Entries tagged with windows 7 - Channel 9

SocialGrow: Grow Your Social Network

John O'Donnell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:52:00 GMT

Larry Gregory talked to Marsh Sutherland, Charbel Elkhoury and Ken Herron from SocialGrow at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort SocialGrow leveraged IE8 Accelerator, Multi-Touch and Federated Search capabilities of Windows 7 to help their customers in growing their social network.

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

Panopto utilizes Windows 7 features in Presentation Recording solution

John O'Donnell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:39:00 GMT

Larry Gregory talked to Eric Burns, John Ketchpaw from Panopto at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston hosted by Sanjay Jain. With few days of design and development effort Panopto leveraged Taskbar, Speech-to-text, multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7 to enhance their presentation recording solution.

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

BumpTop brings 3-D Desktop to Windows 7 users

John O'Donnell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Larry Gregory talked to Anand Agarawala, Patrick Dubroy from BumpTop at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston hosted by Sanjay Jain. With few days of design and development effort BumpTop brings a 3-D desktop leveraging multi-touch and patented advanced gestures.

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

Baydin brings serendipity through emails

John O'Donnell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:15:00 GMT

Larry Gregory talked to Alex Moore from Baydin at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston, hosted by Sanjay Jain. With few days of design and development effort Baydin created a working prototype to provide intelligence for outlook email messages leveraging Windows 7 Federated Search feature.

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

AnswerPoint Medical Systems leverages native features of Windows 7 for EMR Solution

John O'Donnell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Larry Gregory talked to Denise Scoppetta, Glenn McGregor from AnswerPoint Medical Systems at a recent BizSpark Incubation Week in Boston hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort AnswerPoint Medical Systems created an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) prototype leveraging multi-touch and speech-to-text features of Windows 7

Enjoy the show!

John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel

MFC: Integrating your application with the Windows Restart Manager

Charles — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:37:00 GMT

This is a short demonstration of new MFC features in MFC which help with integrating your application with the Windows Restart Manager. This is done by implementing handlers for restart and crash recovery, and by integrating an auto-save feature that uses the document-view architecture to save intermediate temporary copies of your document. This is implemented in an application generated by the MFC application wizard. Pat Brenner, MFC guru and one of the folks who design and implement MFC is your host.

Check out Pat's screencast tutorial on implementing handlers for preview, thumbnail and search filtering

MFC: Implementing handlers for preview, thumbnail and search filtering

Charles — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:37:00 GMT

This is a short demonstration of new MFC features in MFC and ATL which help with integrating your application’s file type into Windows Explorer. This is done by implementing handlers for preview, thumbnail and search filtering, all of which are implemented in an application generated by the MFC application wizard. Pat Brenner, MFC guru and one of the folks who design and implement MFC is your host.

Windows Embedded: Past, Present and Future

Charles — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:14:00 GMT

Windows Embedded Standard is a general purpose OS, based on the Windows codebase, that is highly modular and fine tuned to run on a number of devices ranging in size and complexity (but less powerful and kess general purpose in nature than your average PC) that are x86/x64 powered (casino gaming consoles, retail kiosks, hand-held devices, etc). The next version of Windows Embedded Standard will arrive some time in 2010 - thus the name Windows Embedded Standard 2011.

Windows Embedded is the general term for all Windows embedded products including Windows Embedded Standard, Windows Embedded Compact (aka CE), Windows Embedded Server, Windows Embedded Enterprise.

For the Windows Embedded Standard product line, product examples are Windows XP Embedded (aka XPe), Windows Embedded Standard 2009, Windows Embedded Standard 2011, Windows Embedded POSReady 2009.

We figured it would be a good idea to meet some of the developers who write Windows Embedded Standard to get a better understanding of, well, exactly what it is and where it is going. Here, we meet and chat with Windows Embedded Standard developers Oren Winter, Jon Parati, Mike Moini and Milong Sabandith. What are the key new features in Windows Embedded Standard 2011? What is Windows Embedded Standard 2011, exactly? What's Windows Embedded CE, again? How is Windows Embedded related to Windows proper? Windows Embedded Standard 2011 is built from the same sources that make up Windows 7? What's different between the two and why? How is Windows Embedded Standard able to be so modular? What's the developer story for Windows Embedded Standard 2011? And more. Tune in. Classic Channel 9.

