GLenz

Update: Windows 7 Taskbar in 5 Minutes

Gunther Lenz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:22:00 GMT

This is the first part of my updated ScreenCast series on implementing the Windows 7 Taskbar features in less than 5 minutes :-). The short video shows how to leverage the Windows 7 Taskbar Icon Overlay feature for your application. I am using the WindowsAPICodePack which you can download here to leverage a managed API warpper for the native Win32 APIs.

Icon Overlay:
In this part I show you how to implement custom Icon Overlays in the taskbar indicating status in the taskbar of your application. In your applications you can use this to

Can indicate the status of your application or provide other useful information (such as online/offline, sign in status, status of your application).
Dynamically change the icon.

The source code is available here.

With the general availability of Windows 7 just around the corner this is your chance to get the following exclusive and free benefits from Microsoft for your Company within less than 10 minutes for showing Windows 7 compatibility:

A copy of Windows 7 BEFORE it launches to the general public on October 22^nd
Exposure through the Microsoft Channels
Marketing material for Co-Marketing
Microsoft Partner Network Points
Use of the Microsoft Frontrunner logo

Let me know if you would like to know more on how to receive these benefits.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me.

Also, check out my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glenz .

See Visual Studio 2010 and "Oslo" in Action....

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:47:00 GMT

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and "Oslo"

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:12:00 GMT

Gunther Lenz, ISV Architect Evangelist, shows in this quick screencast how to define a simple model using the modeling language "M", compile the definition into an Image and install this image into the Repository. After that he shows how to use Quadrant to use the defined language. More information can be found on his blog.

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Newly rendered screencast.....
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/See-Visual-Studio-2010-and-Oslo-in-Action/
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Windows 7 Taskbar in 10 Minutes -- Part IV: Preview and Peek

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:35:00 GMT

This is the fourth, and last, part of my ScreenCast series on implementing the Windows 7 Taskbar features in less than 10 minutes :-) (well, I ran little over this time ;-), sorry). The short video shows how to leverage the Windows 7 Taskbar Preview and Window Peek for your application.

Part IV -- Preview and Window Peek:
In the last part of the screencast series I show you how to develop an application that

Allows you to show a clipped Taskbar Preview of your application, on a defined location of your application window.
Dynamically changes the size of the preview image in the Taskbar.
Change the preview image to show a custom Icon instead.
Show a custom Window Peek Bitmap of your application when hovering with the mouse over the Taskbar Preview.

The source code is available here.
You can download the managed wrappers for the Windows 7 API from the Vista Bridge web page.

Part III -- JumpList:
In this part I show you how to develop an application that

Creates a custom category for the Jumplist.
Allows you to add Items to the custom Jumplist category (in this case text files, opened in Notepad when selected).
Add user tasks to the Jumplist such as opening the calculator or notepad when selected.
Add a separator to the Jumplist to group items.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-III-Jumplists/ . The source code is available here.

Part II -- Icon Overlay:
In this part I show you how to implement custom Icon Overlays in the taskbar indicating the happiness (happy/unhappy) of your application. In your applications you can use this to

Can indicate the status of your application or provide other useful information (such as online/offline, sign in status, status of your application).
Dynamically change the icon.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-II-Icon-Overlay/The source code is available here.

Part I -- ProgressBar and Status:
In the first part of my screencast series I develop an application that allows to

Show the progress of the applications work in the taskbar.
Indicate the status (Paused, Normal, No determinate, Error).
Dynamically change the status based on events.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-I-Progress-Bar/ . The source code is available here .

The Windows API Code Pack can be downloaded here.

I hope you found the series of Screencasts useful and to the point :-).

Also, check out my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glenz .

Windows 7 Taskbar in 10 Minutes -- Part III: Jumplists

Gunther Lenz — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:31:00 GMT

This is the third part of my ScreenCast series on implementing the Windows 7 Taskbar features in less than 10 minutes :-) (well I ran little over this time ;-), sorry). The short video shows how to leverage the Windows 7 JumpList feature for your application.

