This Week on C9: TechFest, Windows 7, Dev Tools, and WPF in Visual Studio 2010 | This Week On Channel 9

TommyCarlier
I want my scalps!

Nice episode (as usual), but you're not entirely right about multi-monitor support being new in VS 2010. The scenario you guys explained (about dragging tool windows to another screen) has been possible since forever. At work, I usually run Visual Studio 2005 maximized on my primary screen, with a bunch of tool windows (Solution Explorer, Document Outline, Toolbox, ...) filling my secondary screen. What's new in VS 2010 is that now you can not only drag tool windows around, but also document windows. In previous versions, the document tabs were confined to a single rectangle. You could arrange them horizontally or vertically, but only within that rectangle.

The first tip I want to give ALL developers to massively improve their productivity, no matter what environment they use, is to use at least 2 monitors. Until you use more than 1 monitor, you have no idea what an impact it has. I've been using 2 monitors at work for about 2 years, and sometimes I feel the need for even more screen real estate.

Dr Herbie
Horses for courses

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Mar 1st @ 5:00 AM

++

I have 2 screens set up similarly at work (VS2005) -- now I want two widescreens ...

Nice episode, as ever.

Herbie

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Mar 1st @ 5:00 AM

My constant complaining about it seems to have paid off: my employer finally gave in and agreed to get our entire team dual monitor setups. It really is a much, much better way to work, and one of the few things that still bugged me about my current job.

Nice show again. I should give Family.show (and genealogy) another go. Ever since I found out that there was a famous 18th century sideshow midget with my family name, I've been wanting to find out if he's related...

rhm

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Mar 1st @ 5:00 AM

That was the mighty Sinclair Spectrum that they emulated in Silverlight!

Sven Groot
My name has 9 letters. Coincidence? I think not...

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Mar 1st @ 5:00 AM

The first tip I want to give ALL developers to massively improve their productivity, no matter what environment they use, is to use at least 2 monitors. Until you use more than 1 monitor, you have no idea what an impact it has. I've been using 2 monitors at work for about 2 years, and sometimes I feel the need for even more screen real estate.

I have two screens at work, and I nearly never use the secondary monitor. I just plain forget to use it.

I think the main problem is that I'm using my laptop connected to an external screen. The laptop sits to the right and its monitor is the secondary monitor. Because I need to leave room for my mouse, it sits rather far back, making text on that screen too small to read comfortably. There is no other place I can put it, and no way to increase font size on just that screen (DPI should really be a per screen setting, but I can understand the technical reasons why this isn't the case).

Dark_Halmut

So social desktop is yet another thing that can do what Live Mesh can do...

Charles
Welcome Change

In reply to Sven Groot

#Mar 1st @ 8:23 AM

I have two monitors, but I set them up asymmetrically: one monitor assumes the normal, landscaped positioning. The other (a widescreen monitor) is aligned vertically so writing code is very enjoyable given the vertical depth (it's also great for Outlook and other apps where top to bottom reading is the order of the day). I do media encoding stuff in the smaller monitor and of course always have C9 in IE 8.

Another great episode, Dan and Brian. Thanks.

C