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3M Multitouch Developer Kit

Larry Larsen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:48:00 GMT

If you're a developer looking for a drop in monitor for coding Windows 7 Multitouch applications, 3M has a kit for you. This 19" monitor may seem very pricey at $1499, but keep in mind this is huge for a capacitive display. Normally monitors this large will have an optical tracking system for the touchpoints, leaving you with 2-4 touch points at best. This capacitive glass-front display is good for a full 10-point multi-touch experience. Check the site for more details and videos of the monitor in action.

Ping 37: SQL Server, WIndows 7, Bing, Google, Bill Gates Birthday

Laura Foy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:55:00 GMT

There actually is a valid reason for Paul to be wearing that shirt! Check out what the 'Softies were all buzzing about this week:

Big news about SQL Server
Happy Birthday Bill Gates!
MSN gets a make-over
Windows 7 heals itself
Bing & Google

Podcast 9 - Выпуск N19

Михаил Черномордиков — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:43:00 GMT

В девятнадцатом выпуске Петр Диденко и Михаил Черномордиков отвечают на вопросы слушателей про Windows 7. Авторы лучших вопросов получают собственно новую операционную систему Windows 7 в подарок!

Ссылки:
Windows Live Essentials - http://download.live.com
Zune Software - http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/software/
Раскрытие протоколов и форматов - http://www.microsoft.com/protocols
Open source в Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/opensource
Сессия Русиновича про новшества в windows kernel - http://microsoftpdc.com/Sessions/P09-20
Наше сообщество на ВсеВТеме - http://kip.ru/p9vv

Наши Твиттеры - http://twitter.com/mixen, http://twitter.com/pdidenko

Адрес нашего подкаста - http://podcast9.ru/
RSS нашего подкаста - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/podcast9ru
RSS блога Петра Диденко - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/pdidenko
RSS блога Михаила Черномордикова - http://blogs.msdn.com/mikcher/rss.xml

Attachmate Describes Benefits of Joining Front Runner for Windows 7

bruceky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:28:00 GMT

Kris Lall, Product Marketing Manager, at Attachmate describes the benefits for joining the early adopter program, Front Runner for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Now with the launch of Windows 7, there's still time to join Front Runner.

Front Runner is an early adopter program for ISVs in the US that helps you get your applications compatible with the latest Microsoft technologies. Once you tell us that your application is compatible, you’ll get a range of marketing benefits to help you let your customers know you’re a Front Runner, including customizable marketing and PR campaigns as well as listings in Microsoft directories that are viewed by millions of people.

For ISVs outside the United States, you can register and participate in Project Green Light.

Attachmate was among the first to earn the Compatible with Windows 7 software logo. Find out how they accomplished that at How Attachmate Earned Windows 7 Software Logo.

Aufzeichnung zum Oktober-TechTalk: Windows 7 – ein Überblick für Entwickler (Teil2)

Jan Schenk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Der Hauptfokus bei Windows 7 wurde auf die weitere Verbesserung der Sicherheit, Zuverlässigkeit und Performance des Betriebssystems gelegt - und auf die größtmögliche Kompatibilität zu Windows Vista , damit bereits bestehende Anwendungen auch in Zukunft laufen. Für Entwickler bietet Windows 7 viele neue Schnittstellen, um Anwendungen mit umfassenderen Funktionen zu versehen, die dem Endbenutzer eine neue Erfahrung im Umgang mit Software ermöglichen.