You can find the screencast @

Part III -- JumpList:
In this part I show you how to develop an application that

Creates a custom category for the Jumplist.
Allows you to add Items to the custom Jumplist category (in this case text files, opened in Notepad when selected).
Add user tasks to the Jumplist such as opening the calculator or notepad when selected.
Add a separator to the Jumplist to group items.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-III-Jumplists/ . The source code is available here.

The other parts of the screencast series can be viewed @
Part II -- Icon Overlay:
In this part I show you how to implement custom Icon Overlays in the taskbar indicating the happiness (happy/unhappy) of your application. In your applications you can use this to

Can indicate the status of your application or provide other useful information (such as online/offline, sign in status, status of your application).
Dynamically change the icon.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-II-Icon-Overlay/The source code is available here.

Part I -- ProgressBar and Status:
In the first part of my screencast series I develop an application that allows to

Show the progress of the applications work in the taskbar.
Indicate the status (Paused, Normal, No determinate, Error).
Dynamically change the status based on events.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-I-Progress-Bar/ . The source code is available here .

Part IV -- Preview and Window Peek:
In the last part of the screencast series I show you how to develop an application that

Allows you to show a clipped Taskbar Preview of your application, on a defined location of your application window.
Dynamically changes the size of the preview image in the Taskbar.
Change the preview image to show a custom Icon instead.
Show a custom Window Peek Bitmap of your application when hovering with the mouse over the Taskbar Preview.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-IV-Preview-and-Peek/
The source code is available here.
You can download the managed wrappers for the Windows 7 API from the Vista Bridge web page.

The Windows API Code Pack can be downloaded here.

I hope you found the series of Screencasts useful and to the point :-).

Also, check out my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glenz .

Windows 7 Taskbar in 10 Minutes -- Part II: Icon Overlay

Gunther Lenz — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:26:00 GMT

This is the second part of my ScreenCast series on implementing the Windows 7 Taskbar features in less than 10 minutes :-). The short video shows how to leverage the Windows 7 Taskbar Icon Overlay feature for your application.

Can indicate the status of your application or provide other useful information (such as online/offline, sign in status, status of your application).
Dynamically change the icon.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-II-Icon-Overlay/The source code is available here.

You can find the other parts of the screencast series @

Part I -- ProgressBar and Status:
In the first part of my screencast series I develop an application that allows to

Show the progress of the applications work in the taskbar.
Indicate the status (Paused, Normal, No determinate, Error).
Dynamically change the status based on events.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-I-Progress-Bar/ . The source code is available here .

The Windows API Code Pack can be downloaded here.

The other parts of the screencast series can be viewed @

Part IV -- Preview and Window Peek:
In the last part of the screencast series I show you how to develop an application that

Allows you to show a clipped Taskbar Preview of your application, on a defined location of your application window.
Dynamically changes the size of the preview image in the Taskbar.
Change the preview image to show a custom Icon instead.
Show a custom Window Peek Bitmap of your application when hovering with the mouse over the Taskbar Preview.

Creates a custom category for the Jumplist.
Allows you to add Items to the custom Jumplist category (in this case text files, opened in Notepad when selected).
Add user tasks to the Jumplist such as opening the calculator or notepad when selected.
Add a separator to the Jumplist to group items.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-III-Jumplists/ . The source code is available here.

I hope you found the series of Screencasts useful and to the point :-).

Also, check out my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glenz .

Windows 7 Taskbar in 10 Minutes -- Part I: Progress Bar

Gunther Lenz — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:06:00 GMT

In the first part of my Screencast series I will show you how to implement the progress and status information for the Windows7 taskbar.

