Thursday, October 30, 2003

PDC Technology Impressions - the Ugly, the Bad, and the Good Google Search It The Ugly Some development technologies require Longhorn.  XAML is only available on Longhorn.  Automated UI testing technology is only available on Longhorn.  This is development technology...  It is hard enough forcing a customer to upgrade their OS.  However, with the hardware requirements presented with Longhorn (1G RAM, 64Mb Video, dual-processor if possible) I would be asking my customer to upgrade all their workstations.  This is totally unrealistic.  Let's face it:  In general you can probably get by with requiring an OS version once it has been out for 1.5 years.  However, this Longhorn release demands way more than just an OS.  Furthermore, what is Longhorn offering the business customer?  Imagine going to a VP and saying, "But Bob, this allows you to organize your photos better.  Also, it combines contacts from Exchange, Outlook Express, and your PST files all into one view.  It helps me to organize my files on my local PC rather than posting them to the corporate document store.  Furthermore, check out the skins we can support in the timesheet application."  Don't get me wrong, I love XAML but the bottom line is that I can't force my customers to upgrade, especially when there is business feature to offer.  Development technologies should be fully compatible with the OS prior at least for 2 years after a new Workstation OS release. The Bad Longhorn still pretty unstable.  Performance is appears unbearable, especially under the recommended Virtual PC install. WinFS seems half baked.  A colleague of mine wasn't even able to copy a file from a network share to a local folder.  The Compact Framework needs to be modularized at least in the enterprise scenarios.  To throw out an entire set of functionality because it is too bulky when in actual fact my deployment would have no problem with the "bulk" is too restrictive.  Ultimately I would like to see CLI compliance in a modular form factor that allows me to pick and choose what parts of the framework to deploy. I'm not sure about the monitoring APIs.  I wonder if they have missed the read-time localization support that the Windows Event Reporter supported.  I probably don't understand this well enough yet, however. The Good Indigo serialization is awesome!!!!!  I have been closely watching this technology develop at Microsoft but they just didn't seem to have a unified story... until the PDC.  Great presentation Doug!  Excellent work Stephen! C# Generics... what more can I say!  I love this stuff.  I am already looking at what my v3.0 wish list as I am confident the 2.0 stuff is mature.  My only criticism is the fact that the PDC bits don't match the C# specification recently released. C++ takes 2 with Managed C++...  Yes!  Way-to-go... XAML is sweet.  All I ask is that it be supported on Windows XP. UI Testing Framework stuff was an unexpected bonus and the goal to support legacy controls fantastic.  Again, we need Windows XP support. Indigo Communication:  They finally got their ducks in a row and figured out the unification of Web Services, Remoting and Enterprise Services.  I still have lots to understand with this but what I saw looked cool. MS Build.... wow... 'bout time.  :) Clickonce.... see MS Build. ASP.NET Personalization, Role security (not perfect but extensible), master pages... Cool! 9:46:24 PM   []    comment []

PDC Conference Impressions - the Ugly, the Bad, and the Good Google Search It The Ugly Crowds, crowds, and crowds Couldn't get in to sessions because of crowds Couldn't move between sessions 'cause of crowds The Bad I started out with my IM signature saying "Wireless is Awesome!"  It didn't take long to have to change that to read, "limping on wireless."  The problems, DHCP times out every 15 minutes and one couldn't renew the address.  Signal strength was "Excellent" but no IP address.  Network down entirely on Tuesday. The labs (well at least the one I did) were pathetic.  I did a guided Indigo lab that essentially gave instructions to one which lines of a canned sample to uncomment. Pathetic!  I learned nothing.  When I asked the proctor a question about Indigo he responded with, "Well, I don't really understand what is going on.  I am just here to make sure people can keep up with the presenter."  Keep up with uncommenting the right lines that is.  (I think there is value in the labs if you use them as samples.) Bad communication on what technology is in the PDC bits and what is still in development. Shuttle route to Standard hotel was a pain. The Good The Microsoft Research keynote on Wednesday was awesome!!!!!!  I loved the demonstration of the Tablet PC math applications.... Wow!  University must be so different now than from when I was there.  I also enjoyed the social grouping stuff. Access to the experts was phenomenal.  Going to the Expo. or the Lounges always resulted in great conversations with people that really new there stuff.  Sweet!  Way to go Microsoft for being so available. T-Shirts were easy to come by at the expo. :) The serving of food was always efficient and not to bad (I am easy to please in the food taste area.) Providing a shuttle to the airport.... much appreciated. Universal studios... my enjoyed  (Too bad the C# team kept me away so long.  :) Not that I bought anything but the Pocket PC prices were great.  Too bad no SmartPhones. 9:17:51 PM   []    comment []

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