In dieser TechTalk-Aufzeichnung erklären Oliver Scheer und Peter Kirchner, wie etwa die neue Taskbar genutzt werden kann, indem die Preview-Ansicht gesteuert, Status-Informationen ausgegeben oder die Sprunglisten nach Ihren Wünschen angepasst werden können. Wir zeigen neue Möglichkeiten für die Anpassung von Windows-Diensten, um die Performance des Betriebssystems optimal zu nutzen und demonstrieren die Verwendung der in Windows 7 eingeführten Bibliotheken, um den Zugriff auf Dokumente Ihrer Anwendung zu vereinfachen. Zusätzlich erfährt man, welche Punkte zu beachten sind, um die Kompatibilität Ihrer Anwendung mit Windows 7 sicher zu stellen, wenn diese bereits auf Windows XP oder Windows Vista laufen. Abschließend wird ein Überblick gegeben, welche Änderungen sich im Windows Logo Programm ergeben haben und wie Sie Ihre Anwendung für Windows 7 zertifizieren lassen können.

Allgemeine Information zu den TechTalks:

Die kostenlosen TechTalk-Veranstaltungen sind ein lebendiges Forum zum Wissensaustausch unter Entwicklern und bieten Gelegenheit, "Microsoft zum Anfassen" zu erleben. Microsoft-Experten vermitteln dabei in Vorträgen ihr Wissen und stehen für Diskussionen zur Verfügung. Dabei ist der TechTalk keine überdimensionierte Massenveranstaltung, sondern bietet das angenehme und lockere Umfeld, das den ganz besonderen Reiz eines Entwicklertreffens ausmacht. Alle weiteren Informationen finden Sie unter http://techtalk.ms/

Aufzeichnung zum Oktober-TechTalk: Windows 7 – ein Überblick für Entwickler (Teil 1)

Jan Schenk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Allgemeine Information zu den TechTalks:

Connected Show Podcast: User Experience: It ain’t Lipstick baby

Brian Johnson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:08:00 GMT

In this episode guest co-host and Interviewee Dave Crawford of Microsoft UK joins Dmitry to discuss News such as Windows 7, Windows Stores, ZuneHD development, Java Bridge, Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 and many more stories. Finally Dave tells us all about the User Experience project role, how development projects can benefit from it and how Developers and Designers need to play nice together.

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Jumplist

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:41:00 GMT

En este nuevo episodio sobre el desarrollo de aplicaciones para Windows 7, veremos cómo utilizar los Jumplist de la nueva Taskbar de Windows 7. Aprenderemos a crear categorías personalizadas y añadir nuestras propias tareas a la Jumplist de una aplicación de ejemplo.

- Descargas
Código fuente en C#
Código fuente en VB

- Enlaces

Windows API Codepack

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Administración de ventanas

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:41:00 GMT

Una de las novedades que más llaman la atención de Windows 7 es la nueva barra de tareas. En este primer video veremos una introducción de las nuevas características de la Taskbar utilizando la API Code Pack para el desarrollo de nuestras aplicaciones en Windows 7. Concretamente, veremos como agrupar y desagrupar nuestras ventanas en la barra de tareas.

- Descargas
Código fuente en C#
Código fuente en VB

- Enlaces

Windows API Code Pack
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Windows 7 para Desarrolladores

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:22:00 GMT

Isabel Gómez Miragaya, evangelista de Fabricantes de Software en Microsoft Ibérica y una apasionada de las tecnologías más punteras, nos presenta las novedades de Windows 7 para desarrolladores.

Durante el webcast, Isabel hablará sobre las mejoras que Windows 7 incluye en cuanto a memoria, disco E/S, energía, velocidad, menús y escalabilidad.

- Enlaces

http://msdn.microsoft.com/es-es/windows/default.aspx

Windows 7 Training Kit

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Búsqueda Federada (Parte I)

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:21:00 GMT

En este video tutorial veremos una de las novedades que trae Windows 7, que es la posibilidad de realizar búsqueda federada. Para quienes no conozcáis el concepto de búsqueda federada, decir que nos referimos a poder usar herramientas y flujos de trabajo para buscar datos remotos. Además de que nos permite resaltar las coincidencias dentro del documento donde se busca y visualizarlo en el explorador de Windows 7.