Part I -- ProgressBar and Status:
In the first part of my screencast series I develop an application that allows to

Show the progress of the applications work in the taskbar.
Indicate the status (Paused, Normal, No determinate, Error).
Dynamically change the status based on events.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-I-Progress-Bar/ . The source code is available here .

The Windows API Code Pack can be downloaded here.
The other parts of the screencast series can be wonloaded @

Part IV -- Preview and Window Peek:
In the last part of the screencast series I show you how to develop an application that

Allows you to show a clipped Taskbar Preview of your application, on a defined location of your application window.
Dynamically changes the size of the preview image in the Taskbar.
Change the preview image to show a custom Icon instead.
Show a custom Window Peek Bitmap of your application when hovering with the mouse over the Taskbar Preview.

Creates a custom category for the Jumplist.
Allows you to add Items to the custom Jumplist category (in this case text files, opened in Notepad when selected).
Add user tasks to the Jumplist such as opening the calculator or notepad when selected.
Add a separator to the Jumplist to group items.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-III-Jumplists/ . The source code is available here.

Can indicate the status of your application or provide other useful information (such as online/offline, sign in status, status of your application).
Dynamically change the icon.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/GLenz/Windows-7-Taskbar-in-10-Minutes-Part-II-Icon-Overlay/

The source code is available here.

I hope you found the series of Screencasts useful and to the point :-).

Also, check out my blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glenz .

Interview with Sinclair Schuller, CEO of Apprenda, on the value of building on the Microsoft Platform

Gunther Lenz — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:59:00 GMT

Gunther Lenz, ISV Architect Evangelist at Microsoft interviews Sinclair Schuller, CEO of Apprenda, about the business value of their SaaSGrid solution. Sinclair explains the motivation to build exclusively on top of, and for, the Microsoft platform. The Apprenda solution, called SaaSGrid, enables ISVs to easily run and monetize .NET based solutions, conforming to the SOA paradigm, in a cloud computing environment. For more information see Apprenda’s website at http://apprenda.com/.

S+S Architecture with Abe Sultan from Apprenda

Gunther Lenz — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:20:00 GMT

Gunther Lenz, ISV Architect Evangelist at Microsoft talks to Abraham Sultan, Chief Architect at Apprenda, about the SaaSGrid solution architecture. Abraham discusses his experiences and the underlying criteria to build exclusively on top of, and for, the Microsoft platform. The Apprenda solution, called SaaSGrid, enables ISVs to easily run and monetize .NET based solutions, conforming to the SOA paradigm, in a hosted environment. For more information see Apprenda’s website at http://apprenda.com/.

Matt Cochran, Lead Developer at BIA, shares his experience adopting the .NET Framework

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:53:00 GMT

Matt shares his experience as adopter of the .NET Framework in an interview with Larry Gregory, Senior Director US Platform Evangelism at Microsoft. He discusses how .NET enabled BIA to provide an integrated development experience by using the Microsoft LinQ technology. He also provides some advice for companies looking into the adoption of the latest .NET version.

Rajesh Chellamani, Principal Architect at Wolters Kluwer, shares his experience as early adopter of .NET and Silverlight

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Rajesh shares his experiences as early adopter of WPF in an interview with Larry Gregory, Senior Director US Platform Evangelism at Microsoft. He discusses how .NET and Silverlight enabled Wolters Kluwer to provide an integrated performance monitoring and analysis tool by using the latest and greatest Microsoft client technologies. He also provides some advice for companies looking into the adoption of Silverlight and the latest .NET version.

Al Perez, Chief Architect at Total Computer, shares his experiences as an early adopter of WPF and .NET

Gunther Lenz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:57:00 GMT

Al Perez shares his experiences as early adopter of WPF in an interview with Larry Gregory, Senior Director US Platform Evangelism at Microsoft. Al discusses how WPF enabled Total Computer to reduce time to market and differentiate their product from the competition by using the latest and greatest Microsoft client technologies. He also provides some advice for companies looking into the adoption of WPF and the latest .NET version.