Mike Hillberg has a great writeup on the XamlWriter built into .NET 3.0.

Rob Relyea points to the new OpenXML.biz editor...

I'm suggesting a session for TechEd 2007... this is my attempt to influence the judges by winning popular support for my talk:

Title: XAML as a better C#

Abstract: .NET 3.0 introduces a new technology enabling declarative programming. This session will focus not only on the built in runtimes (WPF and WF) but also applying the technology to other domains (eg. WCF, ASP.NET, System.Configuration, or better yet, your application domain)

I've been thinking a lot lately about XAML as more than just WPF, WPF/E, or WF... I think that more broadly XAML is the begining of a much richer declarative programming model. This new declarative model will (hopefully) raise the abstract level for developers and allow for better tools, interoperability, and ... well... basically make the world a better place. :)

Late to the "congrats" party, but the WPF/E folks released their latest CTP. Michael Harsh has posted a new version of WPF/E Pad that runs on the new bits... Windows and Mac, of course.

They are popping up everywhere... especially in Japan:

• WeatherNews 
• Warner Brother's MyCal  
• Sheseido
• Computer builder

While I don't normally do a lot of makeup shopping the Shiseido site is very cool in terms of transition and video effects.

[Links from Aaron Goldfelder in email, thanks!]
[7:29am: fixed typo in the last sentance above... it's too early to post, apparently]

Check out this WPF/E sample, that simulates Vista... [from Savas]

This looks very cool - a new twist on presentation software. I"m somewhat frustrated by PowerPoint - the latest version is absolutely fabulous. I love the new graphical treatments. The templates are very nice. However, it still lacks the fluidity and polish that I see possible with WPF. I can't wait to try out StandOut to see if it can really produce something as nice as what I'd like to see.

Interesting sample... unfortunately the setup for it was too involved, but I love the idea of driving more UI from a set of shared rules.

It's great to see Vista release. I spent a lot of time working on WPF, which I believe is one of the core parts of the new Vista experience. The Avalon team, depending on how much of the organization you include, peaked at around 250 people, with another 250 people working in the "Windows Client Platform and Documents" team that Avalon was part of. It was a massive effort. The overall team built features ranging from the XPS document format, the desktop window manager, WPF, and the Windows Imaging Components (WIC) - to name just a few.

I'm proud of what this team accomplished, and I'm extremely proud to have been part of that team.

Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this release. I know we would have all liked to see it get out the door before now, but we have a lot to be proud of.

... now, let's get back to work and make it even better!

Blend and Design go beta, congrats! (from Karsten)

No, not alphabet soup... rather a set of cool apps that have a seamless installation experience and run in the browser. Secure, full power of the platform... i love it.

• The British Library has an amazing 3D book collection.
• Bascule did Doninoken, which is a cool demo (link from Karsten)
• In what is probably the single coolest usage I've seen (from a purely practical developer geek kind of way) XCEED creating an interactive XBAP to show off their new data grid.

Karen Corby, a fabulous PM on the Avalon team, wrote a great post about the security of XBAPs. Chris Sells and I got in a big debate about how much detail my book should go into this kind of detail. In the end I felt the deep dive into custom security policy was out of scope for a book like mine (more about the overall structure and conceptual model of the platform), but an API reference or deep dive book would be a better place for this.

While they don't appear to have a lot of content yet, XBAP.org looks like it might become an interesting place to search...

 

Tim lists his favorite configuration...

Episode 4 of Don and I singing... you didn't ask for it, but you got it!