En este primer ejemplo veremos cómo realizar búsqueda federada en Windows 7 utilizando el buscador de Microsoft, Bing.

- Descargar ejemplos de búsqueda federada

- Enlaces

Página de MSDN Library sobre Búsqueda Federada en Windows 7
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us%20/library/dd742951(VS.85).aspx

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Búsqueda Federada (Parte II)

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:20:00 GMT

Este nuevo video tutorial es la continuación de otro que hicimos explicando la búsqueda federada en Windows 7. Lo que introduciremos en esta nueva entrega será como mapear las propiedades de los RSS que contienen el resultado de la búsqueda. De esta manera podremos mejorar la experiencia de usuario y mostrar un mayor número de detalles que resultarán útiles en nuestras búsquedas.

- Descargar ejemplos de búsqueda federada

- Enlaces

Página de MSDN Library sobre Búsqueda Federada en Windows 7
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us%20/library/dd742951(VS.85).aspx

Windows 7 para desarolladores. Taskbar: Barra de Progreso e Iconos superpuestos

Channel9Spain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:13:00 GMT

Este video tutorial es la tercera entrega de cómo desarrollar aplicaciones haciendo uso de las nuevas características de la nueva barra de tareas de Windows 7. Veremos cómo podemos utilizar la barra de progreso sobre nuestros iconos de aplicación alojados en la Taskbar de Windows 7 u cómo podemos superponer imágenes a nuestro icono de aplicación.

- Descargas
  Código fuente en C# para la versión API Code Pack 0.8
  Código fuente en C# para la versión API Code Pack 1.0
  Código fuente en VB para la versión API Code Pack 0.8
  Código fuente en VB para la versión API Code Pack 1.0

nlaces

Windows API Codepack

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

More Windows 7 Themes from Paul Thorrott

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Did you enjoy the Washington D.C. theme from Paul Thorrott that we shared with you earlier? If so, then you’ll be happy to hear that Paul released four more theme packs like that D.C. one for all us Windows 7 users to enjoy. Three of the themes focuses on other photogenic locales: Paris, London, and Ireland. And the fourth theme is all about one of my personal addictions: coffee! Yep, the fourth theme pack features lattes and foam-topped cups that make me want to hit up a Starbucks right away. If the above links don’t work, you can download the theme packs from Paul’s SkyDrive folder instead.

Microsoft Surface Apps for Windows 7

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:41:00 GMT

At the Tablet PC meetup at CES’s CntrStg, a Microsoft representative was demonstrating a Windows 7 touchscreen computer and its capabilities. After going through the usual – Aero Peek, shake to minimize, the new taskbar, and more – she showed us some really cool apps. Built by the Microsoft Surface team specifically for Windows 7, two new applications take advantage of the native touch and multi-touch capabilities built into Windows 7.

The first app demonstrated is called Microsoft Surface Collage for Windows 7. The app is a multi-touch photo viewing application. The photos on the screen can be resized using pinches, as has become standard with touch apps. And because it’s multi-touch, two people can touch and move the photos at the same time. You can use your finger to flip through the filmstip at the bottom of the screen, too.

The second application demonstrated was Microsoft Surface Globe for Windows 7. This one was a touch screen mapping application that let you zoom in and out on satellite imagery using pinches. You could also swipe your finger across the screen to move the map around.

Neither of these applications are available for download just yet, but they should be released around the same time that Windows 7 becomes publicly available.

[Special thanks for CntrStg for providing a great place to upload Channel 10 videos while at CES.]

Media Center without a TV Tuner

Sarah Perez — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:26:00 GMT

Do you have a Windows 7 PC but no TV tuner? You may be surprised to learn that you don’t need one in order to watch streaming video and even popular TV programming on your Media Center PC or extender thanks to the numerous Media Center plugins currently available. In this post, we’ll look at the TV plugins you can use with Media Center, including those specifically designed for viewing Hulu content as well as other similar plugins for streaming video.

