design new compiler innovations for both native and managed code, (2) bang out elegant code, (3) work hand-in-hand with some of the best compiler architects in the business, and (4) demonstrate a strong desire to learn. We offer a chance to help shape the future of high performance computing for many platforms by exploiting the ever wider vectors and the higher numbers of cores on each new generation of microprocessor that Microsoft will have to respond to in the next 12 to 18 months. For Windows 8, Microsoft has invested in the automatic vectorization and parallelization of unaltered C++ in an initial effort to move the entire Microsoft software platform to all the new hardware from Intel, AMD and ARM. Microsoft has an ambitious agenda to take those technologies to the next level. We want to expand that technology for both C++ and now C#.

To accomplish this, the candidate will work on improving the optimization, vectorization and parallelization phases of the Microsoft C++ compiler both for C++ and C#. This includes both significant research and/or simultaneous product development activities. As Microsoft continues to advance the state of the art with automatic vectorization and automatic parallelization capabilities across dissimilar architectures the need to grow the optimizer team is a priority for the company. Since we are taking on a managed language like C# the candidate will assist in compiling MSIL byte codes using the native C++ compiler.

Specifically this work will include:
• engineering parts of the reader for MSIL and type loader
• providing technical leadership across all the components in the new compile paths
• coordination with both the PM and QA teams
• performance analyis
• creating a native compiler internal representation the existing compiler can optimize
• the design and implementation of new managed optimizations to augment the existing optimizer like range check elimination or speeding up C# constructs on vector machines
• engineering and co-designing the ability to emit a new object file format that will support rapid linking and
• fixing all existing phases of the compiler so that managed code can be correctly and efficiently compiled with the new auot-vectorizing/auto-parallelizing Win 8 compiler
• working effectively across both domains – managed and native, compiler and runtime.
Since the compiler is used to compile all the C++ software in the company the candidate must respect mission critical correctness by helping to improve the overall quality of the compiler for throughput, correctness, performance and code size as all members of the team currently do.

I am a game developer from Munich, Germany. I just released my first game for the WP7: Bubblebreak

But nobody cares about it 
It's lost in the list of crappy puzzle games.

So I wonder how my game could come to Laura Foy's "Hot Apps" Series.

What do I have to do? Or is it enough to have such a great game as Bubblebreak?

Apple issued the following in response to Motorola and Microsoft running each other's business into the ground:

We really might be just a spec in the corner of some giant's gerbal cage.

http://www.insidescience.org/inside-science-minds/1-2661

Where is EvilD when you need him?

So what I did was convert my audio buffer visualizer (List<float> or List<double>) to accept base 64 encoded strings such that I can wrap the buffer in a special class that will return the base 64 representation of the buffer.

However after doing this, I noticed that while you can use the HTML String etc, VS doesn't seem to recognize any new visualizers that specify string as their supported type. It works when debugging a desktop app, but not a WP app.

Does anyone have any experience with getting something like this to work for Windows Phone development? Is there any other approaches that can work? Not being able to see the waveforms when debugging a WP app that does a lot of DSP is pain.

The question is now coming...

can we set up his desktop skydrive app to sync with my web skydrive (and therefore my desktop skydrive) so that when I make changes to the file it gets updated via syncing (in the background) with his desktop skydrive and vice versa

Because Microsoft is a company, instictively I would write "Microsoft is doing this..." just like I would write "comany X is doing this..." However I keep reading "Microsoft are doing this..." (the same seems to be true for all tech companies).

Does this imply "People at Microsoft are doing..."? Which is the most correct form?

Tempted to book this 'for old times sake' (lol)

http://startreklondon.com

Microsoft has helped in hacking Kinect to control Windows 7

Multi-gesture and multi-user interaction unleashes exciting possibilities for a multitude of applications like gaming, consumer electronics, office, events, education, command and control, point of sale and medical systems. Soon you will plug in depth sensing devices like Kinect into your PC and you will start intuitive communication with your computer and other users.”

 More details at : Wolfgang Herfurtner  Multitouch and Gesture Computing Blog 

Also check - First Pictures of Gesture Control of Windows 7 with Depth Sensing Device

(Source :Microsoft helps in hacking Kinect to control Windows 7)

I'm just interested because I think Xaml would be more RAD than HTML5 would be. Just watching even the BUILD videos there's so much JavaScript UI snippets and code that just makes my head hurt. Doing Xaml in Blend for example just seems like it would be quicker and less hands on.

• The marketplace in Zune shows French movies (even when I'm not logged in)
• Buying apps for WP7 results in a confirmation e-mail in French
• billing.microsoft.com is completely in French

And no way to change this to Dutch. I live in Belgium apparantly Microsoft thinks that everyone speaks French over here but most speak Dutch. I used to have the same problem with Xbox Live, WHY CAN'T I CHANGE MY LANGUAGE?

Is anyone else able to get to msdn.microsoft.com?

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads#remote-tools

My reaction:

I really don't get why Microsoft feels the need to change to a monochromatic UI theme in a developer tool just because the next version of Windows has monochromatic tiles and icons. I also don't understand why Microsoft feels compelled to MAKE TEXT ALL CAPS IN AREAS just because the next version of Windows might do that in places.

Visual Studio 2010 or even 2005 icons were sufficient and I didn't hear anyone complain that the run triangle button was green or the terminate square was red. Note the "adjusted the grays within the icons to eliminate any fuzziness or halo effect". Ugh.

Newsflash to Microsoft, software developers don't care about an IDE which matches the newest Windows themes. We want the UI we use at all day to be as clear as possible, neat, organized, to the point, NOT OVERLY LARGE IN PLACES, something which fast feel snappy, is bug free (as possible), and importantly comes with great features.

They will still be available but won't be updated beyond the current version 10. 

They will instead only be offering the following three products: 
  - Express for Windows Phone
  - Express for WIndows 8 (Metro only: supports C#, VB, C++, and Javascript)      
  - Express for Web    

At this point it isn't clear from Microsoft's blog post if you'll be able to produce "forms" or console applications in the "Windows 8" edition (but I suspect not).    

BIG BIG DISCLAIMER: It seems I don't have a first hand experience of it (in other words i don't know wth i'm talking about ). 

1) I cannot push the feedback button fast enough. Every time I scroll down the page for feedback button, it just loads more stuff and the button is out of the view again. After chasing the button for a bit, I have to give up. Fun for April Fool, but, it is kinda too early.

2) A bit confusing to make wall post on a search bar.

3) The globe has no tooltip, so, it is hard to know what it is for. I accidentally figure out it sets the default setting of your search/post.

The site is smooth and all, but, it doesn't support apps yet, which is not as interesting as FB. Hopefully they set a very long commitment and catch up to FB, because it is going to be a long struggle with very little cash flow.

WPF, Kinect SDK, Kinect Toolbox, and a dash of Metro.

(sorry for the poor video quality...didn't realize I was shooting in VGA mode)

We constructed what is known as the "invisible touch screen". Users touch their hand against an invisible surface to interact with the display. Moving their hand along the surface drags the content much like in an iPad or in a smartphone. Users wanted to use the display like a touch screen so we gave them that ability.