TV/Hulu Plugins

Plugins that allow you to watch TV shows via Media Center are very popular, especially those that provide access to Hulu, the online site where major TV networks have teamed up to provide free, streaming video. There are a number of different plugins to choose from, each with their own feature set and fan base. Which one you choose to install may come down to its offerings, ease of use, price, or just personal preference.

Hulu Desktop Plugin

The Hulu Desktop Integration 1.0 plugin offers an easy way to hop between using Windows Media Center and the Hulu Desktop application, the desktop software that complements the online site. Once installed into Windows 7 Media Center, this plugin sets up its own menu simply called “HULU.” When you click on Hulu in this menu, the software will automatically close Windows Media Center and launch Hulu Desktop already in full screen mode. When you’re finished watching the streaming videos in Hulu, you just click on “Exit” from the software’s main menu and Windows Media Center will return, it too in full screen mode. This easy switching also works with Windows Media Center remote controls but does not work with extenders like the Xbox 360.

Before installing this application, you’ll need to install Hulu Desktop. Make sure both it and Windows Media Center are closed before you install the plugin which is available for a free download here.

PlayIt Plugin

With the Playon Digital Media Server, you can stream video on your Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart TV, or any other DLNA-compliant device. However, it wasn’t until the release of the PlayIt plugin that Media Center owners could get in on the action, too. Thanks to a user by the name of Elutmann1 on Microsoft’s Green Button forums, a site for Media Center enthusiasts, the PlayIt plugin lets Media Center users connect to a PlayOn server to stream video as well as use the Media Center controls like rewind, fast forward, play, pause and stop. With PlayIt installed, you gain access to Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu, CBS, CNN, ESPN, YouTube, and more, all of which become available for viewing within the Media Center application.

However, although the PlayIt plugin software is free of charge, the PlayOn server software is not. PlayOn is $39.99, but a free 2-week trial is available. You can download PlayOn from here then follow these instructions to install the PlayIt plugin. The plugin works on Vista Media Center and up.

For additional plugins designed to operate with PlayOn server, visit the community site at playonplugins.com where a number of developers share additional third-party plugins that works with PlayOn.

Boxee

Boxee is an open source media center type application that received a lot of attention in recent days thanks to its ability to stream popular TV programming to your PC or TV while also incorporating “social” elements like the ability to friend other users, rate content, and make recommendations.

Within Boxee, users have access to content from major TV networks like ABC, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, and the WB as well as online content like Blip.TV, MTV music videos, MySpaceTV, Revision3 programs, Apple movie trailers, BBC iPlayer shows, Joost, SHOUTcast, Jamendo, Last.fm, NPR, and YouTube. In addition, you can add picture displaying plugins from Flickr and Picasa and RSS feeds.

Hulu support, however, has been off and on because Hulu’s parent company, NBC Universal, was asked to remove it from Boxee by their content partners. Boxee later re-added it using Hulu RSS feeds. Again, Hulu blocked access until Boxee introduced a new architecture which uses Firefox so that Hulu now sees Boxee as a Mozilla web browser so it won’t get blocked.

Thanks to the enthusiast site, Missing Remote with help from MVP Andrew Cherry, there’s a way to added Boxee support to your Windows 7 Media Center. You’ll first need to download this zip file and extract it to your Boxee installation directory (e.g. “C:\Program Files\Boxee\BoxeeMCE”). Then you’ll right-click to launch the file “installBoxee.cmd.” Detailed instructions are here. Although written for Vista Media Center, it works with Windows 7 works too.

To add Boxee onto Media Center’s start menu in Windows 7, you’ll need to navigate to Media Center’s “Extras” menu where you’ll now see Boxee listed. Right-click on the icon and choose “Add to Start Menu” from the menu that appears.

SecondRunTV

SecondRunTV is a plugin that allows you to launch the Hulu desktop application right within Media Center. Since Hulu Desktop works with a remote this makes SecondRunTV feel like it’s just another Media Center application.

The interface for SecondRunTV lets you sort through the available TV stations by Network or by Title. Movies and Trailers are separated in the two other menus. Unfortunately though, the plugin doesn’t work on extenders like the Xbox 360, so it’s only worthwhile if you do most of your TV viewing on your Media Center PC itself. You can download the SecondRun.tv plugin for free here (donations accepted), but be aware that it’s still in beta status.

TunerFree MCE

TunerFree MCE is a Windows Media Center plugin that brings several of the United Kingdom's main TV providers (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five), as well as all of the BBC Radio stations to your Media Center PC and extender. They’ve also added full Hulu support for their U.S. users.

The program’s interface displays the various channels’ logos for easy access as well as a “favorites” section for tracking your most frequently watched programs. You can also sort the programming by date or search through the available content by keyword.

For a little bit of extra fun, the developer even added a Twitter section which lets you tweet what you watch right from Media Center itself. To use this feature, go into TunerFree’s preferences and enter in your Twitter credentials. You’ll then have a new Twitter icon on the TunerFree start page in Media Center.

TunerFree is a free download (donations accepted) and works on both Vista and Windows 7. (On a personal note, I use this plugin myself and found it to be one of the easiest ones to install and configure.)

HuluMCE plugin

Again thanks to the Missing Remote blog, there’s information on how to add the Hulu Desktop program to MediaCenter as a shortcut from the main screen. This is similar to the functionality provided by SecondRunTV so you would want to try one or the other, not both.

To install this plugin, you’ll need to grab the zip file called HuluMCE Plugin and unzip it into the same folder where you have the Hulu Desktop application installed. (By default - C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\HuluDesktop). There are a few more steps involved to get it properly configured which you can follow by reading through the online guide available here.

Once installed, the HuluMCE plugin will appear in your TV+Movies menu on Vista Media Center or in your Extras menu on Windows 7 Media Center. You can then browse and view Hulu content via the plugin and you can even use your Media Center remote to control Hulu.

ZeeVee

The Zinc Internet browser is a free downloadable software program from ZeeVee, a company known for their commercial and residential solutions for HD video. With the Zinc software, you can browse through a number of channels, including major TV networks like FOX, ABC, CBS, CW, and ESPN as well as online sites like Hulu, Revision3, and YouTube.

A Green Button forum member, Rob Rogers, at one time made a ZeeVee plugin available for Windows Media Center users that lets you launch and browse ZeeVee’s Zinc player in Media Center. Sadly though, he decided to take it down because he didn’t see much interest. However, we reached out to him to ask him about it and he shared the details of how it was made in case anyone wants to duplicate his efforts.

Basically, he downloaded the HuluMCE plugin (above) and modified it to point to the Zinc files instead. That’s it. After doing so, unzip the files it contains in the same folder as your Zinc install (which you must first get from ZeeVee’s website). Typically, the installation location is %ProgramFiles%\ZeeVee\Zv\zviewer\ZeeVeeMCE\. Next, run the InstallZeeVee.cmd as an administrator. You’ll then find Zinc available from the Extras menu in Windows 7 Media Center or the Picture & Videos menu in Windows Vista Media Center.

TubeCore

TubeCore is one of the newer plugins for streaming TV shows from the internet via Windows Media Center. The software finds online video from websites like Hulu, CBS.com, the Onion, Revision3, and many others, and lets you watch it on your Media Center computer or on a Media Center extender like the Xbox 360.

To use TubeCore, you’ll need a Vista or Windows 7 PC, a TV connection (either direct or an extender), and media server software.

However, unlike some of the other plugins on this list, TubeCore is not free. You can try it for 2 weeks at no charge, but afterwards, you’ll have to purchase it if you want to continue to use it. At that time, the plugin is available for a one-time fee of $19.99. Since you are paying, though, you’re entitled to support via the company’s tech support email address and forums.

Sky Player

Just in time for Windows 7’s launch, the Sky Player add-in for Windows 7 Media Center has been announced (although not launched). This plugin, designed for UK customers, lets you watch live and on-demand programming from Sky TV’s online TV service, Sky Player. The player currently offers 24 channels as well as an online library containing 500 movies.

Existing Sky TV customers can simply install the plugin and watch the programming on their Media Center PC or extender. New customers can access the content by paying for a monthly subscription.

Image courtesy of Andrew Edney

Others of Interest

There are a few other plugins that may also be of interest to Windows Media Center users. While these below don’t provide you with access to streaming TV and movies directly, they do provide other ways to watch streaming video on your Media Center PC.

Orb

Orb is a desktop software program that lets you share files you already have on your PC with your friends, with other computers, mobile phones, and even your Xbox. Specifically, it’s designed for sharing multimedia content like videos, photos, and music.

Although not officially documented by the company, blogger Ian Dixon discovered an Orb.MCL file tucked away in the Orb directory after installing the software on his PC. As it turns out, this file was an entry point to Windows Media Center which lets you run the Orb front end via Media Center. A commenter on the blog post also explained how to manually create this file, if desired.

My Trailers and In the Movies

My Trailers and In the Movies are actually two different plugins from the same company. “My Trailers SE for MCE” allows you to watch movie trailers with via Windows Media Center while “In The Movies SE for MCE” delivers information about movies in the theaters now.

In “My Trailers” you can watch trailers for current releases as well as for movies that are coming soon. You can scroll through the releases using the left and right arrow buttons and you can maximize the playing trailer to view it full screen.

“In the Movies” has a feature called "In Theaters" which shows you the movies that are currently playing plus a "Showtimes" which shows you where and what time the movie you want to see is playing. "Reviews" displays comments about the movies and "Coming Soon" gives you a sneak peek upcoming releases. Finally, the "Box Office" section shows the weekend box office top 50 movies.

Both plugins are Windows 7 compatible.

HD Movie Trailers

HD Movie Trailers, which is hosted on Codeplex, describes itself as a "proof of concept." However, a blogger over at Hack7MC.com installed it in order to add movie trailers to the information screen for each movie in his collection. Like it sounds, this plugin lets you watch HD movie trailers via Media Center, but unfortunately, you have to first download them manually and place them in that movie’s folder. You then have to create an XML file so Media Center knows where to find them.

The plugin is designed to work with MediaBrowser, which is a popular alternative UI for Media Center.

Obviously, this is one of the geekier plugins to use, but some of you may find it helpful.

Last But Not Lest, Netflix!

Of course, one of the best ways to stream movies (and TV shows available on DVD) is via Netflix. If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can access the new option which only appeared days ago from Windows Media Center’s “Movies” menu.

The first time you click on the “Netflix” option, you’ll need to check the box agreeing to the Terms of Service and then click the “Install” button. You’ll then sign into your account or, if you don’t have one, you have the option to sign up for a free trial right there. Once signed in, you can browse through and manage your DVD queue and your instant queue as well as search through Netflix’s database of available movies.

To watch a movie from your instant queue, just click on the thumbnail and then click “Play.” The movie will begin immediately.

So Many Choices…

As you can see, there are numerous choices for watching TV and movies within Windows 7 Media Center even if you can’t afford to invest in a TV tuner card at the moment. Many of the options above are even free to install and use. Although a lot of the plugins focus on Hulu integration, a U.S.-only site, international users will still be able to take advantage of those plugins which stream other content like YouTube videos or Revision3 web shows. No matter which plugins you choose to install, you can be sure it will make Windows Media Center a lot more fun to use.

Northeast Roadshow: Taskbar Deep-dive

Jim O'Neil — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:49:00 GMT

In this episode, Developer Evangelist Jim O'Neil, walks through a example of updating a legacy MDI application to take advantage of most of the features of the Windows 7 taskbar all the while maintaining backwards compatibility to Vista and XP. You'll get a detailed look into using the managed code Windows API Code Pack to adapt your older applications to leverage jumplists, thumbnail previews, and thumbnail buttons.

Slides and source code for this session can be found at the Northeast corner of Code Gallery.